The exposure presents a series of works, photographs, videos, sculptures and performances, which belong to the cycle of works developed around the sacred theme of the Last Supper, to which the German artist has been dedicating herself since 2010 and which contain hints of Christian symbolism, gestures liturgical and references to the history of art.
The review revolves around the figure of the pigeon, and its process of metamorphosis into a dove. The pigeon was chosen as a sacred biblical symbol which in the Old Testament, like the dove, stood as a divine messenger.
The fulcrum of the exhibition will be the Taube video, in which a white dove, frame after frame, is stained by drops of blood-red liquid that fall from above, until it is completely covered. The film is accompanied by musical tracks from the St Matthew Passion BWV 244 by JSBach.
“They said it was a dove, but perhaps it was a pigeon – writes Luca Doninelli in his text in the catalogue. It is said that doves are more spiritual animals, but when that man – Jesus Christ – was captured, they realized with horror that his garment was all wet with blood. There wasn't much spiritual in his appearance at the time. There was a lot of pain, yes, but pain belongs to the flesh. The soul itself, in pain, feels that it is attached to the flesh”.
In the same room, it will be possible to admire a large-scale wallpaper, on which appears a woman dressed in a long white linen skirt from which doves emerge, anticipating and testifying for the entire duration of the exhibition, the performance scheduled in the cloister of the Museum, on the evening of the opening – Tuesday 9 June 2015, at 20.00.
The Taube video will be introduced by a series of Polaroid photographs, placed in the entrance corridor of the Diocesan Museum, which document some moments of this film, inserted in white frames with a gold leaf background to symbolize luster and beauty, splendor and wealth, and a life-size sculpture of the bird covered almost entirely in gold leaf.
Ralf Meister, bishop of the Lutheran church, states that, “In Julia Krahn's art, mostly created through photography, aesthetic perception becomes secondary. It is a perfectly staged and curated art, but through photography it shows us the gestures, postures and positions that still remain unchanged. Such gestures evoke great narratives and seem to tell them in a new and bizarre way. The great religious motifs seem to have an eternal aspect as if they were still alive”.
Biographical notes.
Julia Krahn was born in Jülich, Aachen, Germany. In 2000, in order to devote himself completely to art, he left his medical studies at the Albert Ludwig Universität in Freiburg and in 2001 he moved to Milan where he began his collaboration with the Galleria Magrorocca. In 2003 he inaugurated his first solo shows Schatten and Von Gänsen und Elefanten in Milan and participated in some group exhibitions in Milan, London and Tokyo; in 2007 he inaugurates The Creation Of Memory at the Magrorocca Gallery; in 2008 she was selected to participate in the Theran Biennial, she won the San Fedele Prize in Milan and the CCM Photography Prize in Barcelona and exhibited at St. Josef und Fronleichnam's, Aachen. In 2009 she received the Special mention of the Tequila Cuervo Centenario Award for Emerging Artist in Zona at the Maco Art Fair 2009 in Mexico City. In 2010 she exhibited at VOLTA 6 in Basel, at the Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation in Venice, she took part in the group show Mutter at the Kultum in Graz and finally inaugurated her solo exhibition in Berlin Ja, Ich Will! In 2011 she inaugurated Carlotta Testori Studio with her solo show Angelus Militans in Milan; also in 2011 she participates in the collective Difraccion in Mexico City at the Patricia Conde Galerìa and Mangia l'Arte with IMAF which takes her to Milan, NY and LA. In 2012 she inaugurated her solo exhibition Lilies and Linen at Accart in Bolzano and with these works she won the third prize at the Kunstart 2012 fair. Also in 2012 she was selected among the finalists of the Premio Combat 2012 and inaugurated her solo exhibition Mother Loves You at the Voice Gallery of Marrakesh. From February to the end of April 2013 she is exhibited in her exhibition Leidenschaften / Passions in the St. Matthew Foundation in Berlin and shortly after we see her works for the second time in Graz at the Kultum.
In 2013 he exhibited at the Imola Civic Museums, in a double-personal exhibition. In 2014 he won the 100Ñ – 100 artists – 100 rooms award with his permanent room in the Art Hotel Gran Paradiso and in Stuttgart he inaugurated Trust Me at the HdkK. In 2015 her works will be exhibited at the Landesmuseum in Hannover (Germany) in the Madonna Woman-Mother-Idol exhibition, at the Lento Kunstmuseum in Linz (Austria) for Rabenmütter, at the Fondazione Stelline in Milan, at the Castelvecchio in Verona for Nutrimentum. Confirmed her next personal exhibitions in Turin, Naples, together with her project SchönerHeit in Hannover in 2016/2017.
JULIA KRAHN
Milan, Diocesan Museum (Corso di Porta Ticinese, 95)
10 June – 30 August 2015
