Southside Grooven "Go. Went. Gone"

A solo exhibition by Kalmyk artist Southside Grooven explores themes of identity, cultural belonging, the role of intergenerational memory, and personal experience in human life. The works on display were completed between 2024 and 2025 and are divided into three sections: drawings, paintings, and installations.

The graphic arts section, located on the first floor, features the "Homework" series (Kalm. "Герин даалхвр"). All works in the series have titles in the Kalmyk language — words and expressions familiar to many who grew up in Kalmykia. The artist is not fluent in Kalmyk, although he considers it his native language. The graphic arts series is, in a sense, a reflection of life in Kalmykia in the 1990s and 2000s, the period during which the artist grew up. In these works, the artist explores his complex relationship with the Kalmyk language — a topic relevant to many members of his generation.

The painting section, located on the second floor, continues the theme of education and is dedicated to the "cult of knowledge" that has been ingrained in the collective consciousness of Kalmykia’s residents since the second half of the last century. The years of mass deportation of Kalmyks to Siberia taught a harsh lesson: members of national minorities realized that a good education is a prerequisite for building a decent life in their own country. In modern Kalmykia, students regularly leave to study in other cities and countries. While the arrival of winter in Kalmykia is associated with the Buddhist holiday of Zul, and spring with Tsahan Sar, the onset of autumn is associated with the departure of Kalmyk students to study far from home. This phenomenon has been widespread for decades: for people from Kalmykia, pursuing higher education and building a career outside the republic has become the new norm. The works in the painting section analyze this phenomenon and also attempt to rethink the artist’s lived experience.

One of the central themes in the exhibition’s narrative is the "Last Express" (Kalmani: "Сүл экспресс") — the bus on which graduates leave their homes (perhaps forever) in search of better opportunities in life. The Eternal Blue Sky (Kalmani: "Мөңк Көк Теңгр") changes color as the "Last Express" departs, a sign of the profound changes in the lives of its passengers. This image is inspired by the regular buses traveling between Elista and Moscow.

On the third floor is a total installation called "Road to One Playlist," which allows viewers to find themselves aboard the "Last Express." Each passenger finds their own way to count the time spent on the journey: by the minutes until the next stop, by listening to songs on their phone, or by watching TV series that the driver plays for everyone from a pirated DVD or flash drive. The principle behind the series selection is kept secret from passengers. What is known is that the television, which is on for almost the entire route, is hard to ignore. The installation is based on the feeling of dissonance created by watching television without sound but with music playing in headphones. The playlist chosen for the installation is 22 hours long — the approximate travel time of a passenger bus from Elista to Moscow. The author left his home in August 2011, so the playlist consists of music from the "blog era," which was relevant at the time.

The exhibition is held in the gallery’s small building.