In “ALLEGORIA SACRA we really placed the heroes of Bellini, sometimes literally recognizable in a waiting area of an airport out of which no plane will ever take off again. Only the dreams and visions of “passengers,” in which viewer can guess something,drive the change of forms-ghostly movement.Purgatory, in accordance with Catholic faith, is a state in which the souls of dead sinners or righteous are waiting for Hell-Paradise.Our airport isundetermined in size, time and geography liminal space-a place of transition to a new state. In dreams of our characters, it is at one time covered by a blizzard, at another by the hot sands of a desert and yet another by a wild jungle. This, for us, is a place of collective memory, Purgatorium, where sacred symbols of various cultures mix. It is a place where the incompatible combines, where it is possible for Ganesh to meet a Centaur, the past (demon-cannibals) to meet the future (angels-attendants from 2001:A Space Odyssey), where it is possible for old man Job to reincarnate into a child-mutant.(artradarjournal) Moscow-based AES+F COLLECTIVs body of work is reflective of the nuanced backgrounds of collective members Tatiana Arzamasova, Lev Evzovich, Evgeny Svyatsky and Vladimir Fridke the first letters of their last names creating the group’s moniker. Husband and wife Evzovich (b. 1958) and Arzamasova (b. 1955) trained as “conceptual architects” at the Moscow Architectural Institute. Svyatsky (b. 1957) is a graphic artist who studied at Moscow University of Printing Arts, and Fridkes (b. 1956) is best known for his fashion photography; his work has appeared in publications like Vogue, Elle, and Harper’s Bazaar. Formerly known just as AES, the group became AES+F when Fridkes joined in 1995. Each artist’s skill set and creative thumbprint can be found in the works of the collective, which has been collaborating since 1987, when Russia was still the USSR.Comprised of artists from seemingly unrelated artistic niches, the collective’s efforts have spanned across an array of artistic platforms — including sculpture, video installation, computer-based art, photography, drawings, performance — and media, from polymer paint, fiberglass, porcelain, steel, wood and more. Their work has appeared in museums and collections in Russia, the U.S., Germany, Switzerland, France, Spain and South Korea.Varied as the minds behind them, the works of the collective have addressed many different themes. The group’s works comment on consumerism, popular culture and mass media, fashion, advertising, religion and luxury. A number of their works are also interactive and rely on audience engagement to make their statement.
Posted on: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 13:48:05 +0000
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