kurimanzutto - Abraham Cruzvillegas at Villa Manin

Abraham Cruzvillegas at Villa Manin | Italy

04-18-08

God & Goods
Spirituality and Mass Confusion

curated by Francesco Bonami and Sarah Cosulich Canarutto
opening april 19 | 6 p.m.

april 20 - september 28, 2008

Villa Manin Centro d'Arte Contemporanea
piazza Manin 10, Passariano
33033 Codroipo (Udine), Italy
T +39 0432 821211 - F +39 0432 821229

GOD & GOODS. Spirituality and Mass Confusion aims to open a dialogue with the topic of religion being it an immense, controversial and unresolved debate but also a concept open to new and diverse forms of interpretation.

The works of the twenty-eight artists in the exhibition underline existential questions, play with the senses and perception of reality and challenge in some cases the mechanisms of beliefs. Art looks at religion from an outside perspective: it can expose the evocative power of an image as well as relate the mythology of consumer goods to holy iconography.

The title itself implicitly contains three ways in which the works seem to approach religion and its dynamics. The dichotomy God and goods speaks of the relationship between religion and consumption, spirituality refers to those works that suggest the search for an alternative dimension, while the word confusion recalls doubt in all its meanings.

In the past art and religion have been indissolubly linked, considering that only a few centuries ago the artists really freed themselves from the wishes and the necessities of the commissioners. But what is the relationship between art and religion today? Maybe it would be correct to say that they are complementary: one asks questions, the other gives answers.

Abraham Cruzvillegas (1968), Autorretrato Ciego, 2007-2008, Black acrylic paint on newspaper, postcards, envelopes, tickets, fruit and food wraps, letters, drawings, posters, flyers, stickers, cards, recipes, prescriptions, maps, napkins and steel pins on wall
Variable dimensions (400 units aprox)

What brings them closer it is not their consequentiality but, on the contrary, their common source of doubt. This exhibition wishes to observe the way in which, through doubt, the artists challenge the stereotypes and the limitations of the concept of God to substitute it with many different and infinite question marks.

The works in the exhibition, dating from the late Eighties until nowadays and including also some new site specific projects, deal with the concept of religion from a series of indirect point of views: they can confront its dictates with irreverence, analyse its systems and dynamics or propose, ironically or not, alternative models.

more information: www.villamanincontemporanea.it


	Fundación/Colección Jumex \| National Museum of Art \| Mexico City the practice of everyday life curated by Frédéric Bonnet november 27, 2008 - march 15, 2009 12-04-08
	kurimanzutto in artforum Linda Yablonsky's article about our inauguration at scene & herd 12-03-08
	Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo \| Mexico City Recursos incontrolables y otros desplazamientos naturales Curated by Olivier Debroise (1952-2008) group show 11-26-08