The theme of this exhibition pivots around the notion of faith today, analysed from the sociopolitical and cultural point of view. “Faith” is no loger seen just from a religious perspective, but as a general sense of hope towards humanity and the world’s future. This concept is clearly embodied by a life-size, brand, new sculpture, which gives the title to the exposition, depicting an astronaut bringing a heavy cross, a powerful amalgam of present and ancient symbols.
January 28 through May 14, 2017, Museum de Fundatie, Zwolle and Heino/Wijhe
Museum de Fundatie
In a recent interview, the artist has stated: “Symbols are like icons on a smartphone, it’s a quick way to communicate and they are connected to the time we live in, where everything has to be faster and more condensed than in the past”. Symbolism is part of Joseph Klibansky’s artistic process. The astronaut, for instance, has been taken into account by him through different artworks, that create a bridge between the outside and the inside of the museum: along with Leap of Faith, already mentioned; Spacious City, one of his former digital paintings, which is part of the exhibition display; and Self Portrait of the Dreamer, a giant public art scuplture, that is hosted in the castle’s sculpture garden. According to him, astronauts are like the frontiers of a new world and a guidance for the mankind.
Leap of Faith is spread along the two main floors of the Museum De Fundatie and consists of a combination between past and new artworks, the latters specifically conceived for this show.
Some of his famous, digital paintings are exhibited, where layers of images are merged together. Here, the stratification of pictures gives birth to new, urban wonderlands and dreamy-like cityscapes. They are conversation pieces, constructed with a narrative and circular structure, in which natural elements and artificial buildings are overlapped together. The public, at first, is overwhelmed by the full vision, whereas in a second moment it starts discovering the high amount of details, of which the piece is made of. The time is freezed in an ethernal, contemporary present.
Thought Paintings
A series of new works on canvases is presented as well, where the characters onto the surfaces are mostly taken from cartoons and fairytales, arranged in a very linear and manga style. A new, videoart work will also be released on this occasion.
Joseph Klibanksy is even showing some of his well-known, iconic, sculptures, such as Reflection of Truth, Miffy, Baby We Made It, Big Bang, and the brand new Reflections of Youth (Bambi). These works can be considered of post-conceptual tradition, enriched with a powerful, visual aesthetic and an ironic approach.
These pieces can be meant as a second step of his young, but brilliant career. They are an evolution of his visual research that, currently, is more focused on environmental installations and sculptures, usually made with precious materials, such as bronze, polished bronze, resins and gold leaf. The audience that is viewing Joseph Klibansky’s sculptures often reacts with emotional transport and physical gestures, a vivid interaction that can become as a form of performance art. Joseph Klibansky has the ability to combine artistic techniques of the past, with the most advanced technologies, such as 3D modeling software, automated industrial robots and post-production image editing.
After the great success of Joseph Klibanksy’s museum show held in 2016 at Palazzo Cavalli - Franchetti, on the Grand Canal, in Venice, which has been visited by more than 25.000, international, visitors, this is a new, great, opportunity to see an anthological and complete exhibition, in order to discover the production of this visionary, contemporary artist.