Die Bilderserie „Ikonen der Krise“ von Maria Rigoutsou ist anlässlich der aktuellen Wirtschafts- und Finanzkrise entstanden, hinter der sich jedoch eine tiefere Wertekrise verbirgt. Es handelt sich um Werke, deren Grundierung auf alte byzantinische Ikonen verweist. Im Vordergrund sind aber keine Heiligen dargestellt, sondern die Dinge, die uns heute heilig sind: Euro, Banken, Ratingagenturen.
Die „Religion“ des Geldes ist eine globale. In den „Ikonen der Krise“ werden darüber hinaus Titelbilder von Zeitungen und Zeitschriften aufgegriffen, die – wie die Bildzeitung etwa – einen Keil zwischen Deutsche und Griechen getrieben haben. Auch das Thema Konsumwahn und Fetischismus und die Reaktion der Menschen auf die Krise in Demonstrationen und Protestaktionen finden darin ihren Ausdruck. Die „Ikonen der Krise“ zeigen auch – zum Teil konkret, zum Teil abstrakt – Gesichter, in denen sich Armut und Verelendung spiegeln.
Besonders interessant ist die aufwendige und vielschichtige Technik, die bei der Entstehung der Kunstwerke zum Einsatz kommt. Die Künstlerin stellt zunächst einmal – aus der Presse stammende oder selbst aufgenommene – Fotografien zusammen. Diese werden digital bearbeitet und auf eine spezielle, mit Blattgold bearbeitete Leinwand gedruckt. Danach erfolgt die künstlerische Bearbeitung. Die Blätter, die nicht aus echtem Gold sind, spiegeln eine Welt des „Scheins“ wider, während die dunklen Risse dazwischen an kleine Wunden erinnern. Die Arbeiten sind zum Großteil zwar Reproduktionen, aber gleichzeitig Unikate, da jede Grundierung, auf die gedruckt wird, einzeln per Hand vorgenommen wird. Ein Teil der Werke sind einzelne Malereien.
Diese Serie von „Ikonen“ war bereits 2013 in der Kölner Luther-Kirche und 2012 im Theater im Pfalzbau, Ludwigshafen, zu sehen. Die Ausstellung soll in so vielen deutschen Städten wie möglich gezeigt werden, aber auch in den krisengeschüttelten südeuropäischen Ländern – mit dem Ziel, eine öffentliche Diskussion in Gang zu setzen. Die Bilderserie, die 2008 begonnen wurde, ist als „work in progress“ konzipiert und entwickelt sich ständig weiter.
Maria Rigoutsou’s „Ikonen der Krise“ (Icons of the Crisis) is a series of pictures created in response to Europe’s ongoing economic and financial turmoil, which is rooted in a deeper crisis of values. The canvases in the series invoke ancient Byzantine icons. Holy figures aren’t in the foreground, though. Instead we see the things that are sacred to us today: the euro, banks and ratings agencies.
The „religion“ of money is global. „Ikonen der Krise“ also draws on the front pages of newspapers and magazines – such as the German „Bild“ tabloid’s covers – that have driven a wedge between Germans and Greeks. Additionally the pieces address the topics of consumerism, fetishization and people’s reaction to the crisis in demonstrations and protests. The series also shows faces – sometimes abstractly, sometimes concretely – that reflect poverty and desperation.
The complex and multifaceted artistry behind the works is of particular interest. The artist begins by combining photographs taken personally or from the press. They’re edited digitally and printed on a special canvas finished with gold leaf. Then the artist rounds out the piece. The gold leaf, which is not made of real gold, symbolizes the world of appearances, while dark tears in the finishing resemble small wounds. Although the works are to a large degree reproductions, they are also unique in that each canvas is crafted individually by hand before being printed upon. A few individual paintings are also included in the set.
This series of „icons“ was exhibited in 2014 at the Haus am Dom in Frankfurt, and in 2013 at the Martin Luther Church in Cologne, Germany, as well as at the Theater im Pfalzbau in Ludwigshafen, Germany. The aim is to show the exhibition in as many German cities as possible, but also in the southern European countries hit hard by the crisis – with the goal of fostering public discussion. The picture series, which the artist began creating in 2008, is conceived of as a work in progress and is continually developed further.
Τhe series of art works entitled “Icons” that Maria Rigoutsou worked on , is an effort to point out the dominant role of the images nowadays as well as a personal blending of two different professional directions, namely that of journalism, along with that of painting.
The images are taken mainly from the press. The artist processes the latter through special computer software, printed afterwards on a background that refers back to an old Byzantine icon. Every single background is separately worked by hand.
The contemporary image, placed in this context, acquires the religiosity, the sanctity and the force that is attributed to it today.
Maria Rigoutsou plays all at the same time with the stereotypes and it is precisely for this reason that the titles are an inseparable part of her works.
As an example PIETA is the title of a work, where a Palestinian holds in his hands his killed child. In PIETA, the dominant role is not incarnated, anymore by a woman, The Virgin Mary, but by a man. In addition to that, this man is a muslim, printed on a Christian Byzantine background.
The contrast enhancement, as for example is the burning, from bombardments Bagdad, as opposed to the glittering Monaco and the game with the socio-political stereotypes is the essential ingredient of this series of works.
The same thing happens with the work entitled ‘Who is enjoying herself more?’ picturing jovial women in Teheran, dressed in their black traditional clothes, with women in a brothel in Hamburg.Where is the woman really more oppressed in these two pictures.
The works do not aim at answers, but at questions.
The last works I saw at the Akademy were sea shores and seascapes, entirely different from the works exhibited at the Bunker in Cologne, which, resting weightily on the floor, inside windowless cement rooms, „whitewashed“ and decisivety designed within the space, the air having been removed and without a trace of atmosphere, told a dramatic story.
In contrast, the landscapes experienced and painted in the Mediterranean have once more discovered, and this is important, both morning and afternoon, the limpidity oft he sea and a hidden passion fort he life within a warm, maternal embrace.
What I want to say ist hat the new reality depicted by Maria is not an escape towards the idyllic, but a commitment, which if adhered to with determination, can flourish into a bold modernity.
Jannis Kounellis
Ghent, 16 April 2002