Sergey Sologub's new exhibition at Hay Hill Gallery promises to be a surreal fusion of ordinary landscapes and still-life, seen through a filter of science fiction. At first glance, these compositions appear meticulous with their technical skill and careful symmetry; on closer inspection, paradoxical angles emerge to disorient and unsettle the viewer.

The artist clearly has a love of steam-shrouded locomotives and floating Venetian islands- disguising a mischievous spirit within an atmosphere of hushed reverence, as though he were a mystic. All may seem perfectly normal- until you realise that there is a giant paper aeroplane settled in the desert landscape; or that houses are blooming from the dusty patterns of an elaborate Persian rug. His recurring themes are futuristic and ancient all at once.

Like Marco Polo returning to Kublai Khan with tall tales of unknown lands, Sologub unfurls his fantastical stories in exaggerated detail and clever sleight of hand. With the flawless technique of an old master- and a child’s uninhibited imagination- Island hints at the magical realism of those would-be-worlds.

Sergey Sologub was born in 1957 in Kirovograd, Russia. He trained at the Russian State Cinema Institute (VGIK), Specialising in Product Design. In 1997-1991 Sergey Sologub worked as a product designer at the Sverdlovsk Movie Studio. Since 1991 the artist has been based in Cologne, Germany. He has participated in more than thirty group exhibitions and twenty two one-man shows around the world. He was awarded the St. Andrew Art Prize (‘Andreas Kunstpreis 98’, St. Andreasberg), the Hollfeld Museum Award and from 2003 to 2006 successively his paintings were exhibited in the prestigious Annual Exhibition of Cologne Museums (‘Lange Museum Nacht’) in Germany.