Petra Feriancová: Echo’s Bones
6th March – 19th April 2026
Elizabeth Xi Bauer, Exmouth Market
Private View: 5th March 2026
Elizabeth Xi Bauer presents Echo’s Bones, a multifaceted solo exhibition by Petra Feriancová at the gallery’s Exmouth Market space. Bringing together newly developed works alongside recontextualised earlier pieces, the exhibition unfolds as a constellation of objects, images, and sonic interventions that reflect Feriancová’s longstanding interest in origins, be them mythological, biological, or archaeological.
Feriancová’s practice spans photography, sculpture, and installation, combining personal archives with everyday materials. Subtle acts of transformation are key: household objects and found materials are quietly reframed and juxtaposed, taking on new significance without spectacle. Through these interventions, she examines how objects, images, and histories are shaped by cultural bias and collective assumption, revealing meaning as something continually negotiated rather than inherent.
The exhibition’s title references both the myth of Echo from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, which tells the story of a nymph who is unseen yet heard, and Samuel Beckett’s poem Echo’s Bones (1933), which meditates on absence, repetition, and the persistence of voice after the body has vanished. From these dual inspirations, Feriancová explores mirroring, mimicry, motherhood, solitude, and ageing, extending a core concern in her practice: the proposition of motherhood as fundamental to all life. She also examines cultural-historical tensions, contrasting the material authority of the reliquary with the fluid worlds of myth and folktale.
Echo’s Bones brings together new and previous works, exploring how shifts in context reshape meaning. Highlights include the Carrara marble bones from Echo’s Bones; vintage photographs reflecting intimacy and absence; and objects ranging from swordfish bills and shells to children’s teeth and found vessels. Feriancová introduces site-specific interventions, including a sketch on the gallery window and a draped fabric dress extending into the installation. Curved metal structures hold printed fabrics depicting algae and mimosa plants, while a water tank sound installation, developed in collaboration with composer Stroon, distorts sound to explore echo, vibration, and the sensory politics of perception. Other works reference literary and cultural narratives, such as Don’t Turn Back (2004-2026), which parallels The Little Mermaid through themes of voicelessness and vulnerability, and Vertebra (2022), an audio-visual project examining the intrusion of architecture into space. Newly developed works made with Victorian tiles evoke British utilitarian aesthetics, creating a dialogue between historical forms and contemporary interventions.
Rather than following a linear narrative, the exhibition unfolds as a constellation of distinct works distributed throughout the gallery. Each piece stands on its own while also existing in relation to others, forming a quilt-like exhibition in which meaning emerges through the interplay of objects. Together, the works suggest that while each of us has an individual existence and narrative, we are also part of something larger and shared.
This exhibition is curated by Maria do Carmo M. P. de Pontes.
Notes to Editors
Petra Feriancová (born 1977, former Czechoslovakia) lives and works in Bratislava, Slovak Republic.
Petra Feriancová graduated from the Bratislava Institute of Art and Design in 1995, followed by the Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Bratislava, 1996, and L’Accademia delle Belle Arti, Rome, 2002. In 2016, she completed her PhD in the Department of Intermedia and Multimedia at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava, Slovakia.
Feriancová is a two-time recipient of ArtVerona’s Premio Level 0 Award, in 2015 and 2019, respectively. In 2010, she was granted the prestigious Oskár Čepan Award for young Slovak visual artists, organised by the Foundation – Centre for Contemporary Art. Subsequently, Feriancová was awarded a six-week residency at the International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP) in New York City.
In 2013, Feriancová was selected to represent the Czech and Slovak Pavilion at the 55th Venice Biennale. Together with Zbyněk Baladrán, she presented the joint exhibition Still the Same Place at the Pavilion in the Giardini.
Additional biennales and international art fairs include Petra Feriancová: Collapsed Pillar, ARCO, Madrid, Spain (2025); Isolitudine, ZACentrale, Palermo as part of BAM – Biennale Arcipelago Mediterraneo, Fondazione Merz, Italy (2022); Pyeong Chang Biennale Five Moons: Return of the Nameless and Unknown, Gangneung, South Korea (2017); Vulnerable, yet Everlasting, Off Biennale Budapest, Hungary (2015); BIRDS, MYTHS and TUSKS, Frame, Frieze London, UK (2013); Whatever We Do We Can Not Connect With You, Prague Biennale 5, Prague, Czech Republic (2011); and Glocal & Outsiders: Connecting Cultures in Central Europe, Prague Biennale 3, Prague, Czech Republic (2007). The artist is scheduled to exhibit in Italy’s oldest running contemporary art fair, Arte Fiera, opening 6 February 2026. Feriancová’s work will feature in Fotografia e dintorni, the new section devoted to the photographic medium, curated by Marta Papini.
Feriancová’s work has been exhibited widely in institutions across Europe and beyond. Significant solo exhibitions include Eternity, her Responsive Body and Other Stories, Palazzo Collicola, Spoleto, Italy (2023); Ego in Habitat, Gilda Lavia, Rome, Italy (2020); AN EXHIBITION ON DOUBT, MAN, Museo d’Arte Provincia di Nuoro, Italy (2016); THINGS THAT HAPPEN…, Fondazione Morra Greco, Naples, Italy (2014); PORIFERA II, Tranzit.sk, Bratislava, Slovak Republic (2022); A STUDY OF THE SECONDARY PLAN, The House of Arts, Brno, Czech Republic (2012); NATURAL SELECTION, Moravian Gallery, Brno, Czech Republic (2008); A REPORT ON THE TIME SPENDING, Jiri Svestka Gallery, Berlin, Germany (2012); and POSTSCRIPTUM TO CHILDE HAROLD’S PILGRIMAGE, Slovak National Gallery, Bratislava, Slovak Republic (2011).
Feriancová’s works are held in several private and public collections, including the Slovak National Gallery, Slovak Republic; GMB Gallery of the City Bratislava, Slovak Republic; AGI Verona Collection, Italy; Fondazione Morra Greco, Italy; Palazzo Collicola Spoleto, Italy; Villa D’Este Tivoli, Italy; Collezione Planeta Palermo, Italy; Art Collection Telekom, Germany; European Investment Bank EIB, Luxembourg; Lawrence Benenson Collection, USA; and Mario Testino Collection, Peru.
Echo’s Bones marks Feriancová’s fifth collaboration with Elizabeth Xi Bauer. In 2025, the artist presented the duo exhibition The Fabric of Life, which explored notions of time, perception, and the intimate rituals of daily life. Previous exhibitions include Summer Show (2025); Rock, Paper, Scissors (2022); and Coated in Pre-existence (2016).
Recently, Feriancová’s work has appeared in the following exhibitions: The Week of Photography, Bratislava, Slovakia (2025); Swarm Theory, Galéria Jána Koniarka v Trnave, Trnava, Slovakia (2025); Sediments of the World, Bratislava City Gallery, Bratislava, Slovakia (2025); and Eye Grabbing, Berlínskej Model, Prague, Czech Republic (2025).
Petra Feriancová: Echo’s Bones will run from 6th March – 19th April 2026, at Elizabeth Xi Bauer’s Exmouth Market location, open Wednesday through to Sunday, 12 – 6 pm or by appointment. A Private View will be held on 5th March 2026, 6 – 8 pm.
