VENICE ARCHITECTURE BIENNALE
Palazzo Mora
May 20 - NOV 26 2023
THROUGHOUT HISTORY, WAR HAS BEEN A SUBJECT THAT HAS INSPIRED MANY ARTISTS. FROM THE EARLIEST CAVE PAINTINGS DEPICTING BATTLES TO MODERN-DAY PHOTOGRAPHS OF SOLDIERS IN COMBAT, THE IMPACT OF WAR ON ART IS UNDENIABLE.
ONE OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT WAYS WAR HAS INFLUENCED CONTEMPORARY ART IS BY USING NEW MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGIES. IN THE AFTERMATH OF WORLD WAR II, FOR EXAMPLE, ARTISTS BEGAN EXPERIMENTING WITH NEW MATERIALS, SUCH AS PLASTICS, WHICH WERE READILY AVAILABLE DUE TO THE WAR EFFORT.
SIMILARLY, CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS HAVE QUICKLY EMBRACED DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES AND SOCIAL MEDIA TO DOCUMENT AND RESPOND TO WAR. ARTISTS HAVE USED THESE MEDIUMS TO CREATE IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCES THAT ALLOW VIEWERS TO ENGAGE WITH WAR’S PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL ASPECTS.
EDUARD LOCOTA’S NEWEST PIECES FOCUS ON CONFLICT, ISOLATION, AND WAR, WITH PROTAGONISTS SOMETIMES POSING PROVOCATIVELY AND DEFIANTLY, EITHER RESTING NONCHALANTLY ON OR NEAR A DEADLY MISSILE, TWISTING REALITY AND PORTRAYING WAR THROUGH A DIFFERENT LENS. HIS LATEST BODY OF WORK COEXISTS AT THE BORDER OF PHYSICAL AND DIGITAL. PRESENT AT THE ARCHITECTURE BIENNALE 2023, LOCOTA HAS PREPARED A TRIO OF SCULPTURES CONSISTING OF DIGITAL SCANS OF ACTUAL PEOPLE, ONE BEING HIMSELF.
EACH PERSON IS PORTRAYED BY A PARTICULAR CLASSIC SCULPTURE, CHOSEN CAREFULLY FOR ITS POSE AND MEANING BUT TRANSFORMED TO FIT THE CURRENT SOCIO-POLITICAL CONTEXT IN WHICH WE LIVE.
BY DOCUMENTING THE EXPERIENCES OF THOSE AFFECTED BY WAR AND PROMOTING SOCIAL JUSTICE, CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS HAVE HELPED TO RAISE AWARENESS OF THE DEVASTATING IMPACT OF CONFLICT AND INSPIRE CHANGE. AS LONG AS THE WAR CONTINUES TO BE A PART OF THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE, IT WILL CONTINUE TO INFLUENCE AND SHAPE THE ART OF OUR TIME.
EDUARD LOCOTA’S CREATIONS HIGHLIGHT THE SYNTHESIS THROUGH ALTERNATIVE MATERIALS USED, SUCH AS SYNTHETIC MARBLE (RESIN AND MARBLE DUST), SYNTHETIC RESIN (PLEXIGLASS), SYNTHETIC CEMENT (JESMONITE), CHARCOAL, BURNED WOOD, AND NOW SAND.
YOU CAN SEE HIS TRIO IN VENICE AT PALAZZO MORA FROM THE 21ST OF MAY UNTIL THE 26TH OF NOVEMBER IN THE “TIME SPACE EXPERIENCE” EXHIBITION ORGANIZED BY EUROPEAN CULTURE CENTER.
