Bodies cast shadows – at least when they stand in the light.
The shadow is a reflection of the body, that part of it which the light does not touch, swallowed, in a sense, by the light itself. It reveals the outline, the silhouette – a tangible form that is at once poetic and visually charged. In the shadow, stories and notions of the body coalesce, stretching far beyond the merely physical.
'Shadows of the Body' brings together such representations of the human and humanoid body, as well as the imaginings of the corporeal, in works by Aleksandra Domanović, Flaka Haliti, Klára Hosnedlová, Anna Hulačová, Lito Kattou, Zsófia Keresztes, Georgia Sagri and Krassimir Terziev from the Art Collection Telekom.
The exhibited works at Hallen 06 range from an astronaut harvesting plants on a distant planet to a robot made of heavy metal parts, bearing delicate butterfly wings. A circle of tightly bound shirts in a dance, gestures towards a community whose solidarity transcends the physical. A tearful fountain with long flowing hair symbolises the inner workings of the body – moved by emotions that stir beneath the surface.
A sofa with hair replacing the usual fringe and a refined hat form an ironic counterpoint to the bourgeois gentleman’s study, once the epitome of taste. A silhouette, as though cut from paper, evokes a character from a video game, recently awarded a thistle as a magical bonus. A pillar made from high-tech plastics cradles a small partridge in its robotic hands – a fragile gesture amidst technological strength.
The body appears in a state of excitation – guided by organs, by the brain, by sex. It is both shell and vessel, an intelligent and soulful being that cannot move forward without its legs.
These shadows point back to the essence: to the image we form of our bodies. Beyond the distortions of the media, the daily self-optimisation, and the polished portrayals in social networks, the exhibition asks what remains – when the light fades and the shadow takes shape.
'Shadows of the Body' is the fourth presentation of Art Collection Telekom within the Art Festival Hallen.
