Venezia, 25 April. (askanews) – So far, so close. The archangels of the contemporary world have mysterious features, they live in a space that is sacred, but at the same time violated, they offer care, but their nature, and perhaps even their mission, remains ultimately unknowable. They are the creatures that Berlinde De Bruyckere, a Belgian artist who has shone for years on the contemporary scene, brought to the Basilica of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice, with the exhibition “City of Refugee III”, a collateral event of the 60th Art Biennale. A powerful, ambiguous, complex project, which pushes us to reflect on the nature of the divine and which dialogues on an equal basis with a place – the Palladian basilica – and with the art contained therein, such as the extraordinary “Last Supper” by Tintoretto.
Conceived during the pandemic period, De Bruyckere’s archangels are caught in a moment of suspension, they are high up, like observers, but they are within sight, we can see the fragility of their legs, but also the mysterious power that lies hidden in the upper part of the bodies, veiled as only true powers can be. They are presences which, thanks also to the mirrors and enormous banners that flank them, create a suspension that recalls the perennially unstable condition of the refugee and the need to look beyond.
The exhibition in San Giorgio then continues in other rooms, in the sacristy there are large fallen trunks which further fuel the sensation of being in a world that comes after us, a dimension of post-humanity which however still appears desperately linked to human life on planet Earth, as we can truly know it. And what emerges is the strength of Berlinde De Bruyckere’s work, its intensity that makes no concessions and its dimension that goes beyond the simple physical notion.
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