ART021

At ART021 Shanghai 2025, Marina Fedorova presented Dinner in Red, a new chapter in her Cosmodreams series that breaks away from her familiar themes of cosmos, flowers, and nature. Reflecting on her creative intent, Fedorova shared, “The project Dinner in Red I conceived as a kind of shake-up, a departure from my usual style.” This immersive installation invites viewers into a theatrical world where art, technology, and emotion mix to question contemporary existence.

Fedorova emphasizes that her work balances serious themes with irony and humor. Fedorova emphasizes that her work balances serious themes with irony and humor. She said, “Sometimes I want to show that an artist doesn’t only speak about serious topics; they can also joke.” Key references include a Twin Peaks homage where a woman eats a man’s brain as a literal nod to the Russian idiom —”to eat someone’s brain with a teaspoon,” evoking relentless nagging. Another figure draws from Alice in Wonderland as Humpty Dumpty, twisting whimsy into something uncanny.

The exhibition space itself is a stage: visitors step through a round portal into a room bathed in deep red, symbolizing love, life, appetite, but also danger and desire. The checkered floor and theatrical windows frame the centerpiece—a long white table covered with surreal sculptures blurring food and ritual, reflected endlessly in a mirror, pulling viewers into the scene.

At the core of “Dinner in Red” are lenticular prints that layer two paintings in one, causing images to shift with movement. Fedorova explains, “The transformation mirrors the theme that nothing is stable, everything is constantly changing. What looks beautiful at first can suddenly reveal something darker underneath.” This instability reflects our fragile illusions of control and the swift slide from luxury to grotesque excess. Complemented by augmented reality stories, works like “Trash Madonna,” with drones circling a saint-like figure over plastic waste, or “Octopus Girl,” confronting a camera-tentacled creature, engage viewers in layered narratives of desire, consumption, and decay.

For Fedorova, “Dinner in Red is not a moral lesson — it is a poetic provocation. A final toast to a world devoured by its appetites. A red thread of warning woven through the tapestry of hope, wonder, and legacy.” The project amplifies her broader artistic vision: to challenge, unsettle, and invite reflection on the complex emotions shaping our time through immersive, evolving visual language.