Ellen de Bruijne

Zhana Ivanova

21 May - 02 Jul 2016

Zhana Ivanova
Carnivalesque, 2016
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ZHANA IVANOVA
Carnivalesque
21 May – 02July 2016

Zhana Ivanova’s practice involves rearranging and reconfiguring daily patterns and systems to which we have grown accustomed. The manners in which we relate to one another are of central interest. Her mostly performative works usually feature elaborate scripts, which when enacted produce situations where social and power relations fluctuate.

With the works included in Carnivalesque, Ivanova concentrates on notions of intimacy within the familiar mode of communications online. As mediation expands to comprise a large part of all meaning and experience, it is interesting to consider the effects on personal identity, the body and sexuality. Internet forums, comments, chat websites, vloggers’ diaries – all contribute to a daily polyphony, where singular voices interplay and shape a constant, overflowing narrative. A vast scenario, where unlikely characters interact and where anonymity allows for transgression to thrive without consequence.
Carnivalesque features an exploded script of sorts – a display of commentary, where a scene comes into being, solely in the words of others; some exercises in euphoric sensory response and a sporadic dialogue.

Zhana Ivanova (1977, BG) lives and works in Amsterdam. She graduated from the Queen Mary University College, London and at DasArts, Amsterdam before attending the Rijksakademie, Amsterdam (2012/2013). Her recent exhibitions include: Kunsthalle Basel (2015/16), Centre Pompidou, Paris (2015), David Roberts Art Foundation, London (2015), Foundation Galeries Lafayette, Paris (2014), Ellen de Bruijne Projects, Amsterdam (2014), Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam (2013). Upcoming exhibition: Mendes Wood DM, Sao Paulo (2016).