Italian Artist Gio Pistone has just returned from Russia where she was invited to take part in the Street Art Wonderland exhibition curated by Andrej Zaitsev, Director of the Saint Petersburg Street Art Museum.
The exhibition opened on May the 19th can be visited until September the 30th 2018 and it is dedicated to modern myths. The artists have reinterpreted the idea of myth and reality, truth and fiction through paintings, installations, sculptures and wall works.
Gio participated by creating a mural work entitled OUDEIS, 38 meters lenght and 5 meters high, completely painted with brush according to what is her unique and unmistakable style. She took inspiration from several mythological figures which she depicted on the wall. Oudeis, in Greek means Nobody and it’s the name that Ulysses uses when talking to Polyphemus.
Artist tells us:
“There are Myths we live by. Not only the ancient mythology in which we are rooted, but also the modern ones, where we live often without understanding their meaning. The Myths of Progress, History, Development, the Myth of Future Forecasting. We live by daily myths like money, sex, food. The creation of Myths belongs to humanity from the early civilisations, and just like religion, it provides a moral background to communities, some rules to live by, where the use of fear plays a fundamental role. Through this mechanism, shared values and mentalities are consolidated.
To tell this story, I used old and contemporary myths. Among them, there are 6 protagonists, key figures which mirror trends and fears in the Western and world wide communities: fears based on false myths”.
From ancient mythology she draw: Circe the witch, Ubu Re the dictator, Karisiri the Bolivian vampire, Hippopotamus mamon cat-black cat, Polyphemus the giant and Ulysses.
Regarding her decision to choose these mythological figures, Gio Pistone explains us the meaning of each of them according to her opinion:
“Circe the Witch represents the fear of single, unmarried, women without children. Different women, to be pushed away. Ubu Re the Dictator is a character who comes from the theater of Jearry. To me, he represents the terror of power that can not be countered, the horror of uncontrolled, cruel and sadistic power that comes from above. Karisiri the Bolivian Vampire represents the fear of inner and outer solitude, felt even in the middle of a crowd: the fear of being lonely, without friends or family. He finds you when you’re alone, he acts like a friend just to kill. You need to live protected, in a family. Hippopotamus Mamon Cat, Black Cat, it can be found in many different mythologies. He’s he servant of the devil. In this case, I was inspired by the novel of Bulgakov: “The Master and Margarita”. He represents the fear of not knowing, of not being able to control, the occult. The fear of those who hyde, who don’t show themselves immediately. Polyphemus the Giant represents the fear of those who are different, outcasts isolated from others, therefore fierce. And finally Ulysses who represents intelligence and rationality. He is the key figure of the all work. He breaks the circle, breaks the ties. He uses the reason to reach his goals, without fear”.
So Oudeis as Nobody like “No one that can tell us what to be afraid of, no one that can tell us what is right or wrong, because there is no good or evil in absolute”.
Take a look at more images by Irina Solokova below and keep checking back with us for more updates from Russia.
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