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Bill Viola and Sherin Neshat On 18 November, 2003, in the General Staff opened an exhibition, which introduces the Russian public to the best samples of video art and shows how contemporary artists are using new media technologies to create works of art. The exhibition has been organized by The State Hermitage Museum in collaboration with PRO ARTE Institute, in participation with Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, with support from Ford Foundation; Consulate General of the U.S. in St. Petersburg; CEC International Partners, USA. The Hermitage shows the video installations of Bill Viola, Greetings (1995), from the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, and Sherin Neshat, Turbulent (1998), from the Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York. These authors have taken part in many international exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale, which is the oldest and most prestigeous world forum of contemporary art. A valuable addition to the show are works by old masters, including engravings, drawings and Persian miniatures from the Hermitage collection, which make this exhibition a unique event both for Russia and most of the world's museums. Bill Viola's video installation was created in 1995 for the Venice Biennale to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the early Florentine mannerist painter Jacopo Carucci, called Pontormo. The subject was taken from Pontormo's painting Visitation (about 1530) from Pieve di San Michele in the Tuscan town of Carmignano. From the 17th to the 19th centuries, this work was generally ignored. The twentieth century rediscovered Jacopo Pontormo, hailing him as the major figure in the generation of artists immediately following the High Renaissance giants Leonardo, Michelangelo and Rafael. It is remarkable that the master was inspired by Albrecht Durer's little engraving Four Witches (1497), showed in the display alongside Pontormo's drawings from the Hermitage collection. Films of the American artist of Iranian origin Sherin Neshat aspire to give a new interpretation of the age-long problems, such as love, rivalry, perfection and identity. The video installation Turbulent probes deep into this multifaceted world. The film focuses on the interplay of male and female roles within the Islamic society. Emphasizing the male/femal watershed, Neshat projects her films on opposite walls, putting her audience into the center of action, where it is forced to play an active part. Characters' costumes and symbols associated with religious and social codes of the Islamic society are full of metaphors, which exert an almost hypnotic effect on the audience. Contracts in opinions of the roles of man and woman in Muslim countries are underlined by contrasts of colors. An addition to the exhibition are 11 unique Persian miniatures of the 15th century from the Hermitage collection, which illustrate a manuscript of Khamsa by Nizami (1141-1203). This manuscript masterpiece was created in 1431 in Herat for Tamerlane's son Shah Rokh (1404-1447). At the same time The State Russian Museum shows the following video-installations: Needle Woman (1999-2000) by Kim Sooja (USA- So. Korea); Threshold to the Kingdom (2000) by Mark Wallinger, (UK); Territorium (1999) by Aermout Mik (Netherland); Home (2001) by Uri Katzenstein (Israel). |
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Copyright © 2011 State Hermitage Museum |
