Edge of Illusions

"Edge of Illusions" is an unprecedented collaboration between Rukh Art Hub, the Tukku Magi Project, and the Mriya Gallery—three institutions united in presenting a transcontinental dialogue that bridges America, Ukraine, and Latvia.

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Contemporary artists Zoya Frolova and Janis Jakobsons contextualize one of the most urgent questions of our time: How do artists navigate the complexities of conflict and loss? What emerges when the forward-looking imagination collides with harsh realities?

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The exhibition presents an intimate dialogue with the legacy of prominent Ukrainian master Vasyl Mironenko (1910–1964), illuminating inscrutable bonds between past and present, while offering a reflective sanctuary amid contemporary chaos.

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Zoya Frolova’s paintings respond to life’s most devastating events with artistic vision. Through the power of metaphor, paper boats replace warships and childhood innocence confronts naval might. When fire, paper, and water converge, they reveal both the fragility of human existence and the profound absurdity of our current moment.

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Light objects by Janis Jakobsons, fabricated from silicone, take the form of enormous theatrical chandeliers that could be raised and lowered at the start and end of a dramatic performance. The chandeliers hang above a massive black square of metal shavings, recalling Malevich’s Black Square, and a giant installation with a game of tic-tac-toe by Zoya Frolova.

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The game has come to a stalemate. The contemporary world watches as conflict unfolds, like spectators from theater boxes. Mironenko’s industrial landscapes explore grandiose construction projects and what it means to anticipate eternity, yet then, in a moment, to turn to dust—only to be rebuilt again, through the arbitrary workings of human and inhuman histories. Mironenko’s etchings evoke the Azovstal steel plant and other industrial sites in East/South Ukraine—sites that came under Nazi attack during WWII. These works remind us: history is repeating itself as tragedy.