aljoscha [exhibitions] > "Iconoclasm and Bioism"

16.12.2016-27.01.2017
"Iconoclasm and Bioism"
Julia Ritterskamp, Düsseldorf, Germany.

Aljoscha, bioism, biofuturism

Since the Ukrainian revolution, the “Euromaidan”, in 2013/14, and especially since the adoption of the so-called “De-Communization Act” of April 2015 by the current Ukrainian government, statues of Lenin and Marx created as symbols of the former Communist regime have been destroyed and removed, or at least left damaged, throughout the entire country. These iconoclastic acts – not seldom against the will of the people – were often carried out in hasty cloak-and-dagger operations.

“b-meeting #30” was held from October 6-17, 2015 at various locations in Ukraine. In preparation for this, Aljoscha conducted detailed research on and located over 800 recently damaged or destroyed monuments to Lenin from the country’s Soviet era. In the fractures and cavities of the remains of some of these sculptures, he then implanted his “Bioism” creatures.

With their still recognizable, stereotypical characteristics of Socialist Realism, the concrete grey statue remains will be juxtaposed with the vivid red, organically growing structures of Aljoscha’s “Bioism” objects, resulting in a strong formal and contextual contrast: Since the “Bioism” creatures appear to grow out of and emerge from the empty spaces and fractures of statues of former Communism icons, they raise the question as to what values, what new orders and structures, are to take the place of the broken ideologies of the 20th century. “Iconoclasm and Bioism” can be understood as a description of the current status and condition, and also as a proposal for the creative redefinition of the relationship between art and nature in the context of the rapid development on all levels of modern society. By combining two contrasting notions of sculpture, a past and a future tense, “Iconoclasm and Bioism” not only raises important questions about the relevance and aesthetics of contemporary art, it is also addresses the extremely important question, which goes far beyond the specific situation in contemporary Ukraine, as to what the role of art in the configuration of future and sustainable social structures will be.

Dr. Peter Lodermeyer
Gérard A. Goodrow