Eliška Konečná's 'You Were Never Promised a Happy Life' at eastcontemporary, Milan

Eliška Konečná (Czech Republic, 1992) presents the solo exhibition 'You Were Never Promised a Happy Life' at eastcontemporary in Milan, extended until July 25, 2026. The show features embroidered cotton works including 'Mute Effect' (90 x 190 cm), 'On Planting Peas' (230 x 190 cm), 'A Coupe Lying on the Ground' (230 x 200 cm), and 'They Are Pulling out My Thorns' (230 x 300 cm), all from 2026. The exhibition explores the tension between the pursuit of happiness and the constraints of a seemingly perfect, soft environment. Konečná references Michael Cunningham's 1998 novel 'The Hours' and its film adaptation, where Nicole Kidman portrays Virginia Woolf. The artist draws a parallel between Woolf's struggle with depression and the suffocating comfort of her embroidered worlds. The exhibition's title echoes Woolf's farewell letter to her husband Leonard, dated March 28, 1949, in which she reflects on their happiness. Konečná's work questions whether a pristine white surface can truly console private feelings, creating a sensory labyrinth that evokes both serenity and entrapment.