Galerie Uriel Kerestey is pleased to present Black Mountain, the first solo exhibition of Pavlo Kerestey at the gallery. The eight paintings, ten small watercolours, and small sketch on show are the result of the artist’s three-year relationship with the village of Knislinge, Sweden, and a dialogue between its environment and that of his hometown of Uzhhorod, Ukraine. Kerestey took part in two residencies in Knislinge at the Milvus Artistic Research Centre (MARC) between 2023 and 2025.

Knislinge is situated in Sweden’s southern county of Skåne, also home to the so called Svarta Bergen, or Black Mountain – the largest quarry for black granite in the world. The stone is renound for its strength and sublime dark colour, for which it is used for monuments and sculptures across the world.

Throughout the exhibition, Kerestey’s work layers subtle patterns and shapes, combining elements of visual experience with burst of effervescent colours and hallucinations. The series Spiegel Stein Links/Rechts is comprised of two paintings, oil on canvas, that resemble a surreal, radiating landscape, and a white-yellow burst of light. Around the edges, thin dark lines resemble the outlines of trees, surrounding and growing into the quarry.

Pavlo Kerestey is an artist based in Reading, United Kingdom and Munich, Germany. He often works in collaboration with the artist Susanne Clausen under the name Szuper Gallery, directing exhibitions, performances, and film screenings across Europe and North America.

Kerestey (b. 1962, Uzhhorod, Ukraine) studied at Lviv National Academy of Arts. His work has been shown at venues including Voloshyn Gallery, Miami (2025); Ukrainian Museum of Contemporary Art, Kyiv (2024); Ilko Gallery, Uzhhorod (2018); Ludwig Museum, Budapest (2018); Mystecjkyi Arsenal, Kyiv (2018); Institute of Contemporary Arts, London (2015); Saatchi Gallery, London (2014); Kunstmuseum Thun, Thun (2012); Perm Museum of Contemporary Art, Perm (2012); Mackenzie Art Gallery, Regina (2012); National Art Museum of Ukraine, Kyiv (2009); Shedhalle, Zurich (2006); Kunsthalle, Helsinki (2006); Western Front, Vancouver (2005); Lehnbachhaus, Munich (2002); Whitechapel Art Gallery, London (2001); Kunstverein, Munich (2000); Villa Stuck, Munich (1992).