Katya Isaeva. Politics of paradise

Katya Isaeva traditionally builds her projects on the principle of dialogue with the cultural, frequently literary, or scientific phenomena that she examines. Arguably she has never «encroached on» such material as this time, when Dante's "Divine Comedy" became the starting point for her reflections. However, Isaeva's exhibition is not a reinterpretation of classics when the increasing number of prohibitions does not foster to the flourishing of new ideas but turns to a steady place of canonised masterpieces. The artist's meticulous analysis of what is not permitted to be disputed, discussed, or questioned due to its status makes "Politics of paradise" an experiment of deconstruction. Actually, Katya reveals the core of the present by engaging in dialogue with a story from the 14th-century. It is a time when it is not accepted to ask questions, disagree, or point out obvious, glaring inconsistencies, a time of imposed unanimity and rejection of doubts.

Nearly every medium the artist uses is on display at the exhibition. A traditional exhibition project turns into an audiovisual experience where you may watch, read, listen, and react to color and light changes based on your perception pattern. Their diversity is another indication of the artist’s empathy for the observer. All the elements of the exhibition are connected by the typical method of traveling to the intended destination for classical literary works, and the route itself is reminiscent of the theatrical scenery: the first exhibition hall is hell, the second is limbo, and the third is paradise.

Almost everything in these exhibition halls corresponds to Dante's plan and the hierarchies, but the disagreement with the classical order of things by Katya Isaeva shines through the way these halls are arranged. The artist offers the viewer a very simple, and at the same time, very complex action of consciousness – to disagree, to object, to challenge something so familiar that we no longer wonder why it functions exactly this way. Empathy, compassion, and sensuality defeat rationality in the "edits" that Katya proposes to make to the hierarchy built by Dante in the «Divine Comedy». In hell, Dante meets pre–Christian philosophers and some animals. Katya turns hell into a space of intellectual dialogue (always difficult), which still sounds relevant today, and reflections on whether the ethics of the human world surpass the laws of the animal world (the last exhibition of the artist in the MYTH Gallery "Gorilla in Rage" was devoted to this issue). Lovers who do not conform to the generally accepted norms of the time or, in other words, are distinguished by their imperfection and human weakness, according to Dante, also find their place in hell. In this case, contrary to the origin, the artist moves them to limbo and creates for them an impossible garden in its abundance, an earthly space of incredible saturation and warmth. Openly outraged by the idea that love can be something forbidden, the artist insists, "that we don't need any more ideal human forms." In Dante's narrative, Paradise begins with the Moon, and here Isaeva contrasts the romanticization of space inherent in human culture with its cold, unfriendly reality.

Reflecting on the present, we are convinced that such individual, human-centered, and philanthropic optics are one of the few things that contemporary art can contrast with the surrounding reality of the victorious technocapitalism. That is why the name of the exhibition refers to one of Guy Standing’s central ideas from the book "The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class" (2014). Throughout the book, the author attempts to analyze how we find ourselves in socio-economic hell today and what can be done to expand the space of "paradise", if not for everyone, then at least for as many people as possible. These issues cannot be left to the voluntarism of an isolated demiurge. Their solution is the result of the choices we make, they are in our field of responsibility and therefore on our conscience. Today, more power is concentrated in our hands than in the hands of a human of the Dante era, which is why it is so important to act, constantly checking with the moral compass and not taking on faith the hierarchies offered to us, improving the systems in which we exist here and now, and not hoping for the far and beautiful future.

In each exhibition hall, we offer a small "cheat note" with some of the cultural, historical, and literary information that is embedded in the artist's decisions about artistic appropriation. But the process of getting to know the exhibition is primarily your personalized cultural experience based on your background, interests, and personal optics.

Anna Zhurba

The partners of the project is DERUFA Topcoat Boutique — salons of trendy decorative coatings and paints.