Ioana Nemes
Patrizio Di Massimo
9th- 25th March 2012
Danai Anesiadou, Erick Beltrán, Joachim Koester,Patrizio Di Massimo, Ioana Nemes, and Amalia Pica Also includes documentation of actions by Asco, Lygia Clark, Ocaña, and Yeguas del Apocalipsis.
Royal College of Art Galleries, Kensington Gore, London SW7 2EU
ritualwithoutmyth.rca.ac.uk
Ritual without Myth is an exhibition that considers the potential of ritual as a catalyst for transformative experience. Curated by final year MA Curating Contemporary Art students at the Royal College of Art. The exhibition features the work of an innovative group of international artists, many of whom are currently emerging to wide critical acclaim.
Several artists are exhibiting work in London and the UK for the first time, including a newly commissioned, large-scale floor installation by Erick Beltrán, which will consist of variations on notated court dances and distorted Baroque choreographies, which can be performed by the audience; a major new installation by Danai Anesiadou, who works with symbols from her Greek heritage, combined with props of icons from classical and pop culture; and the UK premiere of works by Ioana Nemes, which consist of the transformation of materials associated with Romanian folklore, Eastern European modernism and mass culture.
The exhibition will also offer the first opportunity for UK audiences to see two iconic 16mm films by Joachim Koester, which resonate with the notion of a ritual emptied of mythological significance. The exhibition will present Spanish artist Ocaña for the first time in the UK, who was a revolutionary presence in Barcelona’s underground scene through his festive appearances and counter-cultural political activism. Chilean artists Yeguas del Apocalipsis are being shown for the first time in Europe having gained notoriety for their performative interventions in the Chilean socio-political scene during the transition to democracy after the dictatorship.
The title of the exhibition is taken from the idea of “rituals without myth”, a term used by the Brazilian artist Lygia Clark to describe her work, in particular Structuring the Self (1976-1988), a therapeutic practice that explored the affective potential of her tactile objects through the mind and body of participants.
The artists share a concern for engaging the viewer as a participant through direct experience, formulating and confronting visual languages, which they use to upend or reconfigure ideologies and existing iconographies.
A programme of free events accompanies the exhibition:
Saturday 10 March, 2 – 4pm
Ritual without Myth – Artists in Conversation
Free, no booking required
Amalia Pica in conversation with Julieta González, associate curator of Latin American Art at Tate Modern, London; and Patrizio Di Massimo in conversation with Anders Kreuger, Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp, and Exhibition Curator at Lund Konsthall, Sweden. Join artists Amalia Pica and Patrizio Di Massimo as they discuss their practice with special guest curators. This will be an opportunity to engage with an informal discussion of the artists’ works exhibited in Ritual without Myth, and to gain insight into the recent developments of their respective practices.
Wednesday 14 March, 7 – 9.30pm
An Evening of Screenings and a Performative Lecture
Free, booking is required by email: ritualwithoutmyth@rca.ac.uk
Join us for a night of screenings and performance, including three video works: Danai Anesiadou and Sophie Nys’ X, A & M (2008), Patrizio Di Massimo’s Flight from Disorder (Vogue Ed.) (2010-2011), and Amalia Pica’s On Education (2008) – which further reflect on the social significance of ritual in relation to images of power and figures of authority.
The screenings will be followed by a new performative lecture by Erick Beltrán in collaboration with French musician Greg Gilg, based on the anonymous pamphlet The World Turned Upside Down, printed in 1646.
Saturday 24 March, 2 – 4pm
Ritual Tour with Jeremy Millar and Curating Contemporary Art students
Free, no booking required
Jeremy Millar will be in conversation with the curators of Ritual without Myth as they discuss the exhibited works, and the curatorial process that has shaped the exhibition.
The media partner for Ritual without Myth is Mousse magazine.
The exhibition is supported by Fiorucci Art Trust, Victoria Miro, Lisson Gallery, ArtQuarters Press, Dalum Papir A/S, Peroni S.p.A, Campari, ADi Audiovisual Ltd., The Flash Centre, Gulbenkian Foundation, Argentine Embassy, Embassy of Chile, Embassy of Mexico United Kingdom.
