ARTEXT : La Biennale di Venezia
55 Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte
Giardini di Castello - Russia

Vadim Zakharov: Danaë
Vadim Zakharov

The theme of the installation turns around the ancient Greek myth of Danaé. The myth of Zeus and Danaé has inspired many famous works of art since ancient times, including the picture by Rembrandt, painted in1636-1647 and kept in the State Hermitage Museum, where it was seriously damaged in 1985 by a madman who threw sulphuric acid onto the canvas and slashed it in two places.

Vadim Zakharov: The installation has two points for viewing from above and from below (in the central hall of the Pavilion a large square hole has been made in the ceiling of the lower exhibition space, and an altar rail with cushions for kneeling has been built on the upper floor, around the hole). Kneeling and looking down, we can grasp and feel that we are present at a unique process of materialization of the myth. Through the huge hole in the floor, we fall into another semantic and poetic space, into which golden coins fly from a pyramid ceiling. Below we see women with umbrellas, which protect them from being struck by the coins. The lower hall can only be visited by women. This is not sexism but merely follows the logic of the anatomical construction of the myth. What is masculine can only fall inside from above, in the form of golden rain. The lower level of the Pavilion is a cave womb, keeping tranquility, knowledge, and memory intact.

As Kittelmann (curator) says: The mythological theme of Danaé, as a constantly recurring theme in art from antiquity to the modern age, is given an updated interpretation by Vadim Zakharov in the Russian Pavilion. The Greek myth of the impregnation of Danaé is subjected to numerous readings: a falling shower of gold makes reference to the seduction of Danaé as an allegory for human desire and greed, but also to the corrupting influence of money. Through his artistic staging, Zakharov allows this ancient myth to find a contemporary temporal dimension. Philosophical, sexual, psychological, and cultural fragments become concentrated into a theater-like overall composition throughout the Pavilion rooms. The project has sculptural and pictorial elements and invites active participation by visitors to guarantee the flow of material goods (coins, peanuts, rose petals, people) as an ongoing process. In this Performance in Five Acts, Zakharov presents the significance of the embodiment of myths to a society that no longer lends them any credence.

the time has come to confess our Rudeness, Lust, Narcissism, Demagoguery, Falsehood, Banality, and Greed, Cynicism, Robbery, Speculation, Wastefulness, Gluttony, Seduction, Envy, and Stupidity.

-Tra gli elementi di "Danae" c'è un uomo in giacca e cravatta a cavallo di una sella sistemata su una trave che mangia arachidi.
-Nella mia visione il simbolo dei lavoratori del sistema bancario che, mentre gli uomini si impoveriscono, continuano a disinteressarsi di ciò che accade intorno a loro. Il suo stare in sella senza cavallo rappresenta la perdita del senso di realtà.

-Quando ha accettato l'incarico di rappresentare la Russia alla Biennale lei ha detto di voler trovare un punto di convergenza tra diverse tradizioni culturali, non solo russe. Pensa di esserci riuscito?
-Sì, assolutamente. Sono partito dal mito greco di Danae che è conosciuto universalmente. Se ne trovano tracce dovunque, a quelle mi sono ispirato nel mio metodo di lavoro. Mi sono ispirato all'ultima opera di Marcel Duchamp che riporta alla curiosità dell'uomo di guardare dal buco della serratura per realizzare il buco nel soffitto per guardare ciò che avviene al piano di sotto.

-è stata difficile questa realizzazione in un padiglione su due piani?
-Non lo è stata. Il percorso si sviluppa come in un labirinto con diversi significati in ogni ambiente. E' molto semplice entrare in questo mondo, ma molto difficile uscirne così come dal mito di Danae.

Curatore : Udo Kittelmann
Artista : Vadim Zakharov

Web site: http://www.ruspavilion.ru