‘‘My characters, created through the lens of wandering, migration, and instability, will embark on a journey without me. They have no need for documents, borders, or physical presence; they exist in a realm beyond the material constraints that bind us’’ — Stanislav Falkov commented on the exhibition.

This journey — one that began in squats and evolved through exhibitions in places like Barcelona, Basel, and now London — reflects the impossibility of returning home. It is a metaphor for the modern condition of exile, not only from geographical locations but from the self. My characters are avatars of this uncertainty. They are caught in the liminal spaces between belonging and alienation, between presence and absence. Just as I cannot attend this exhibition due to legal limitations, these figures travel without direction or destination, caught in an eternal state of transition.

The works from Spain capture the intensity of death, sacrifice, and innocence, themes born from my time reflecting on the bullfighting culture. The works from France, meanwhile, capture the raw personal experience of displacement and creativity born of instability. Each character lives in a fragmented universe, suspended in an eternal limbo, as they move through the abstract spaces of their world and mine.

‘’Their journey without me is a reflection of a greater reality—how we, as individuals, often lose ourselves in the global systems that disconnect us from places, identities, and the idea of home. What happens when the journey never ends? It becomes not a quest for an end but an exploration of endless possibilities, a metaphysical state in which the search for home transforms into the creation of worlds. 

The waiting rooms, the stations, the invisible border crossings—these characters inhabit the spaces I cannot physically traverse. They become my voice, my stand-ins, as they continue to search for meaning, just as I continue to navigate my own journey from afar. And though I am absent, my absence speaks volumes. It is through this absence that the art becomes alive, pushing the boundaries of what it means to travel, to exist, and to create in a world that often denies us access’’ — Stanislav Falkov.

About artist

Stas Falkov is a contemporary artist whose work revolves around the concept of instability, both as a philosophical idea and an artistic practice. He explores the fluidity of boundaries between opposing forces, such as the personal and collective, the sacred and the profane, and abstraction and figuration. His art rejects static interpretations, instead inviting viewers into an ongoing dialogue with unfinished forms and ambiguous meanings.

Falkov’s creative journey began in Russia, where he co-founded the collective Kruzhok, an attempt at a utopian, horizontal community. Disillusionment with this ideal led him to develop a deeper focus on the instability of utopias. After emigrating to France in 2022, Falkov continued his practice, integrating the themes of exile and personal transformation into his work.

One of Falkov’s central concepts, *Un Voyage Sans Fin*, embodies his exploration of life as an unceasing process of becoming. In his body of work, he deliberately avoids fixed outcomes, mirroring Deleuze’s concept of “rhizomatic” thinking, where ideas and experiences grow in multiple directions without hierarchy or predetermined end. Each piece evolves naturally, without a final destination, emphasizing the journey over the conclusion. His work invites viewers to embrace uncertainty, reflecting the philosophy of existentialism, where human existence is defined by perpetual movement toward unknown possibilities, rather than fixed meanings. 

His recent project *Faux* crystallizes Falkov’s vision of instability as a generative space, drawing on the idea of the simulacrum from Jean Baudrillard. Conceptualized as an endless, imagined journey, *Faux* creates a space where the boundaries of reality and illusion blur, and meaning itself becomes unstable. The project challenges conventional structures of exhibitions, functioning not just as a physical installation but as a conceptual space of fluidity and open interpretation. By deliberately leaving his works unfinished, Falkov invokes Derrida’s idea of *différance*, where meaning is always deferred and in process, never fully arriving at a conclusion. Elements of painting, sculpture, and spatial design constantly evolve, creating an immersive experience where time, space, and meaning shift, reflecting the instability of both art and life in the contemporary world.

In 2024, Falkov graduated from the École Supérieure d’Art et Design Le Havre-Rouen (ESADHaR) with a DNSEP degree, the French equivalent of a master’s in fine arts, earning *Félicitations*—the highest distinction awarded for exceptional work.

Venue: ADH Gallery

7 Kensington Mall, London, W8 4EB

Opening night: October 31, from 18:00 to 22:00

Dates: November 1 – 3, 2024

Opening hours: 12:00 to 18:00

Entrance is free

Website: www.artdesignhuman.com

Contacts:

hi.adhgallery@gmail.com