ninavale - »Paradise is temporarily closed (God).«

ISBN-13: 9783991260653 / Angielski / Miękka / 2021 / 128 str.

Johannes Rauchenberger

Opis

[Katalogbuch zur Ausstellung | Catalogue book to the exhibition ninavale (NINA Kovacheva & Valentin Stefanoff): »Paradise is temporarily closed (God).«, 24. Oktober 2020 bis 13. Februar 2021 | 24th of October 2020 to 13th of February 2021, KULTUM - Zentrum für Gegenwart, Kunst und Religion in Graz.]

"Paradise is temporarily closed (God)." Das bulgarische, in Paris lebende Künstlerpaar ninavale (NINA Kovacheva & Valentin Stefanoff) reagiert mitten in den Lockdowns zur Eindämmung der Corona-Pandemie in seiner Ausstellung auf die aktuelle Weltsituation der Pandemie mit einer subtil ironischen Spiegelung einer Paradiesverweigerung. Distanzierungsregeln, Kontaktbeschränkung und Abstandsgebot hier, himmlische Party dort? Die "Party" galt in jenen Tagen des "Dazwischen" als der Gottseibeiuns von Superspreadern, die das Virus verbreiteten. Ninavale verorteten die Situation in ihrer Rauminstallation ins Paradies. Eine iCloud wurde zum iHeaven, Kinder spielten Adam und Eva. Der Blick durch das Fernrohr in die Sterne empfahl den Lebensgenuss. Doch davon war man in jenen Tagen weit entfernt. Dennoch: Das Leben, die Freiheit, die Anonymität, die Gesellschaft, die Einsamkeit zu genießen wurde zur ambivalenten Botschaft von ninavale in jenen prekären Tagen.
Johannes Rauchenberger, Kurator der Ausstellung, begleitet diese mit einem Bildessay.

"Paradise is temporarily closed (God)." The Bulgarian artist couple ninavale (NINA Kovacheva & Valentin Stefanoff), who live in Paris, react to the current world situation in the middle of the lockdowns to contain the Corona pandemic, their exhibition presenting a subtly ironic reflection of a denial of paradise. Distancing rules, contact restrictions and separation requirements here, heavenly party there? In those days of the "in between", the "party" was considered to be the "devil incarnate" of superspreader events where the virus was passed on. Ninavale located the situation in their spatial installation in paradise. An iCloud became iHeaven, children played Adam and Eve. Looking at the stars through the telescope suggested the enjoyment of life. But that was a long way off in those days. Nevertheless: enjoying life, freedom, anonymity, society and loneliness became ninavale's ambivalent message in those precarious days.
Johannes Rauchenberger, curator of the exhibition, accompanies it with a picture essay.

O autorze

Rauchenberger, Johannes Johannes Rauchenberger: geboren 1969 in Weiz, Studium der Kunstgeschichte und Theologie in Graz, Tübingen und Köln (MMag. Dr.). 1998 holte ihn Rektor Josef Fink ins Kulturzentrum bei den Minoriten, ein Mehrspartenhaus für zeitgenössische Kunst, Gegenwartskultur und Religion nach Graz. Seit dessen Tod im Dezember 1999 leitet er dieses im deutschsprachigen Raum einzigartige Kulturzentrum unter kirchlicher Trägerschaft, das Rauchenberger mit seinem Team in seiner Mehrspartigkeit ausgebaut und spezifisch programmatisch weiterentwickelt hat: als ein Haus für zeitgenössische Kunstformen, das dem Diskurs über Gegenwart und Religion ein besonderes Augenmerk schenkt. Er ist Kurator für zeitgenössische Kunst, Kulturpublizist und Lehrbeauftragter für Kunst und Religion an den Universitäten Wien und Graz. ninavale (NINA Kovacheva & Valentin Stefanoff) NINA Kovacheva & Valentin Stefanoff: born 1960 and born 1959 in Sofia, Bulgaria. They both graduated from the National Academy of Arts, Sofia in 1985. Since 1995 Nina and Valentin live in Paris, France. Nina and Valentin have lived and worked together for several decades. During this time, they have created both individual and joint works. Often, art critics speak of them as three artists: Nina, Valentin, and Nina & Valentin or ninavale. While the first half of nineties, they participated in exhibitions, biennales, travel about various projects and residence programs in USA, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria etc. In 1994 they created their first common installation "The Used One". The second half of nineties, the medium used by ninavale, concentrate mainly on video and video installations. In the first years of the Millennium they focus more and more on their common projects. At that period was created videos as: "Wet Contact", 2001 / "I am the Best" (video version), 2002 / "Currency", 2003 / "One, Several, Many Odyssey", 2003 / "3,39 %", 2004 / "Let's have some fun", 2004 / "How Near So Far", 2005 / "Desire and Resistance Determine the Motion", 2007 / "Two days'distance", 2007-2009. An important point in their common career are the video installations they created for facades of museums, public buildings and other public spaces as: "In the Out", 2002 was shown at the 4th Biennale of Contemporary Art, Cetinje, Montenegro. For the video installation "In the Out", Nina and Valentin were awarded the Annual Award of UNESCO: The 2002 UNESCO Prize for the Promotion of the Arts.In 2004 they created "Au-delà du Visible" for the "Nuit Blanche", Paris. After "Nuit Blanche", with the kind support of the city of Paris, the installation was shown during the months of November and December 2004. After adaptation to the specific architectural environment of different buildings and spaces, the installation was on display also in: The National Museum of Contemporary Art, Bucharest, Romania, 2005 / 4th Biennale of Contemporary Art, Quebec, Canada, 2008 / Zendai MoMA, Shanghai, China, 2008 / Facade of the Bulgarian Embassy in Paris, 2008 / The National Academy of Fine Arts, Sofia, Bulgaria, 2010. Other video installations: "Phases of Accumulation and Extraction in a Limited Space", 2005 / "Play for Two Hands and Black", 2006 created respectively for the facades of the National Art Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria, and the National Academy of Fine Arts in Sofia, Bulgaria, subsequently adapted and displayed in the Museum for Modern and Contemporary Art, Strasbourg, France / Zendai, MoMA, Shanghai, China, Li Centre, Beijing / the Museum for Contemporary Art, Taipei, Taiwan / The old Post, V. Tarnovo, Bulgaria, Cu29 Gallery, Plovdiv, Bulgaria. During the same period they created the installations: "I am The Best" (six channel video installation) 2002/2010 / "The Stranger in us", 2005 / "The other - no other than the self?" (Three channel video installation), 2010 / In 2012, ninavale created the site-specific installation "Physics and Metaphisics of the Dark Spot" for the space of Arosita Art Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria. Ninavale's works was shown as well in many group exhibitions as (selection): "Crossing Time International", Dartington, UK, 2002 / "Die Beherrschung der Natur", Kunsthalle, Hannover, Germany, 2002 / "Sound and Image", Inner Space Multimedia Art Poznan, Poland, 2002 / "Return Nature II", Nanjing Shenghua Arts Centre, China 2003 / "Export - Import", City Art Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria, 2003 / "Cosmopolis I, Macedonian Museum of Modern Art, Thessaloniki, Greece, 2004 / "Two Asias, Two Europes", Shanghai Doloun Museum of Modern Art, China 2005 / Apollonia Art Centre, Strasbourg, France, 2005 / Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain, Strasbourg, France, 2007 / "Face" ZONE: Chelsea Center for the Arts, New York, NY, USA, 2007 / "Mediations", National Museum, Poznan, Poland, 2007 / "European Attitude", Ze