June 1 - 29, 2012

BAZIS
contemporary art space
F.D.P. - Fabrica de Pensule, 59-61 H. Barbusse st., 1st floor
Cluj Napoca

&

White Project Pescara

Shakin' Jesus
artist: Mat COLLISHAW

Matthew "Mat" Collishaw (1966, Nottingham, UK) is an artist based in London, one of the so-called Young British Artists, thus most exhibited together with Damien Hirst, Gary Hume, Douglas Gordon and Sarah Lucas. His work uses photography and video, included also in revolutionary exhibition, “Sensation” at the Royal Academy of Art in 1997. 

Mat Collishaw’s video art-work „Shakin’ Jesus” has a straight focus on the fragility of human condition: Christ has completely abandoned the idea of hope, abandoned himself to the terrors of death, of suffering as a total and final feeling; he trembles, moans, his destiny is complete loneliness. The real challenge for the British artist resides in finding a visual language bearing the authenticity norms, in his artistic approach of re-enacting the crucifixion. Collishaw goes even further, engaging the viewer’s mindset in a cognitive dissonant act, because the artist propounds a pathetic image of Jesus, a classic sanctuary image in contrast with a profound realistic sky image. This engenders a special connection, the one between the Suffering Christ and the witnessing sky. The vide art-work of the artist appeals to the west christian classic art masters representations, but at same time it aims for an authentic language of crucifixion: it introduces, through the means of the video-projection, the time and spams of the body as a vital aspect of this symbolic scene.
           
Renato Bianchini