Milano, “Cosmopolitan” is the exhibition that unites Russian artists and a Ukrainian curator

Milano, “Cosmopolitan” is the exhibition that unites Russian artists and a Ukrainian curator.

Dimitris Angelopoulos, Taisia ​​Korotkova, Dodo Marzipano, Nikos Moschos, Victor Pastor, Achilleas Pistonis, Maria Pogorzhelskaya, Alexander Pogorzhelsky and Chantal Van Houten are the authors of the 23 works on display, who start a dialogue on the portrait, giving the possibility to observer to reflect on this particular type of contemporary representation and on the conception of the human figure.

On the occasion of the exhibition, whose inauguration will be held on Tuesday 11 April from 16pm to 20pm, the young Ukrainian curator Bohdan Stupak has written a critical text.

In Alexander Pogorzhelsky's pencil sketches, part of the Forgotten Ancestors series, traditional costumes prevail, a path of theatrical attraction, from the diversity and similarities of the clothes that are handed down from generation to generation together with the customs and rituals. “This varied world of traditions has come down to us in the form of fairy tales and legends – explains Alexander -. My project can be perceived as the collection of drawings for a non-existent theater stage, the attempt to find a new point of view to the inheritance we have received from our ancestors".

If Pogorzhelsky's imagery is closely linked to the traditions of costume, Taisia ​​Korotkova's is a focus on a not so distant future. The depiction of man-machines was born from the idea of ​​defining the human attitude towards the development that has taken hold in this era. The step towards a total use of artificial intelligence is short and Taisia, working on this topic, asks herself several questions: “When drawing humanoid robots, what do we see, a portrait or a still life? What is our attitude towards artificial intelligence placed in a human image? Do we perceive a robot as a person?”.

The answers may be various but the first that the artist gives is that the characters painted in his works are robots actually designed by various robotic companies in collaboration with universities, already conveying the idea of ​​closeness towards an only apparently distant future.

If the questions about Korotkova's androids push the visitor into a future that he is not yet able to make his own, Maria Pogorzhelskaya's works confirm the joy of living through simple gestures such as taking care of oneself, an almost sketchy painting, where the subjects feel free in their spaces because they don't know they are being seen. “My works deal with the desire to explore given by an aesthetic that exists only in our hearts. With them I declare the beauty and fun necessary in everyone's life."

Joy becomes celebration through a vibrant palette of pastel colors in the works of Dodo Marzipano. Here extravagance and "vintage" elements blend to create nostalgic scenes of human bonds which, as Dodo Marzipano says, existed only as an idea. Through his paintings, the artist manages to make people reflect on the importance of happiness in everyday life, expressing it in an elegant but strong and affirmative way.

The tones change and leave room for a more social and political reflection in the canvases of the Spanish artist Victor Pastor, which show groups of people gathered together, where one being prevails over all. It is a denunciation of the manipulation that one suffers from those at the top, from an education in life that ultimately benefits a select few. Victor expresses his disagreement with society: “Something is not working properly in the system we live in, I firmly believe that, as individuals, we have the obligation to analyze this information, question it, in short, these paintings criticize an increasingly submissive, monotonous and trapped by a ferocious capitalism”.

“Although the traps are imposed from above, sometimes without realizing it we impose them ourselves, we think about the perfection of the image we want to give to others of ourselves”. This is where painter Chantal Van Houten focuses her work and states: “There is always a message in my paintings. Sometimes it's clear, other times it's dark. So I force the viewer to look carefully at the canvas, but that's the beauty of it. I want people to experience confusion. The faces refer to today's society, the opposite of what we see on social media, where everything is made impeccably bright." It is a clear invitation to remove the masks and not to be afraid of a crude opinion because our soul wins over the aesthetic aspect.

Achilleas Pistonis manages to make the masks fall through his pictorial language. His painting gives an exclusive anthropocentric expression of the human figure, combined with a realism with his own symbols, taken from a repertoire of personal experiences. He condenses strong emotions, intense intellectual maneuvers and clinical observation. The geometric line denounces any superfluous artifice or decoration by focusing exclusively on the protagonist who transforms familiar scenes of everyday life into psychodramas.

Nikos Moschos also investigates emotions, inspired by the type of bonds that are created through complicated relationships that sometimes lead to toxicity. The denial of movement is perceived due to unhappiness and doubts related to the relationship, a constantly moving situation, an idea, an experience or a neurosis. The setting is pervaded by dreamlike thought “I think of my work as illustrated allegories. Metaphors that are created through a continuous mixing of abstract forms, at the beginning, and then subsequently transformed into recognizable elements that formulate a story full of mental associations".

The brushwork of the artist Dimitris Angelopoulos is more thoughtful. He declares: “I give a more abstract, naive representation to both the figure and the nature that surrounds it, with fantasy elements reminiscent of a dream image, hiding my emotions and giving the viewer the opportunity to create their own” .

Information on “Cosmopolitan”

On display from April 12 to May 7, 2023

Opening: Tuesday 11 April 2023, 16-20pm

Location: Cittadella degli Archives, via Ferdinando Gregorovius, 15, Milano

Hours: Monday to Friday, from 10am to 19pm

Free entry

La Citadel of the Archives of Milano it is a mechanized archive center that houses documents from the municipality of Milano. Located in the Niguarda area, it houses over 2,5 million files and files of historical, sociological, cultural and administrative interest produced by public and private bodies, as well as tens of thousands of files produced by municipal offices every year. With a capacity of approximately 70 linear km, the Citadel of Archives is one of the largest mechanized archives in Europe. Through the use of sophisticated and modern technology, the Cittadella has started a process of dematerialisation of documents in order to guarantee better preservation compared to paper support and more direct access to consultation. In a redevelopment process, the Citadel begins the production of a series of exhibitions and artistic works based on the documentary heritage in its possession. Cittadelladegliarchivi – Milano

Isorrhopia Homegallery is a non-profit cultural association, based in Milano. The association deals with the promotion and diffusion of art, in all its forms, allowing knowledge of the most contemporary phenomena, which manifest themselves through multidisciplinary methods (from visual to multimedia art). The association's aims are pursued through the creation and organization of events, exhibitions and initiatives aimed at raising public awareness of the world of art. The promotion of artists, mainly emerging and young, but also established, is carried out through the subsidy and support of their projects also resorting to collaboration with the galleries that represent them, encouraging meetings and the mutual exchange of experiences. To date, over 50 exhibitions have been organised, almost all visible with photos and projects in 3DTour and on the website isorropiahomegallery

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