Zhao Yongchang, Moon in heart, 2022. Sculpture, Bronze on Other substrate, 33 x 11 x 16 / 5.00 kg.
In keeping with the most classic Disney quote, I refer to the image of Alice, who, lying comfortably on a meadow in the company of her cat, lets time pass lost in thought. At some point, as we all know, the maiden's attention is caught by a strangely elegant and hasty rabbit, who, erect on his two white paws is pining in order not to be late for who knows what ever appointment. Then we, like Alice, try to run after him, since, according to the Chinese calendar, the newly born 2023 is precisely the year of the rabbit! We set out in pursuit of this distinguished animal in order to figure out, similarly to Alice, where 2023 will lead us, hoping to escape the Queen of Hearts and have fun with the Mad Hatter. Let's get to the point: what are the predictions for this new course? To begin with, let's start with the characteristics of the sign of the rabbit, an animal, which, now imagined in Lewis Carroll's version, corresponds, according to the Chinese calendar, to the representative zodiac sign of 2023. The water rabbit is generally associated with beautiful, fragile and meek characters, whose kindness, understanding and generosity aims to avoid any kind of confrontation and aggression. In fact, although they are tough wannabes, they are extremely sensitive, so much so that they seek constant reassurance. It is precisely this sensitivity that gives them the gift of rich creativity, which manifests itself especially in music and the arts. Consequently, pretending to be a skillful astrologer, I believe it is possible to believe that the young year will prove perfect for us to try our hand at new challenges, since by treasuring the gentleness and quietness of the aforementioned animal, it will be possible for us to approach becoming with calmness and rationality. In addition, the water element associated with the rabbit of 2023 promotes the sharpening of intuition and the achievement of a more prolific and fulfilling inner peace, aimed at making us confident in our instincts and able to "caress" our emotions. Therefore, we can expect a calm year, full of patient energy, tending toward rationality and rest. Speaking of art, how could we illustrate the latter concepts through some of the greatest masterpieces of all time? In order to represent calmness and patient energy I chose Gauguin's primitivism, to give voice to rationality Escher's "mathematics," and rest is instead well captured by Van Gogh's famous peasants. Starting with Gauguin, it is well known how the artist, famous for his dreamy, arrogant and dissatisfied genius, agreed with the ideal of eighteenth-century primitivism, aimed at demonizing the hypocrisy, customs and morals of his time, in order to celebrate the myth of the good savage, pursuing the belief that man was, initially, a good and peaceful animal. His escape from 19th-century corruption led him to seek a more authentic calm in his two trips to Tahiti and the place where he later chose to die far from everyone, namely an island in the Marquesas. A masterpiece by the French master aimed at capturing the "primitive" calm and serenity of the Tahitian people is Tahitian Women on the Beach (1891), a double portrait preserved at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, in which two women sit, unhurriedly and fully enjoying the moment, on the sand of a beach. The effigies, very simple in their hairstyles and dresses, are modeled only on the face and arms, although, the artist never went so far as to develop them in strong chiaroscuro, resorting to homogeneous lightly luminized backgrounds intended to suggest physiognomies and volumes. Finally, the forms of these figures are clearly defined by a thick contour line, which, decorative and elegant, makes the women somewhat static. In regard to rationality, on the other hand, it can certainly be found, in its purest form, within the exact science of mathematics, which is capable of issuing well-defined results with absolute precision. As far as art history is concerned, Maurits Cornelis Escher, a Dutch engraver and graphic artist, pursued the intent in his creative expression to achieve the aforementioned accuracy, devoting himself to the effective understanding of the most disparate mathematical ideas in order to make them concrete in his work. In order to achieve this goal, he interacted with mathematicians and used mathematics to create many of his prints and drawings, arriving at the purest celebration of "rational" forms, which were transformed into visual metaphors for abstract scientific concepts, culminating in the theme of infinity.
Junming Li (俊明 李), Retro-Mao Rabbit, 2022. Oil on Linen Canvas, 120 x 90 cm.
Natalie Levkovska, Rabbit in love, 2020. Oil on Canvas, 90x110 cm.
In spite of all this, the artist always steadfastly denied that he did or understood mathematics, even though, many of his visions anticipated scientific discoveries that followed him. Speaking of his work, the above can be seen in one of his best-known masterpieces, namely Relativity, a 1953 lithograph preserved at the National Gallery in Washington, DC, aimed at depicting a "surreal" everyday life, dominated by a complex architectural structure, within which men, whose are walking down the stairs in both directions, indicate the presence of different gravitational orientations. These characters, intent on performing actions of the everyday, appear to the viewer at the same time, although their movement is accomplished in unison on different planes. Consequently, the title of the work clearly refers to the potential existence of a different reality than our own, in which, due to a particular gravitation, similar life forms live oriented in opposite or orthogonal ways, respectively. Finally, arriving at the prediction of a calmer year, compared to the previous nefarious ones, we conclude by bringing attention to one of the most quiet painting of the tormented Van Gogh, such as Noon - rest from work, a work aimed at reinterpreting a well-known masterpiece by Jean-François Millet, which was thoroughly investigated by the Dutch master during his hospitalization at the psychiatric hospital of Saint-Rémy di Provence. Inside the latter institution, Vincent himself wrote a revealing letter to his brother Theo, confiding in him how his painting was to take the form of a personal interpretation of Millet's picture, through the use of careful selection of colors, careful enhancement of details and a great desire to render those peasants as true heroes worthy of rest. On the other hand, regarding interpretations of the rabbit in art history, reference can be made to Artmajeur's rich collection of works, within which the views of: Olga Petrova, Maria Tuzhilkina and Julia Elkina.
Volodymyr Mykytenko, Butterfly catcher, 2011. Sculpture, bronze / stone on metal, 31 x 12 x 10 cm / 3.00 kg.
Olga Petrova, Aliciraptor running after the white rabbit, 2023. Watercolor on paper, 30.5 x 22.9 cm.
Olga Petrova: Aliciraptor running after the white rabbit
Contemplation of Petrova's work allows us to return for a moment to the world of Alice in Wonderland, a location within which a drastic reinterpretation of Carrol's version becomes apparent: Alice, although she remains caught up in running after the hasty rabbit, has taken on a monstrously Jurassic Park-worthy appearance, in that, her maiden dress is now filled with the rigid body of a ravenous velociraptor. Petrova justifies this change of species with clear revelations: "In an alternate universe, the earth was not hit by a giant meteorite and, as a result, dinosaurs never became extinct. On the contrary, they evolved into Dino Sapient, whose artistic culture proceeds parallel to ours." Therefore, in the revised novel, the human being has been supplanted by a more appropriate race, personified by the robust physicality of a new Dino-Alice. On the other hand, regarding the most classic of the figurative interpretations of the famous book, it is worth highlighting how the very first version of the same was illustrated by the author himself, while for the first publications Carroll relied on John Tenniel, a British painter and illustrator, who approached the "matter" precisely by drawing the white rabbit. The latter animal, depicted within the borderless illustration, which first introduces him to the reader, appears as a delightful anthropomorphic figure equipped with a vest, coat and stick, all engrossed in anxiously observing his watch.
Maria Tuzhilkina, Crystal rabbit, 2022. Acrylic on canvas, 30 x 30 cm.
Maria Tuzhilkina: Crystal rabbit
Tuzhilkina, a figurative artist with a distinct fondness for cubism, has immortalized a static rabbit, which, presenting the essential gaze of an inanimate puppet, awakens the tenderness of the viewer, who remembers the days of lost childhood, when he or she admired, probably at village fairs, the display in colorful cages of these quiet, plump and tame little animals. In fact, the Artmajeur artist reveals that her work is not the result of reminiscence of a tender memory of the past, but a clear allusion to the year of the rabbit, which, according to the predictions of the most famous fortune-tellers, astrologers, sorcerers, soothsayers, etc., will bring, if they are not mistaken, good luck, abundance and happiness. Even, Tuzhilkina goes so far as to perceive her portrait as a kind of good luck talisman, capable of fulfilling all the wishes of the lucky buyer of a work literally inspired by the prosperous newborn 2023. Putting aside the world of the occult, it is worth pointing out that the rabbit has actually been a widely popular subject from the history of art, a discipline within which he has stood out from about 650-600 B.C. to the present day. In particular, during this long span of time, it is worth revealing a singular anecdote: during the Middle Ages rabbits were also depicted as ruthless killers! The above can be found, for example, in the Smithfield Decretals (1300-1340), a manuscript illuminated by "evil" rabbits, aimed at sympathetic goliardic purposes, which, often full of multiple and diverse allusive meanings, would open a long chapter of potential interpretations.
Julia Elkina, Hare, 2023. Oil on Cardboard, 35.6 x 33 cm.
Julia Elkina: Hare
The history of art is full of plump and cuddly bunnies arranged on green meadows, just as the examples of the Book of Hunting (15th century) by Gaston Phoebus, The Rabbits (1852) by John Frederick Herring, the Rabbit Hole by (1867) Jean-François Millet, etc. show. These docile and fearful little animals show, in the above-mentioned context, all their most realistic aptitude, aimed at devoting themselves to the pursuit of delicious herbaceous plants, leaves and roots, having the purpose of softening their cheeks, making their fur soft and appeasing their nervous system. The Elkina hare, on the other hand, shows all its diversity from the aforementioned species, known to be smaller, social and tamer. Even, the Artmajeur artist's animal seems to take the hare's "anti-social" tendencies to the limit, turning it into a bulla, which, rather than grass, prefers a nice pack of red Marlboros. At this point many of you may be thinking: how can you blame her? Surely there is a need to be careful, for the rebellious hare has two fates ahead of her: to continue in her vices and become a still life, just like Jean-Baptiste Oudry's (1742), or to redeem herself to become the tame little animal in Ghirlandaio's Portrait of a Woman with Rabbit (1508).
Olimpia Gaia Martinelli
