Decadence Now! What to say about this exhibit? Not sure about the accurate word choice for my reaction to this exhibit. At first I was a bit horrified with starting in the room themed ‘Pain’ but it was the start to the 5 roomed exhibit of provocative themes that somewhat numbed me or made me loose sight of reality. It put me in a world where society was not dictated by norms, but rather has no boundaries. The state of mind I was in during the show paralleled my reaction to ‘Exposed’ exhibit at the Tate Modern. Both exhibits dramatized their points of mocking the current human civilization while questioning the state of our society by the use of decadent photographs, sculptures, videos, and paintings.
The exhibit hosted international contemporary artists to display their decadent artwork. Each room had a particular theme of excess: pain, sex, pop, madness, and death. Photos presented as ‘pain’ ranged from body piercing, as seen in Catherine Opie’s self portrait, to forks tearing at the eyeballs exemplified by Gottfried Helnwein. Self-portraits seemed to be a common theme throughout the room with most of the artists being the only subject in the photo with diffused lighting constructed in a studio. Hard lighting from unnatural sources seemed to saturate and contrast the subject and the background. Each piece correlated with pain and various ways and lengths humans will go to reach that level of uncomfort towards their body.
Once leaving the room that drew shrills down my spine, it was the room themed ‘sex’ which displayed many photos of erotic scenes, sculptures of human body parts, preserved animals sitting on see saw, and a huge ‘porn’ sculpture. Wim Delvoye went to a new extreme with Sex-rays or Pierre et Gilles’s photos that reference religious scenes. For most of the photos that were done in a studio or indoors used unnatural light to get diffused lighting. Some photos in this room had been modified with modern technology by adding to the scenery without distracting the eye from the subject. Even though the subjects were in motion for a few of the photos, they were shot fast enough preventing the blurry effect. Due to the subjects taking up most of the frame or having rule of thirds, leading lines wasn’t really a major theme in the creative aspect of the photos. Underlying all these photos is the idea of sex should be seen as a private affair according to society can be photographed and viewed by the people as a work of art. Nudity has always been a controversial topic in societies from the past to the present and within different ones around the world. The photos provide many body parts that are viewed as private and exposing them as natural.
Popular culture is well established in our daily lives and has come a long way in the past years. This was my favorite room that housed my favorite photo by Gottfried Helnwein of Marilyn Mason. Vibrant colors filled the room with photos that were mostly done in a studio with artificial light that was mostly diffused. Colors were saturated within in the image and a good amount of contrasting between the subject(s) and background. . I do not think rule of thirds, motion, or leading lines really applied to this room. This room was about making a statement about the popular culture and the effects it has on the masses by using colorful props and phrases.
Madness decked the halls of the next room. Images of Christ on the stake, hand full of blood and needles, and videos of men with pig masks rapping angrily about something seems to sum up this room. The photos seemed to be darker than the first 3 rooms with lighting more on the subject. Again, most of the photos were taken in a studio with unnatural diffused/some front lighting with no motion and a deep depth of field. A few photos had color saturation within the subject’s colors, exemplified by Zhang Peng’s Red photo of a child sitting in bathtub of blood while wearing red lipstick. This room is more of a shocker and my least favorite room at the exhibit.
The exhibit ends with ‘death’ as how everything ends. This is something that will occur to everyone but is usually pushed to the back of the mind so it is not reminded of it. Death is seen as a terrible occurrence but some of these images conveyed the thought of it being a natural and beautiful thing. Portraying death in a photograph is usually done with dark and somber lighting, which some pictures did a great job with while others were of the contrary. This was my second least interesting room, not because I think the artist didn’t portray death well but because I don’t have as much interest in the solemn photos that were displayed. Sculptures of gemmed skulls and paintings of skulls lined the walls throughout the room. Subjects in the photo were well contrasted to the background. Subjects were not just portraits in this room, there were other objects as well that were shot in a studio with diffused to front lighting.
Overall, the exhibit was amazing and I thoroughly enjoyed it a lot. It was an exhibit that was unlike any other I have been to and it shows the progression of the Czech Republic within the last 21 years after the fall of communism. These artists took the norms of society and somewhat exploited them with images that normally are unseen in galleries. I will admit a few pictures made me cringe or felt a little awkward but I am glad that a few images in a show could have that affect on me.
My favorite picture from the exhibit
