Masks immediately conjure up in our minds the ebullient joys of Carnival or the darkness surrounding mysterious rituals or folk traditions. Actually masks have never been so popular as they are now: you may argue indeed that we all take a different "persona" (a term that in its Latin etymology referred to a theatrical mask) the minute we wake up and we decide what to wear.
Besides, in our times ruled by social media, we all tend to amplify our individual digital essence via new means of communications, letting our fake and intangible identities take over, or maybe we try and hide from surveillance technology with innovative disguises that can guarantee us maximum freedom and anonymity, allowing us to escape from facial recognition cameras and from their errors. Children may use masks to have fun and pretend they are the super human beings of their favourite shows and films; grown-ups may employ them in a protest or even a war - think for example about activists and soldiers with their faces covered up. There are physical, metaphysical and symbolical masks; there are inspiring forms of masquerading and scary disguises or masks that subvert gender and role assignments.
So masks are not just a trend, but a wonderful theme that perfectly fits to our complex times. That's why art museum Aargauer Kunsthaus, in Aarau, Switzerland, is launching an exhibition focusing on this topic next week.
The international group show "Mask. In Present-Day Art" (1st September 2019 - 5th January 2020), explores the way contemporary artists use masks to explore a wide variety of issues such as self-presentation and how to radically transform our identities, playing with stereotypes and inverting and subverting roles while creating contrasts and tensions between revealing one's face and personality or hiding them.
Curated by Madeleine Schuppli, Director, in collaboration with Yasmin Afschar, Curator at the Aargauer Kunsthaus, the event features 160 works created in the past ten years using a variety of media, so visitors will be able to look at objects, watch videos and performances and look at paintings and photographs.
All the artists featured explore the issue in depth and with unusual materials and media, leaving behind more traditional masks to discuss the social, cultural, political and symbolic implications behind masks.
In her series "Nomads" Laura Lima turns painted landscapes into masks and hangs them on a wall as if they were paintings: in this way the wearer becomes a surreal landscape, triggering confusion and a sense of alienation in the person staring at them.
Other masks included in this exhibition are not designed to be worn - among them there are Sabian Baumann's unfired clay masks or Amanda Ross-Ho's uncanny oversized cosmetic face masks, maybe stolen from the bedroom of a giant.
The collages of Kader Attia offer a contemporary and critical look at how people deal with mask traditions as the artist provokingly contrasts historical photographs of mutilated soldiers' faces with anthropological mask objects.
Some projects revolving around masks tackle profound themes such as transitoriness: Douglas Gordon uses adhesive tape to turn himself into a monster mask, while Gillian Wearing dons a silicon masks in "Self Portrait as My Mother Jean Gregory" to transform herself into her mum and disappear in the folds of time, erasing her own identity in the process.
Dividing his time between Brussels, Zurich, Paris and Stockholm, textile designer and artist Christoph Hefti works in fashion textiles, print and the performing arts. The exhibition features his "World Mask", one of his hand-knotted rugs made in Nepal, that moves from the mystical and spiritual tradition of storytelling textiles.
Film fans will be mesmerised by John Stezaker's transformation of movie stars via vintage postcards of landscapes. In this way easily recognisable faces turn into empty landscapes, hinting at the fact that behind that glamorous façade we see there may be a psychological abyss.
Younger visitors to the event who are into social media will enjoy more Susanne Weirich's selfie films of an online community turned into a tableau vivant in her multimedia installation "Global Charcoal Challenge", or Olaf Breuning's emojis overimposed on photographs to create digital emotional states over real images.
The performance of Kosovar artist Sislej Xhafa are among the most striking works: Xhafa usually collaborates with orchestras, but the sublime quality of the musicians playing together is disturbed by the fact that all the musicians in his performances look anonymous as they wear balaclavas.
This exercise in anonymity injects a sense of insecurity in the viewer who wonders why they are covering up their faces - are they maybe dangerous characters ready for action or are they planning a revolution with a most sublime weapon, music?
We are not provided with any definitive answers to some of the questions these works may pose, but we may find more questions in the other works on display including Cindy Sherman and Ugo Rondinone's, pieces that may trigger secret fights with our own selves and a quest for a new essence or a dynamic mutation hopefully leading to catharsis.
And, if after visiting the event you realise you haven't changed or transformed even by metaphorically wearing all the masks you may have seen, don't panic, transformation is indeed still possible on an everyday basis. After all, as German political philosopher Hannah Arendt stated, "the masks or roles which the world assigns us, and which we must accept and even acquire if we wish to take part in the world's play at all, are exchangeable".
"Mask. In Present-Day Art" (1st September 2019 - 5th January 2020) is launching on 31st August 2019 at Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau, Switzerland,with a performance by Sislej Xhafa in cooperation with Argovia Philharmonic. The exhibition is accompanied by a volume with introductory essays by Madeleine Schuppli and Yasmin Afschar, while artist and designer Christoph Hefti created a silk scarf in connection with the MASK exhibition that will be available from the museum shop.
Image credits for this post
1. John Stezaker, Mask (Film Portrait Collage)
CLXXIII, 2014
Collage, 20 x 17.6 cm
Courtesy the artist and The Approach, London
© the artist, courtesy the artist and The Approach, London
Foto: FXP Photography, London, 2014
2. Sabian Baumann, Untitled, 2008
Unfired clay, paint, ca. 24 x 15 x 12 cm
In possession of the artist
Courtesy Galerie Mark Müller, Zürich
© Sabian Baumann
Foto: Anja Busse
3. Gillian Wearing, Self Portrait as My Mother Jean Gregory, 2003
Framed Bromide Print, 150 x 131 x 3.2 cm
Kunsthaus Zürich, Photo collection 2003
© Gillian Wearing, courtesy Maureen Paley, London, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York / Los Angeles and Regen Projects, Los Angeles
4. Aneta Grzeszykowska, Selfie #19, 2014
Pigment print on cobon paper, 27 x 36 cm
Fotomuseum Winterthur Collection
© Aneta Grzeszykowska
Foto: Courtesy of Raster Gallery, Warsaw
5. Laura Lima, Nomads, 2008
Acrylic on canvas, 77 x 34 x 3 cm
Courtesy the artist and Galeria Luisa Strina, São Paulo
© Laura Lima
Foto: Edouard Fraipont
6. Edson Chagas, OIKONOMOS, 2011
C-Print, 100 x 100 cm
Courtesy of the artist and APALAZZOGALLERY
© Edson Chagas
7. Amanda Ross-Ho, Untitled Apparatus (RED, GREEN, BLUE), 2017
Satin, foam, elastic band, thread
Each 190 x 71 x 5 cm
Courtesy of the artist and Praz-Delavallade, Paris / Los Angeles
© Amanda Ross-Ho
Foto: Ruben Diaz
8. Christoph Hefti, World Mask, 2014
Dyed wool, natural wool and silk (different pile heights), 100 knots, 305 x 220 cm
Courtesy MANIERA and the artist
© Christoph Heki
9. Christian Marclay, Impact (from the series 'Masks'), 1992
Record covers, archive (adhesive) tape, 126 x 94 cm
Collection of Nancy and Steve Crown
© Christian Marclay. Courtesy Paula Cooper Gallery, New York
10. Mike Nelson, Untitled, 2009
Mixed Media, 120 x 60 x 30 cm
ISelf Collection
© Mike Nelson
Foto: Sebastiano Pellion di Persano
Courtesy the artist and Galleria Franco Noero
11. Ugo Rondinone, moonrise. south, july, 2003
Casting, polyurethane black, 40 x 22 x 14 cm
Burger Collection, Hong Kong
© Ugo Rondinone. Courtesy the artist, Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zurich / New York
Foto: Stefan Altenburger Photography, Zürich
12. Sislej Xhafa, Again and Again, 2000–2012
C-print, 128 x 300 cm
In collaboration with Donna Musica Orchestra, Courbevoie
Courtesy GALLERIA CONTINUA, San Gimignano / Beijing / Les Moulins / Habana
© Sislej Xhafa
13. Cindy Sherman, Untitled #317, 1996
Cibachrome, 147 x 99.7 cm
Goetz Collection, Munich
© Cindy Sherman. Courtesy of the artist and Metro Pictures, New York
14. Gauri Gill, Untitled, from Acts of Appearance, 2015-ongoing
Pigment print on archive paper, 40.6 x 61 cm
Courtesy Gauri Gill
© Gauri Gill
15. Olaf Breuning, Emojis, 2014
C-print/Photo wallpaper, Variable dimensions
Courtesy of the Artists
© 2019 Studio Olaf Breuning
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