AIDAN SALAKHOVA, “FASCINANS and TREMENDUM”, THE MOSCOW MUSEUM OF MODERN ART (MMOMA)

exhibition view
exhibition view
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exhibition view
door of MMOMA Gogolevsky Street
door of MMOMA Gogolevsky Street
crane transport
crane transport
crane transport
crane transport
crane transport
crane transport
crane transport
crane transport
painter team
painter team
painter team
painter team
opening cranes
opening cranes
opening cranes
opening cranes
4th december 2012 public opening
4th december 2012 public opening
vasili tserelli, BM, yana gaponenko
vasili tserelli, BM, yana gaponenko
bm at mmoma-3rd december 2012
bm at mmoma-3rd december 2012
3rd december 2012-mmoma opening speech
3rd december 2012-mmoma opening speech
bm-mmoma3- 3rd december opening speech
bm-mmoma3- 3rd december opening speech

Catalogue text: FASCINANS AND TREMENDUM

PRESS RELEASE
The Moscow Museum of Modern Art opens Aidan Salakhova’s largest‐ever exhibition of artworks, some of which were shown at the Azerbaijan   Pavilion during the 54th Venice Biennale in 2011. The remainder were created   in the past 3 years and not yet seen in public.
This is Aidan’s first   personal exhibition since 2009 is curated by Beral Madra, and it will display more than 50 works   grouped into three thematic constellations: The Body, The Hands, and The   Objects. Aidan uses a wide range of techniques and material such as drawings,   paintings, marble sculpture, and video.
Known for challenging   portrayals of veiled female figures and references to religious and   traditional symbolism that deconstruct the desires of the patriarchal order,   Aidan explores the complex and enigmatic identity of women today. She invites   the viewer to analyze and solve the codes of the patriarchal subconscious and   neurosis. These codes are astonishingly similar in all cultures from the past   to the present.
The veil, which   signifies the religious and social identity of women in different cultures   since Antiquity, has been the leading metaphor in Aidan’s recent work. By   depicting the veil as a stereotype of Orientalism, she addresses political,   social, psychological and spiritual dimensions in both the Islamic and   Orthodox worlds. Aidan uses an archaic poetic visual language that relates to   Islamic miniatures and Byzantine icons, and challenges the viewer through the   covered or uncovered women.
Aidan’s intention is   to open discussion on several themes. These include: 1) today’s disputes   about applications of the veil as a sign or a political tool; 2) enlightened   or chauvinistic opinions on female identity; 3) the conscious or subconscious   of male hegemony; 4) these signifiers (the body, the hands, the objects) as a   means to scrutinize and to question the systems that manipulate and exploit   the female body as an object of voyeurism, pleasure and narcissism.
The marble teardrops,   the most minimalist piece in her work, refer to the sensitivity, grief and   joy of female identity. In the drawing, painting and relief series Aidan   leads our gaze to the hands, the only visible body parts other than the face   under the hijab. The smooth white hands with exquisite stirring gestures   reflect the spirit and intelligence of the women more than their face, and   that is exactly what Aidan intends
Aidan Salakhova,   Biography
Since the late 1980s   Aidan Salakhova has been one of the strongest influences on the development   of contemporary art in Russia. Working for over 20 years simultaneously as   both an artist and gallerist, Ms Salakhova helped forge a new contemporary   art aesthetic in a country that previously had none.
She was co-founder of   First Gallery in 1989, Russia’s first contemporary art gallery. In 1992 she   opened Aidan Gallery, which was one of the leading contemporary art galleries   in Russia until it closed in May 2012.
Ms Salakhova has   exhibited her artworks at major international art fairs and biennales,   including twice at the Venice Biennale of Contemporary Art (1991, and 2011),   and at the Second Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art (2007)

BASIN BÜLTENİ
MOSKOVA MODERN SANAT MÜZESİ (MMOMA)
AIDAN SALAKHOVA’NIN “FASCINANS AND TREMENDUM” BAŞLIKLI SERGİSİNİ SUNUYOR
4 ARALIK 2012 – 20 OCAK 2013 / BASIN AÇILIŞI: 3 ARALIK 2012
Kürator: Beral Madra
Moskova Modern Sanat Müzesi 4 Aralık’ta Aidan Salakhova’nın 3 yıldır ürettiği, yalnız bir kaçı 54. Venedik Bienali Azerbaycan Pavyonunda gösterilmiş yapıtlarından oluşan büyük bir sergiyi açıyor.
2009’dan sonraki  bu kişisel sergisinde Aidan Salakhova’nın 50’den fazla yapıtı üç grupta sunuluyor: Gövde, Eller ve Nesneler. Aidan Salakhova desen, resim, mermer heykel ve videodan oluşan çok çeşitli teknikler ve malzemelerle çalışıyor.
Din ve gelenek bağlamında göndermesi olan peçeli/örtünmüş kadını betimleyen figürleriyle tanınan Aidan Salakhova kadının günümüzdeki karmaşık ve gizemli kimliğini babaerkin düzenin arzusunu yapı-söküme uğratarak sorguluyor. O, İzleyiciyi babaerkin bilinçaltının ve nevrozunun şifrelerini çözmeye ve açımlamaya davet ediyor. Bu şifrelerin geçmişten bugüne bütün kültürlerde şaşırtıcı derecede benzerliğine dikkat çekiyor.
Antik çağlardan günümüze çeşitli kültürlerde kadının dinsel ve toplumsal kimliğini işaret eden peçe/örtü Aidan’ın işlerinde başlıca metaforlardan birisidir.  Örtünmeyi Oryantalizmin kalıplaşmış imgesi olarak betimlerken, o bunun siyasal, toplumsal, ruhsal ve tinsel boyutunu İslam ve Ortodoks dünyasında irdeler.  İslam minyatürlerine ve Bizans ikonlarına gönderme yapan şiirsel bir görsel dil kullanır ve izleyiciyi örtünen ve örtünmeyen kadın aracılığıyla düşünmeye kışkırtır.
Serginin küratörü Beral Madra’ya göre Aidan’ın amacı birkaç konuda tartışma açmaktır:
1. Örtünmenin günümüzde bir işaret veya bir siyasal araç olarak kullanılması;
2. Kadın kimliği üstüne aydınlanmış ya da şoven düşüncelerin belirlenmesi;
3. Erkek egemenliğin bilinci ve bilinçaltının sorgulanması;
4. Kadın gövdesini bir narsisim, dikizcilik veya arzu nesnesi olarak işleyen ve irdeleyen sistemlerin sorgulaması ve eleştirilmesi.

Mermer gözyaşları, onun yapıtları içindeki en sade iştir ve kadın kimliğindeki duygu yüklülüğe, acıya ve sevince gönderme yapar. Desenlerinde ve resimlerinde Aidan Salakhova bakışımızı ellere yönlendirir ki bu da örtünen kadının yüzünden başka görünen tek uzvudur. O, çeşitli jestleri ifade eden yumuşak beyaz eller, kadınların yüzlerinden daha çok onların yüksek ruhunu ve aklını yansıtır ki bu da tam Aidan’ın göstermek istediği şeydir.
Aidan Salakhova, Biyografi
1980’lerin sonundan bugüne Aidan Salakhova Rusya’daki çağdaş sanat gelişmelerinde en etkin kişilerden birisi oldu. 20 yıldır sanatçı ve galerici olarak çalışan Salakhova ülkede daha önce var olmayan yeni bir çağdaş sanat estetiğinin yerleşmesini sağladı. 1989’da Rusya’nın ilk çağdaş sanat galerisi olarak kurulan First Gallery’nin ortağı oldu. 1992’de Aidan Gallery’i açtı ve bu galeri 2012Mayıs’ında kapanana değin Rusya’nın önde gelen galerilerinden birisiydi. Aidan Salakhova’nın yapıtları çok sayıda uluslararası sergi ve Venedik Bienali (1991 ve 2011) ve 2. Moskova Beinali (2007) gibi bienallerde sergilendi.