Vasil Artamonov’s solo exhibition at Clauda presents a series of recent paintings that draw on the symbolism of the everyday.

The title itself suggests that these are scenes that may seem ordinary at first glance; however, their visual simplicity conceals deeper layers of unease and adaptation. A familiar houseplant—the monstera—commonly seen in corporate open spaces, government offices, waiting rooms, and the hallways of apartment blocks nowadays appears neutral, but it was once a strangely shaped and slightly frightening “monster.”

However, Artamonov metaphorically plucks the monstera from its decorative framework, revealing the meanings behind its silent ubiquity and restoring its ability to symbolize the latent tension that remains hidden beneath a layer of normality—similar to what might occur with data flows, surveillance policies, or technological infrastructures, which have been a recent focus of his work. Artamonov’s paintings are thus—in addition to an illusory imitation of reality—a precisely modulated expression of it. They grasp the complexity of reality, with its specificity and silent threats, becoming witnesses to a transformation of perception as indicators of our adaptive responses to the unsettling things that have long existed alongside us without us being fully aware of them.

Eva Slabá