Paintings by Mondo
At Biasa Art Space, Jl. Raya Seminyak 34, Seminyak
Tel: 8475766
Edmondo Zanolini, or Mondo, was born in Padua, Italy in 1951. Mondo came to Bali 20 years ago, and now lives in Ubud. After settling in Bali, Mondo turned to painting following a successful career in Italy as a theatre director and film/video artist. In his paintings Mondo explores concepts of figuration, but there can be no doubts that his work could not have emerged in its present form were it not for his earlier fascination with cutting-edge media, particularly video and video imaging.
The title of Mondo’s exhibition is ‘Follow The Rabbit’, and it takes its cue from the White Rabbit which is a character in Lewis Carol’s book ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’. Alice follows the White Rabbit down a hole into the dreamlike world of Wonderland; a fun world filled with bizarre characters and events. The rabbit is a sort of guide, though he is too worried about himself to really be guiding anyone, in particular Alice. Similarly, Mondo guides us through a dark side of human consciousness, uncertainty, menace and mystery.
In previous works Mondo’s litanies of images were disquieting. Bondage was a recurring theme; solitary naked, or semi-naked, vulnerable young girls were constrained, or even caged, and stared vacantly out of the picture frame. As viewers we were left in a troubling state. The images offered male sadistic and masochistic fantasies that could ambiguously both shock and excite. The viewer was placed in a morally compromising position. How to interpret the voyeuristic images? Mondo offered no clues. It was left up to the viewer to fill in the gaps.
However, with the current works exhibited, Mondo has moved away from sexual innuendo, though it remains subtly present, hovering in the form of the distorted and blurred monochromatic images. Mondo captures some degree of moral ambiguity, but is able to step back from the blatantly obvious. His red and white silhouettes, like ‘Le Scostanti’, float against black backgrounds. There are no other external elements. This monochromatic effect serves to soften Mondo’s troubling themes. In canvasses like ‘Duchess in Disguise’, ‘Childmother and Child’ and ‘Family Crime’, Mondo explores subjects as disturbing as dismemberment, grotesqueness and abortion. What this means is that Mondo continues with the essence of his work, which is a moral discourse on freedoms, reconciling issues of morality and voyeurism.
Mondo’s use of the rabbit leitmotif may link his work with ‘Alice in Wonderland’, but, in the canvas ‘Rabbit Girl’, it’s also possible to detect another solid influence. Here, the image brings to mind the ‘Playboy Bunny’ corporate logo. The painting resembles a video still captured from a badly tuned transmission from the Playboy TV Channel. This potent image brings Mondo’s work full circle, returning it to his earlier influences of film and video. If you follow Mondo down his rabbit hole, in this exhibition, it will bring you to a world full of deceptions and riddles.
Arsenic Fantasy
Installation by Sinta Tantra
At Gaya Art Space, Jl. Raya Sayan, Ubud. Tel: 979252
Sponsored by the British Council, London based artist Sinta Tantra, acclaimed for her public artworks and installations, stages her first international solo show, ‘Arsenic Fantasy’, at Gaya Art Space. The exhibition explores ideas surrounding fantasy and identity. Born in New York, Sinta’s Balinese family lived in Indonesia, Singapore, America and the U.K. Growing up she developed a strong affinity to Bali, and considered it one of her many ‘homes’. Sinta quickly learnt that ‘identity’ was neither fixed nor stable. ‘Identity’ was not about where you lived or where your parents came from. Rather: “it was about developing a series of differences. Establishing a role in the world that was culturally constructed, wholly transient, and constantly changing in relationship to a globalised economy”.
Over the years Bali’s popularity as a tourist destination has meant that it has been seen by many Westerners as an exotic ‘paradise’. Though this may seem idealistic, there is also a danger of Bali being misinterpreted as playing the submissive role. Sinta wants to pierce and subvert that stereotype. ‘Arsenic Fantasy’ plays with the idea of a dystopia derived from decadence, excess and hedonism. Inspired by flags and graphic logos, Sinta transforms the gallery with a series of massive murals. The arrangements of motifs, and the graphics of figures, palm trees and batik inspired patterns, create a sense of indulgence and nationalism. There’s an optimistic tone in Sinta’s work, reflected in the playful use of space and her excellent command of visual imagery.
“I’m interested in scale and placement”, Sinta says. “Creating a design which wraps around the walls of the building. Encompassing the space as a whole, taking charge of its architecture, form and layout. It’s important for me to direct the audience towards a visual as well as physical journey. My installations are always about space. Reacting to a space, making our bodies aware of space, enabling us to question how space affects us, from the inside out and not from the outside in”.
Being inside Sinta’s installation is similar to being inside a gigantic elaborately wrapped Christmas present. Her use of imagery, color and line only intensifies this festive and celebratory sensation. ‘Arsenic Fantasy’ delights in surface image, and the exploration of the boundary between pictorial and physical spaces. Great ideas concerning spectacle, scale, and superabundance are beautifully presented.
