A new art space called Prokofiev Studio has opened in Hackney, London, dedicated to the Russian artist Oleg Prokofiev. Its inaugural exhibition, 'Bending Time,' presents abstract works from the 1950s that were banned under Soviet censorship and long thought lost. The space was founded by Prokofiev’s children, including composer Gabriel Prokofiev, in collaboration with curator Anzhela Popova. The works were rediscovered in 1994 when Prokofiev returned to his former Moscow home and found them preserved by the new owner.
The opening matters because it reintroduces a significant but overlooked figure in 20th-century abstract art, whose career was suppressed by Soviet cultural policy. Prokofiev Studio aims not only to preserve his legacy but to become an interdisciplinary arts hub, reviving the cross-pollination between artists, composers, poets, and filmmakers that defined earlier creative eras. The project also highlights the personal story of Prokofiev’s relationship with British art historian Camilla Gray, whose marriage to him was contingent on hiding his abstract work from the state.