Gary Hill`s place in the pantheon of contemporary video art is attested to by his many awards and exhibitions - a Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1995; participation at the Documenta IX in Kassel; solo exhibitions at MOMA in New York; frequent participation at Whitney biennale; exhibitions at the Pompidou Centre in Paris; and many other prestigious awards and grants.
This year MediaForum and GMG Gallery decided to launch an initiative to introduce the classics of contemporary art to the Moscow public, and Hill`s exhibition is one of those projects.
Hill`s early video art works researched the synthesized image, which was made with experimental video equipment, capturing objects in such a way that their perception conflicts with post-minimalist or conceptual postulates, for example, Hole in the Wall, (1974). Later, Hill took an interest in contemporary poetry, and text began to play a central role in his work and in the relation between image, rhythm, and the sound narrative, such as Surroundings, (1979), as well as Around and About, (1980).
Maurice Blanchot's idea that language influences phenomenological experience is reflected in Hill`s work. His more recent works such as Viewer, (1996), and Blindspot, (2003), we see that the person is the hero. The artist is interested in the relationship between the viewer and the hero, which is signified by emotions and signs produced with the help of video equipment. Here, we see the artist turn to the theme of the Other, relying on the texts of the philosopher, Emmanuel Levinas, which has been used often in contemporary art. The video portraits of people began to touch the human and emotional factor, and are subjected to dialectical analysis of people on both sides of the screen.
The main theme of Hill`s oeuvre is researching the relationship between word, sound, and the electronic image. In essence, Hill`s work is based on structural analysis and deals with the problems of the essence of text. Nevertheless, text is mostly dealt with in a post-modern way, as a way to depict the surrounding world. The video image separates the subject reality into its semantic and material components. Hill shows the divergence between the spoken word, the visible subject and the present reality of this subject, which actually has little in common, and are tied together only in human consciousness.
The formal perfection of his complex multichannel video installations speaks about the author`s research in the figurative world of the visible subject environment and its conflict with human communications.
GMG Gallery will show Hill`s most significant works, which were chosen mostly because of their educational use for the Moscow public.
Hill`s most famous and most «total» installation is Wall Piece, (2000). In this single-channel installation the author rhythmically hits his body against a black wall as the moments of impact are lit by flashes from a strobe light, until finally the video image disappears under this aggressive light. The sound of the body beating against the wall alternates with a story about aging spoken by the author: «I go, looking at how I go…».
The next well-known work is Viewer, (1996) - a complex synchronized installation from five screens merged together, and one of his largest works. It shows a line of people of various sizes and ages. They are the same height as the viewers and stand directly in front, not moving while contemplating each other. Thus, the main theme of the work is created - the video image on the screen is looking at and analyzing the viewer at the very same moment when the viewer is looking at and analyzing the image on the screen.
Hill captures the moment when passive contemplation changes into individual activity. The confrontation of contemplators (spectators on the screens, and the real spectators) begins from the moment of adaptation when people at an exhibition gradually start to look in the eyes of the heroes. Logic and sight, which supposedly can attain everything, create the world on the basis of existing information, pondering and creating for itself an objective picture of the world, but they begin to digest themselves and to be lost in an effort at self-analysis. This is the ideal form without a narrative, and with the story excluded.
Any content can be placed in this field of tension between the observers and the observable, but Hill consciously reduces any superfluous meaning, concentrating only on the most complicated details and on the phenomenon of spectator perception; the glance being a way to receive information.
One of the works at the exposition will most likely be a world premier made especially for Moscow.
MediaForum is the most avant-garde program at the Moscow Film Festival, and is dedicated to new and experimental forms of screen culture. The MediaArtLab Center for Arts and Culture has introduced multi-media culture to the Russian public for 11 years, organizing exhibitions of the best video artists and their master classes, lectures and round tables, as well as sound art and net art, and all that is new and cutting-edge in contemporary art.
GMG Gallery is one of the youngest galleries on the Moscow art scene, but in its three years it has shown projects by Yoko Ono, Bill Fontana, Thomas Joshua Cooper, as well as exhibitions of the classics of Moscow Conceptualism, and important Russian and western young artists who participate in the most progressive art forums in the world.
GMG continues its cooperation with leading representatives of the western contemporary art scene that work with video. After the world premier of works by Bjorn Melhaus, «Deadly Storms», the next step in this direction will be the solo exhibition of Gary Hill, «Viewer».
A showing of Gary Hill`s works, as well as his master class, will be on June 20 at 20.00 at the Garage Center for Contemporary Culture.
The exhibition about two generations of trapeze artists is more than just a photo exhibition. It falls within the genre of “art about art” and reaches what Wagner considered a peak of creativity – a synthesis of arts. 30 colour and black-and-white photographs, music, gymnasts’ voices, slides and videos create a marvelous show, a space that glitters with many meanings, lures the viewer and makes him feel empathy.
The artist decided to make a project about circus relying upon his own feelings. This is not a very trendy topic in contemporary art. Maybe, true affection, immersion into the subject of art can become a way out of art crises which turned into appendage of market conveyor, a part of entertainment industry, various discourses and “rational” perception of reality.
Phrases “a stretch of imagination”, “a spirit hover” carry one away into the world of irrational, world of dreams which the circus always appealed to. Human dream to learn to fly doesn’t derive from birdwatching, but evolves out of flying experience in our dreams, as well as from the internal “free fall”. One can hardly rely on Freud, who interpreted it as a fundamental sexual basis and educed origins of aircraft from Leonardo Da Vinci’s erotic dreams (“fellatio”). Flight is our unconscious desire enclosed in the memory of body and brain by evolution as a potential ability. Dream of flying is a “dream reality” that puts body under control and trapeze artists’ way of thinking turns into their lifestyle.
The whole structure of Katsuba’s exhibition underlines spiritual and classic origins of the “first generation” gymnasts – Vladimir Burakov and Nina Chuglaeva (who created in the 1970-s together with Vladimir Volzhansky their show “Prometheus”). Thirty years later they transferred this “additional feature” that turns trapeze into high art backed by the “memory of body” to their disciples – Olga Golubeva and Eugene Efremov. Katsuba depicts young artists as an almost mystical reincarnation of their teachers. Their performances place an accent on beautiful forms of high art. Suddenly Dante’s Paolo and Francesca – two cuddling shadows floating together, who don’t part even in the hellfire – appear behind the photos showing elegant compositions built of young bodies. But the point of high art is that even in the most extreme circumstances it “performates” stress and recoil into high artistic conditions. In this sense the exhibition comprising several kinds of art and creative minds as co-authors, is about elevated things – it terms of gravity, ideas and feelings.
“Who needs a world view?” This panel discussion caused a big rush during the 11th International Istanbul Biennial of Contemporary Art. There were very few visitors from Moscow, though one can easily find links to these reports in many Moscow blogs. Wide international recognition of socially engaged, critical art involves our capital only marginally. Pompous imported shows by celebrities from the international art scene like Claire Fontaine raise a great wave of interest that is not being further sustained. That’s why GMG Gallery looks exactly to young, progressive art, while shaping its new exhibition policy and putting the gallery on the map of Moscow and the entire world. The message of the participants of the gallery's projects gains great importance. The gallery's public identity is to be built up on this basis. This message must first of all reveal problems and critical side of today. Of course, this kind of message can hardly be produced «by order». The artist's previous works or possible potential must indicate progressive world view. That's the criterion for the project participants.
The idea behind FQ-Test project (freedom quotient test) sends us back to Guattari’s and Foucault’s philosophy, but only in part. Freedom quotient is an estimation of a possible freedom level in modern societies. This estimation is employed by the authorities to define the sufficient level of control inside every specific group. In this exhibition this phrase acquires a new color. We combine works by young progressive artists from Russia, USA, Eastern Europe and Georgia (CIS) in one exhibition to demonstrate differences and similarities of that quotient in art around the world, in joint cultural space. Thus, we manage to show the universal character of the language of art chosen by Russian artists and, correspondingly, the universal and international character of the gallery’s new exhibition policy.
Title of the project already includes an important philosophical reference for the professional community. This reference is justified by critical message in the artists' works. Some of the participants have already been recognized on the global sñale, but still, they are young enough to be able to work in different contexts. Many of the selected artists took part in the most important biennials all around the world, from Istanbul to Havana. Some of them have big museum shows behind. Authors of this project work with absolutely different media: objects, videos, collages, painting and even performance art. One of the main goals of this project is to create a motley and dynamic picture of here and now.
Nine participants of the exhibition will calculate the freedom coefficients according to their intestinal necessities. Ksenia Peretrukhina will show “Not to Be Barbie” film about modern woman’s dependence on the media image of a perfect body, Vikenti Komitski will bring together continents and geopolitical borders in his collage “Together Again” (this work was mentioned by the national Bulgarian BAZA Award for contemporary art). Exploring subcultural problems, Alina Gutkina will recreate the wall covered with underground graffiti artists’ works - a symbol of “otherness”. This wall was previously situated in Gutkina’s own flat and became one of the reasons for eviction and supervision from law enforcement authorities. Arseniy Zhilyaev will address the problem of human rights activism in historical context with the help of his installation “Vera’s fourth dream” in which he will show research data concerning development of utopian ideas of the 19th century women and the concepts that define their modern colleague’s work. Lado Darakhvelidze continues to develop his project that was shown at this year’s biennial in Istanbul. In a series of paintings called “New State Symbol: Star” the artist analyzes attempts to erase and rewrite state history, paranoid claim of the official authorities to create brand new independent state identity. American artist Lisi Raskin teaches us through her art to stop being afraid of comprehending the possibility to love A-bomb, paraphrasing Stanley Kubrik. Yakov Kazhdan’s new project “I wash my hands” deals with the feeling of guilt and refusal to take up social responsibility in everyday common rituals. Anton Ginzburg employs symbols of occult medieval rituals revised by pop-culture and raises issues of true place of history in modern society accroached by market relations. Slovenian artists Neja Tomšič and Martin Bricelj keep working on their research of western sociocultural space from the perspective of artists from Eastern Europe. In “Sang Noir: Tools for public disobedience” they develop an ironic clothing brand specifically for the activists, while considering all particularities of this kind of work and the latest fashion design trends.On the basis of this cross-section, artists from five different countries will create a joint critical cultural space, presenting the results of their personal research. Freedom coefficient test in European, American and Russian art environment will let the viewer understand the abilities of young contemporary artists and the real level of their artistic responsibility.
The exhibition concept also implies quite an ambitious claim for a new level of freedom in the established circle of Moscow businessmen and collectors. The gallery makes a step towards new global trends in contemporary art which have actively asserted their positions during the last decade and which have been totally ignored by Moscow gallerist community.
The original project «Letters» is perceived in Moscow as national and feminine project. Georgian artist Irma Sharikadze explores the character of the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo as a metaphor of artistic, feminine and national identity. The first picture by Frida was her self-portrait. She painted herself because she was «the subject she knew best», as she put it. The self-portrait with her twin sister is of particular importance to us. It depicts two beautiful young women in their best clothes and with naked hearts. Their hearts are bound by the same blood flow.
The «Letters» project by the Georgian artist reminds us of our joint cultural blood flow, of the art's ability to cross the borders and possess not only people, but also itself. Frida invented her twin sister who is now inventing Frida, being Irma Sharikadze's character. In the «Letters» project we see them both – Frida and Maritsa – the Georgian artist's alter ego, her own game with the artist's character, character strategies, history and languages of art.
The character tempts the artist to live another life, the twin sister makes it possible. Frida gave birth to Maritsa, Frida appears in the letters to Maritsa – the sisters become each other's symbolic mothers. («We'd better do it like that: be my mother and I'll be yours, if you have nothing against that, of course») This tender metaphor is pierced by sophisticated dialectics of image and referent, artist and character. It's a dialectics of maturing that appealed to Frida Kahlo and probably made the very essence of her art. Irma Sharikadze integrates her own artistic maturing into these two imaginary biographies of the sisters.
Moreover, twin sisters double the beauty. Vitality and strong beauty of the Georgian artist's characters send us back to the lines of Sergei Parajanov's force field. The viewer's attention slides along the impeccable image and stumbles at the handwritten text below the picture. Thus, the viewer's perception of the project is based not on the clichés of the glossy magazines that directly associate with spectacular photography, but on conceptual codes. Though, Irma has special relationship with these codes, just like Frida had with surrealist painting. ("They thought I was a Surrealist," she said, "… but I wasn't. I never painted dreams…I painted my own reality".)
Being a sister and a mother at the same time means having the same father, who becomes a husband. In her dream, Frida sees her mother in batiste dress, but suddenly discovers hairy male chest under the light tissue. Artistic effort speaks through this rather spooky dream. At this point individuality breaks free from ancestral taboo. Irma Sharikadze's emancipated effort shows in the rebellion against life circumstances, craving for manliness. The project is electrified by reflections starting with phonetics, not mirrors: Frida, Irma, Georgia, Revolution, Maritsa. We hear the sounds of post-colonial rhymes – Georgian artist in Moscow art scene like Mexican artist in the art scene of New York. Frida found herself in New York when she was 23. One more fact: Frida wore pre-Columbian jewelry of ancient Mesoamerica. The project features amazing jewelry that carries resemblance with archaic art. When looking in the mirror in the installation, we recall bedbound Frida who took the brush for the first time to paint a picture – a picture of herself.
Alexander Evangely
Within the frame of the 3rd Moscow Biennale of Contemporary art, GMG Gallery is pleased to present a special project "Thomas Joshua Cooper and Bill Fontana". This project will comprise of exhibitions by two outstanding American artists - "True" by Thomas Joshua Cooper and "Silent Echoes" by Bill Fontana.
Charting a two year journey to the polar regions of the Atlantic basin, the exhibition True, from renowned international photographer Thomas Joshua Cooper, presents new works from the series, The World's Edge - an ongoing work that seeks to map the extremities of the land and islands that surround the Atlantic Ocean...
September 20, 2:00 PM
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The NOT FOR SALE performance will take place in Moscow on the 18th of September 2009.
The NOT FOR SALE project was co-founded by Alicia Framis, a well known Spanish artist and Michael Lin, an artist from Taiwan, in order to attract well-needed attention to the problems of violence, exploitation and the sale of children.
This Moscow project will take place under the aegis of UNICEF. NOT FOR SALE will present a series of high-quality photographs, a performance and a 'silent' auction. The photographs, which Alicia made in 2007 in Thailand, depict the torsos of children with inscribed NOT FOR SALE necklaces hanging from their necks.
60 boys will participate in the project, continuing a series of performances in Madrid and Bangkok. The boys will walk along the podium, which is decorated with vibrant, multi-colored cloths designed by Michael Lin, proclaiming their personal independence.
Alicia Framis and Michael Lin use modern art techniques and all available sources of information in order to attract the public eye to facts which are rarely mentioned otherwise. Children are used, sold, raped and enslaved throughout the whole world.
According to the U.N. - Thailand (where Alicia came up with the idea of NOT FOR SALE) has approximately 200 thousand underage prostitutes. The NOT FOR SALE project is a manifest against consumerist treatment of humans and children in particular.
The guests of the NOT FOR SALE project will have the chance to observe a series of photographs of children, will witness the performance prepared by Russian children as well as take part in a 'silent' charity auction. All this will take part in the 'Federation Tower' on the 18th of September.
The auction lots will be - the inscribed NOT FOR SALE necklaces, created by Spanish designers such as Chas Bure, Marthe Miguel, Alberto Leonardo and Carol Salazar. All proceedings from the auction will be donated to the UNICEF fund, which renders aid to children in 157 countries one of which is Russia.
Last year the NOT FOR SALE project took place in Madrid and in September, with the invitation of GMG Gallery and with the support of U.N. UNICEF Children's Fund, Alicia Framis and Michael Lin are introducing an additional alternative of the project in Russia.
Recently we have heard only constant muttering «crisis, crisis, crisis…». Yes, it affected everyone. And yes, it got harder to live. But repeating and hearing the same thing over and over is like repeating word «stool» a thousand times. Finally, one fails to understand which stool people are talking about. It reminds of a proverb that runs in the East: «Your mouth won't get sweet just by saying "halva"».
It's more of a psychological than material phenomenon. And this statement is particularly accurate when it comes to art. Those, who tend to think that this infamous crisis may have beneficial and sanative impact on contemporary art, are right. Now it really has a rare chance to get rid of superfluous ambitions and stop gratifying ill taste. Amid crisis artists gained a precious opportunity to become more responsible and to speak honestly with their own words instead of endlessly recreating things that were considered to be «right» and «contemporary».
Artists are the ones who are in charge of maintaining a quality show in the grand circus of human culture — a smart and joyfully gullish show. It should be honest and simple, but at the same time this show must cite predecessors and provoke disciples to pick the right model of behavior in crisis situations, which art always consists of.
The artists who take part in «The Show Must Go On!» exhibition don't claim to reinvent the wheel or discover the continents again. They responsibly face this crucial challenge.
Located in the very heart of Moscow in the Leont’evsky Lane, GMG Gallery inaugurates its 500 square meter space from November 29, 2007.
