Kicking off 2022, New York’s The Hole has debuted a solo show from Gosha Levochkin, the gallery’s first with the Russian American artist. Wild, vibrant and interminably buzzing, Last Element is rife with bright constructivist shapes, cartoonish figures and references to graffiti, comic books and Japanese animation. Levochkin’s paintings are far from narrative, yet the shapes and figures come together in dreamy scenes that invite the viewer on a trippy, electrified journey.

Welcoming the viewer are two aptly titled paintings, Up and Down (2021), that depict jumbled figures blending into and climbing on top of one another. Their brightly colored noodle arms pull thin ropes in apparently endless motion. In Up, the figures appear to be on a ladder, perhaps on a playground. Down imparts a similar feeling of play with a paper boat floating calmly in light blue water. However, despite this element of play, there is something slightly sinister about the overlapping bodies. Are they forever stuck in motion, climbing, tumbling and pulling like Sisyphus? Is the rope being dipped into the water in Down really a rope, or is it an electrical wire? This subtle tension and hint at discomfort continues throughout the show, lending every work an air of excitement, as if the scenes unfolding are about to burst into motion.

Gosha Levochkin, Down, 2021

The people in these first two paintings seem to be on a wild journey. As the show continues, they jump into environments with unidentifiable shapes and architectural elements that melt into one another. In Hybrid Power (2021), a cart carries purple-haired figures. A cord plugged into the wall is attached to a device that emits frenetic, jagged bursts of energy bouncing in various directions. Architectural features like columns are sucked into the central jumble from some unknown source. Perhaps this is another image of a figure at play, or perhaps they are hard at work with their arms frantically completing a task.

Gosha Levochkin, Found Nothing Splash, 2021

A similarly buzzing scene unfolds in Found Nothing Splash (2021), in which space and logic are fully abandoned. A large figure stands on the right and looks out onto the swirling tornado of colors and jagged lines. Additional figures appear in fragmented, confused postures, as if being sucked through the swirl. Tiny people jump around the whole composition, springing from place to place.

Installation view of Last Element, 2021

Contributing to this sense of movement and play is an audiovisual animation installed directly into the gallery wall that Levochkin made with motion graphic artist Jonny Lee. Like stepping into the virtual realm of a video game, the work features an animation of water cascading out of a large red pipe and into a bright blue current. The constant flow points to the interconnectivity of humanity, a fact that has become increasingly true with our reliance on all things digital over the last two years. Adding to the virtual feel is the audio score created by Jay Rothman, a composer and sound designer with a background in early video game music.

Whether at work or at play, the figures that weave in and out of Levochkin’s energized scenes are hard not to love. With bright colors, wild scenes and jagged lines bursting with energy, Last Element is refreshing, exciting and a welcome invitation to embrace the chaos.

Last Element is on view through February 27th, 2022 at The Hole NYC, 312 Bowery, New York 10012