“I Wish It Was Mine”, says the artist Ivan Moudov to himself when he looks at other artists’ works he selected for the group show at Alberta Pane gallery in Venice, on view until July 29th 2023. The exhibition, with works by Claire Fontaine, Gelitin, Miná Minov, Ivan Moudov, Alban Muja, Anri Sala, Selma Selman and Ulay was conceived by Ivan as a tool to unveil the precariety of certanties and to deepen the notion of desire. The starting point is his site-specific work, The One Minute Stalker, set in the entrance corridor. Here, Andrej Tarkovskij’s 1979 film is a pretext for visitors to engage with the works installed in the 300mq space in an intimate way and to discover how you can easily vacillate when you question yourself as an individual. The exhibition is at the same a work in itself by the Bulgarian artist, but also a choral experience. As long as you don’t get too serious about it.
A.A.V.V., I Wish It Was Mine, exhibition view, 2023, photo Irene Fanizza, courtesy Alberta Pane Venice
Eugenia Pacelli: Between the desire of having had that intuition and owning the object, what do you think stands out more?
Ivan Moudov: I would say it is definitely about a desire that you were the first to create the work, or you identify with the work in a way that you feel intimate with it.
In your series First, Admit You Have a Problem from 2019 you have already reflected on the idea of collecting as a pathology, offering homeopathy pills to heal. What do you think about the act of collecting?
It is drawing a parallel to shopping therapy. I don’t think that the craving to possess is fulfilling. But when you connect with a work, this can trigger a real transformation..
A.A.V.V., I Wish It Was Mine, exhibition view, 2023, photo Irene Fanizza, courtesy Alberta Pane Venice
Are you a collector? How important is the relationship with the artists in constructing your narrative?
I am an artist and I think artists collect in different ways. It’s much more about the exchange and the interaction with other artists. I have series of works which are just made for exchange. I even have a work called The Romanian Trick; and its purpose is to raise money to buy art works art. But very often I like to collect works that I wish were made by me. There is a bit of envy and admiration involved, more than intuition.
Your idea would be to guide visitors through the “Zone” in search of the “Room”, taking a cue from Tarkovskij’s film. What do you hope they find? Do you think they will dare to confront their innermost desires, or to “embrace the unknown”, to use your words?
That could be the idea of art in general, couldn’t it? That is why I was so fascinated to use “The Room” as a metaphor. I wanted to transform the gallery into a space where you can confront your inner desires. It becomes part of the work.
A.A.V.V., I Wish It Was Mine, exhibition view, 2023, photo Irene Fanizza, courtesy Alberta Pane Venice
At the beginning you had the idea of generating the exhibition’s press release with the AI, in particular with the chat GPT. Where did this idea come from? Why then did you decide not to do it?
I used Chat GPT for the text of a show I had in Sofia earlier in the year which worked out quite well but it was of paintings and in that particular case they did not require any context. In response one art critic wrote a review on the show using Chat GPT, which I thought was a pretty great return. This show needed context and Chat GPT is not great for that. You have to write such precise questions to generate something good. In the last month it has become quite common to use it for press releases, but when I thought about it initially I had not really seen it anywhere. Now I am over it.
A.A.V.V., I Wish It Was Mine, exhibition view, 2023, photo Irene Fanizza, courtesy Alberta Pane Venice
How important is protest in identity seeking? How important is participation?
This is very individual. Selma Selman is part of the most oppressed minority that I have personally been in touch with and Alban Muja is marked by the post-war period in his country. All these works count on participation. For Miná Minov its part of the work. For Ulay it is part of the story and in Selma’s work participation is a post effect because you just find yourself hypnotised.
Many of the works on view deal with the notion of time and duration. How can mental perception of time be deceiving?
I don’t have time for this question.
A.A.V.V., I Wish It Was Mine, exhibition view, 2023, photo Irene Fanizza, courtesy Alberta Pane Venice
Do you see this exhibition as an artwork in itself? If so, to what extent?
I am an artist, not a curator and not a gallerist so everything I do I approach as an artwork. I like to joke that this exhibition is a like a solo show because I imagine all the works are mine.
Eugenia Pacelli
Info :
I Wish It Was Mine
Artists: Claire Fontaine, Gelitin, Miná Minov, Ivan Moudov, Alban Muja, Anri Sala, Selma Selman, Ulay
Until July 29, 2023
Galleria Alberta Pane
Dorsoduro 2403H
Calle dei Guardiani, Venezia
www.albertapane.com
is a contemporary art magazine since 1980
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