Tintoretto. Triptych

Video production: Sergey Sinitsyn, John Tormey

Irina Nakhova created her video projections specially for the space of the church of San Fantin, which was once home to one of Tintoretto’s paintings. They are based on the motives of the artist’s paintings. They are projected on the ancient walls and dome of the church, as if growing out of the walls — hence the impression that they always belonged to this place. These images, referring to historical prototypes, represent a kind of archaeology of the present and future.

In her compositions, Nakhova explores the worlds created by Tintoretto in his paintings. They exist through the movement of painting as an act: unstoppable, flowing, non finito. Vision and thought of the viewer follow the hand of the artist, go beyond the picture frame, proceed to the space of the church interiors, and then further beyond the building, the city, the sea, beyond day and night into the inner worlds of everyone who can see them. This state of spontaneity and disquietude is at the core of her work.

People and animals, the elements of earth, water and air exist in multiple horizons of human imagination — in perpetual flight or in perpetual fall. The master’s painting enthralls with its illusionism and profoundness. In his compositions Tintoretto shows emotionally intense dynamics of a human mass. His works convey the dynamism of matter, embodied either in the form of a whirlwind, or a rushing stream, or a dazzling radiance.

The cosmic scale and extraordinary swiftness, with which the depth in Tintoretto’s paintings unfolds, Nakhova connects with the cataclysms of today. This media installation consists of three parts, each of them referring to particular works of the master.

The first thing the viewer sees is a composition based on Tintoretto’s early work, The Creation of the Animals (1551, Gallerie dell'Accademia). This monumental composition attunes the viewer to enter the world of Tintoretto’s painting. It rethinks the biblical text from the perspective of experiencing contemporary history. In it, time flows swiftly, which exposes the creative gesture, which stands behind the existence and behind art.

The next composition at the wall in the right side is freer of direct associations, but it corresponds to the spirit of Tintoretto’s art, which exists simultaneously in different spaces and elements. In this composition the elements of water and sky collide with the element of earth. The latter is a place of suffering and eternal struggle, while water brings change and heaven brings deliverance. The motive of human mass, storm and rebellion — so characteristic of Tintoretto and literally sprouting from his drawings — comes to life and unfolds in the images of contemporary global conflicts.

The dome is the central space of the church, where the climax scene of Nakhova’s trilogy is concentrated. When the viewers move inside the church towards the dome, it makes them raise their heads and turn to the reflection on the eternal meanings of the art and life. The video projection resembles a kaleidoscope with the masses of people — in droves or in singles, walking or driving — rush into the distance and up. This living mass blends together and boils the same way as in the melting pot of Tintoretto’s Paradisefrom the Doges Palace. All earthly roads lead upwards, to the light emanating from the window of the dome, as it opens up the outer space, which is difficult to conceive.

IRINA NAKHOVA (born 1955, Moscow, Russia) is an artist and Moscow Conceptualist. Her main art genres are painting and installations. She graduated from Moscow State University of Printing Arts (formerly Moscow Polygraphic Institute). Since 1989 she has had over 30 solo exhibitions in Moscow, London, Barcelona, Salzburg, New York, Chicago and other cities in Europe and the USA. She is a winner of the Kandinsky Award in the “Project of the Year” category (2013). She represented Russia at the 56th International Art Exhibition — La Biennale di Venezia in 2015.