Exposition à la Galerie Space Place – Nijni Taguil (Russie)

Catalogues, posters, advertising photos: the eyes are caught by the images of women imposed by advertising and media – fashion photos or lingerie where the dictatorship of a single female model reigns: ideal forms, unalterable and eternal youth, images with smooth skin and laminated faces without defects, body without organs. Modern icons that arouse admiration and envy, generate desires and disappointments with their procession of complexes and despair. Icons that have been devoid of any spirituality, images at the service of the power of money.
In front of this huge manipulation machine, feelings of indignation and anger have led me to paint over the photos, to replace these alluring images by paintings, by the mere work of a brush, colors, pigments, ink, pastels : this fight might be seen as “the earthen pot against the brass pot”.
Indeed.
But instead of a cunning use of symbols and images such as in advertising, Art is governed by its own search.
Advertising weakens our will, diverts our thought, ruins our values, whereas Art opens up our mind.
Where adverts alter our values, Art deepens our spiritual thought.
Art enriches our perception and leaves our will free.

(Quoting J.M. Coetzee : «As a young man, I never for a moment allowed myself to doubt that only from a self desengaged from the mass and critical of the mass could true art emerge.»)

Anna Maria Cutolo
July 7th 2019

PS – In this exhibition, what was formerly painting over photo will become a photo of a painting – instead of “ashes to ashes” we are here in “photo to photo”.
Will this process then turn the earthen pot into a brass pot ?