BORDERS Art Fair 2020 - FRAGMENTED IDENTITIES

ITSLIQUID Group, in collaboration with Venice Events and ACIT Venice – Italian-German Cultural Association, is proud to announce the stunning success of FRAGMENTED IDENTITIES, second appointment of BORDERS Art Fair 2020, that occurred in Venice at THE ROOM Contemporary Art Space and at Palazzo Albrizzi-Capello, from September 03 to October 02 2020, with the participation of more than 120 artists from more than 30 countries.

Never as this time the concept of the exhibition seemed to be epochal: since several months, the humankind coexists at a distance to stay closer. The new invisible borders generated by the Covid-19 are creating new ways of living everyday life, new human connections, re-thinking common spaces and entire cities. Could the new “borders” be the solution? We invited artists, architects and designers to be inspired by this new era, exploring the connection between desires, needs, fears that brings humankind to change, to transform and to evolve our inner world: the answers have been impressive!

FRAGMENTED IDENTITIES, the second appointment of BORDERS Art Fair 2020, focuses on the concept of identities as different pieces of human being. The mission of art is to analyze all those fragmented identities, recognize and use them to see things through many points of view and imagination in order to broke all barriers and boundaries of every day’s life and to create the relationship between man and space. Art can show that there is not a unique perspective on our conscious and unconscious being.

This time ITSLIQUID Group had to re-think the openings of the events to prioritize the safety of the people involved: all day long groups of artists, photographers, video makers, architects, collectors and art lovers have succeeded one another to visit the exhibition spaces respecting the restrictions given by our government and enjoying in any possible way the art event. In this peculiar moment, we took the opportunity to create a stronger connection between the visitors and the artists, who shared their visions and their inner world.

At THE ROOM Contemporary Art Space the visitors started coming early. The wonderful and poetic photos of Mick Inger welcome them on the wall in front of the entrance. The Bavarian born photographer captured the high tide in his beloved Venice, and with a long exposure he gives us a deep sense of peacefulness. Speaking of photography, of course we have to mention Martyna Bec and Danielle Benvenuto. They are both from Berlin, where they live at present, but they come from different countries and they have opposite stories and backgrounds. First, we discovered the idea behind Danielle’s photo ensemble, in which two faces from two different persons are set so close one to the other that they are almost blended, as to represent one face only. Are these fragmented identities or is a unique identity made by diverse perspectives? Then Martyna Bec, during the video interview with Luca Curci, explains us how she conceived her amazingly deep photo series. Her project is still ongoing and it tells about the struggle of building an identity when you move from another country and you have to start a new life. In her work she loves the process – collecting of material, subjective documentation of reality, going in and observing what will happen – because she thinks it is a self discovery too. “I photograph only when I feel strong connection with my subject, using more stomach, heart, than intellect. There is no border between work and life” she said, “it is not about being professional photographer and pleasing the receivers expectations, but showing your own, naked, subjective truth”. And it can clearly be seen in her photos.

Among the live interviews Luca Curci had on the opening day, in fact, one of the most interesting was definitely the one with Ipek Ozel, the legal representative of prisoned Kurd poet Ilhan Sami Comak. Two short videos presented in the exhibition, and made by two Turkish video-makers, were created about him and about the story of his 25-years long imprisonment. During the FRAGMENTED IDENTITIES opening at THE ROOM we had also the honor to present the launch of the new collection of jewels by 12PM, an Italian brand which created stunning flower-shaped earrings, necklaces and bracelets made in Volterra alabaster. They were so sophisticated with their manufactured embroidery and they were presented in an elegant cage – no one could tell they were inspired by a comics’ storyboard illustrator! At last, we have to mention other two artists: Olga Georgitsia fascinated the visitors with her three large paintings characterized by a smooth atmosphere. Figures painted with strong colors stand out against the black background: they are headless, but they act as if they have it, using phones and headphones. They seem to live normally, but actually they are warning us about how the use of technologies and social media is separating us from the others. Finally, Chun Chieh Chang, who wants his paintings to be imperfect, as many thing in life and in ourselves too. This acceptance of imperfections make artist face anxiety, and it reveals a lot about our human condition as a melting pot of sensation and fluctuating emotions.

On September 04, the ancient walls and frescoed ceilings of Palazzo Albrizzi-Capello reveal their magnificence to the visitors. It was impressive the contrast between their antiquity and the beautiful creations of the italian designer Massimo Crivelli, from Milan. His avantgarde haute-couture dresses were made after a strong research of materials and shapes which remind us the venetian glasses, also for their techniques, which show the artisan’s excellence. In the Sala della Pace, in front of the mannequins by Massimo Crivelli, the visitors could see the great canvases of Martina Della Rocca, who truly expresses her joy of wandering among shapes, colors, feelings and sensations. This time, at the opening in Palazzo Albrizzi-Capello, we had the pleasure to start back with our performance program, which stopped in the past months due to the Covid-19 restrictions. For FRAGMENTED IDENTITIES we hosted three amazing performances, all by women artists coming from Italy, France and Slovenia. Arianna Ilardi, Norma De Saint Picman and the duo Florence Gengoul & Irene Nerys told us through their body the approach to the identity and their idea about the ‘borders’ between them and the outside world. We recognize a part of ourselves in their movements and gestures. In the same way, the German artist Zizi Rincolisky said it about her beautiful work, which is part of a series called “Only in the Other I can recognize myself”. Her figures are never represented as a whole, but always with disjointed body parts, and the subject’s perception of imaginary other in the mirror is never ‘one’ but marked either by division. Interesting is also the approach of Alexandra Kordas, who explained her strong pictorial style and her relation with Faith. Her provocative paintings and sculpture are the perfect representation of her identity, fragmented between sacred and profane, Paradise and Hell, life and death. These are the main contrasts of everyone’s life, and according to her they are well shown in the symbol of the Cross.

The opening day ended with the interesting talk of Paolo De Falco, an italian director and artist, who explained us his life-long artistic research through his travels and the particular point of view of his short films about migration and identity negotiation.

THE ROOM Contemporary Art Space
Calle Larga San Marco, 374 - Venice, Italy
September 03 - October 02, 2020
09:30 AM - 05:30 PM | Monday - Friday

Palazzo Albrizzi-Capello
Cannaregio 4118 - Venice, Italy
September 04 - October 02, 2020
10:00 AM - 06:00 PM | Monday - Friday

Vai alla guida d'arte di Venezia