Konstantin Zhukov: The Day Before You Came

The exhibition takes its starting point in the atmosphere and depictions of everyday life found in the diaries of Kaspars Aleksandrs Irbe (1906–1996). The diaries, which constitute a unique document of queer history in the Baltic and Eastern European regions, portray Irbe’s life during the turbulent 20th century—from Latvia’s democratic period, through the Nazi and Soviet occupation, to the country’s regained independence.

Zhukov draws inspiration from Irbe’s diaries and other extremely rare accounts of queer life from the Soviet era, and through photography transfers them into his own present. In the exhibition’s images, the lives of several men are woven together in a reflection of a queer everyday life, with endless repetitions of food, work, rest, and sex. The exhibition title, “The Day Before You Came”, is taken from an ABBA song in which the lyrics depict the day’s routines and repetitions before an anticipated meeting with a lover.

The photographs are stripped back and shot in sequences; the men’s faces are either masked or turned away. This distanced approach has its origins in medical and police photography, which appears among Zhukov’s visual references. The visual language, together with the historical framing, evokes how homosexuality throughout history has been defined and documented as illness or crime. The images themselves are literally in the process of disappearing, as they are thermal prints, and in this way reflect on photography’s role as a witness, but also on the condition of Latvia’s queer archives.

Mounted on the walls beside Zhukov’s photographs are personal ads from Latvian daily newspapers from the 1990s. The ads are from a period when the country’s independence was re-established, and during the same period sex between men was finally decriminalised. These ads bear witness to a time when Latvia was undergoing dramatic changes, marked by greater political and personal freedom.

By using his own photographs and facsimiles of newspapers, Zhukov connects the present with historical events and reflects on a time and a place where few traces of queer life have been preserved.

The exhibition is supported by the Sweden-Latvia Cooperation Fund.

About the artist

Konstantin Zhukov (Konstantīns Žukovs, 1990) lives and works between Riga (Latvia) and London (United Kingdom). His work is shaped by his research into the lives, experiences, and environments that have historically fallen outside the heteronormative system of archiving and historiography.

Zhukov has presented his research on Latvian queer history at Auto Italia in London (2024), Lafayette Anticipations in Paris (2022), and in a number of panel discussions in Latvia, thereby contributing to the growing debate in the country on queer history, art, and activism. His work has been exhibited at NEVEN Gallery, London (2024) and ISSP Gallery, Riga (2022), Circulation(s) Festival, Paris (2026), Mala Galerija Bank of Slovenia, Ljubljana (2025). His work has been published online and in print, including in Aperture, Art Monthly, The Guardian, and i-D.

The exhibition contains images of a sexual nature.