ART-PRESENTATION:William Kentridge
The first comprehensive solo exhibition of the South African artist William Kentridge in Switzerland is presented at Museum Haus Konstruktiv in Zurich, the focus is on the multimedia cycle of works entitled “The Nose”, which is based on the eponymous surreal short story written by Nikolai Gogol in 1836.
By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: Museum Haus Konstruktiv Archive
In 2006, the Metropolitan Opera in New York commissioned William Kentridge to stage Dmitri Shostakovich’s opera of the same name. In this context, a series of works were produced, which can be categorized as visual art, theater, dramaturgy and film. In addition to the large-scale video installation “I am not me, the horse is not mine”, on exhibition are also a number of little-known drawings, prints, paintings, sculptures and tapestries. Kentridge himself describes this work-complex as an elegy for the artistic language of the Russian constructivists and their stimuli for social transformation. In Gogol’s story, the absurd becomes normality and is treated as such. To no small extent, this is why Shostakovich embraced this story, as well as because of its potential for being read as a depiction of the state of affairs in Russia at the end of the 1920s. In “The Nose”, William Kentridge draws on the constructivist language of forms, as well as the socio-political developments in Russia during that time. He makes these a core theme of his artistic engagement, researching an era characterized by new beginnings, which was abruptly ended when Stalin came to power. Kentridge’s oeuvre is also known for its political dimension. Having grown up in South Africa during apartheid, with a father who represented Nelson Mandela as a lawyer, he is quite familiar with socio-political upheaval, uprisings, human rights issues, and the interweaving of politics with art. Russia’s cultural and political upheaval before and after the revolution is also of interest to him against this backdrop.
Info:”The Nose”, Museum Haus Konstruktiv, Selnaustrasse 25, Zurich, Curating: Sabine Schaschl, Duration: 4/6-6/9/15, Days & Hours: Tue, Thu-Sun: 11:00-17:00, Wed: 11:00-20:00, www.hauskonstruktiv.ch
