M.A.D. GALLERY MILANO Biennial of Art 2017
Artist: Nadine Pillet (Nina)
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Critical review curated by Alessandra Magni Art Director of M.A.D. GALLERY MILANO Biennial of Art 2017
The charcoal technique learned during a trip to Asia by a local artist, unconsciously brings us back to the first forms of art or pictorial representation, the rock art. Drawings, paintings and engravings that men from the Paleolithic and Neolithic times represented on the caves of rocks to tell stories of daily life, hunting actions, cosmogonies. The value of these depictions was not aesthetic but functional and magical. In particular, among the most ancient techniques we find the one practiced by the Paleolithic hunters, who used their fingertips to trace their drawings and symbols. Subsequently also the vegetable fibers were used, prototypes of the modern brush. Based on these ancient techniques of execution, the artist Nadine Pillet approaches with sophistication to imitate its contents and forms. Black brings us back to the primary pigments (red and black) made from iron and magnesium, the essential and primary source of parietal coloring. The artist uses charcoal dust to give the impression of an old painting, of a statue, looking for emotions beyond the mere executive technique. The study and the passion for natural and quantum medicine are reflected in the works opposing the modern western world. Waves and vibrations replace the static matter. Recurrent is also the figure of the woman, being par excellence fertile and propitiatory, narrated through the exemplarity of various ethnic groups and philosophies: "Feminine Buddha Primordial", "Waï", "Little girl Amazonia" "The lovers", "Little girl a Tribe". Religions, oriental philosophies, theory of relativity, quantum mechanics can help us to understand and translate the long introspective work of the author, the intrinsic mysticism. Nothing artifact or too revisited, representations of the everyday and of the symbolic. Energy, atoms and particles come together in a cosmic dance, an expression of a profound ecology that sees part of nature in human beings. As F. Capra says [...] "we must learn from the natural cosmic cycles" (F. Capra, Il tao della fisica, 1989, Adelphi). After this long journey into Asian culture in search of her identity, in search of a true artistic inspiration, we expect an even more profound pictorial elaboration that the artist has already shown to possess. Evolution of a metaphysical journey that Nina has undertaken and that will transport us spectators towards the goal.
Critical review curated by Alessandra Magni Art Director of M.A.D. GALLERY MILANO Biennial of Art 2017
Critical review curated by Alessandra Magni Art Director of M.A.D. GALLERY MILANO Biennial of Art 2017
What happens when a budda chooses to be a woman? The Tibetans who -‐ a thousand years ago -‐ traveled on foot to reach the caves and forests of India, to find and receive the Buddhist teachings, discovered that many women were in fact great tantric teachers; called yogini, they practiced the esoteric disciplines followed by a large number of disciples. With a fierce, independent and rigorous character, the yogini transmitted their spiritual secrets to the men who wished to be initiated, giving a great impulse to the development of Tantric Buddhism. "In the spiritual field, feminine energy has the same capabilities and possibilities as the male one," says Kyabje Gehlek Rinpoche, Tibetan Lama and Buddhist teacher ("Rinpoche" means "the precious") sent to the West by the Dalai Lama's guardians. A summer morning in 2005, Rinpoche, on the occasion of an exhibition, was seated in front of the deity Tara, depicted in an eighteenth-‐ century painting contained in "Female Buddhas: women of illumination in Tibetan mystical art" and explained how Tara had vowed to manifest herself in the world in feminine form: "Tara has chosen a female body to enlighten the way of all beings," said Rinpoche; her image helps us to be aware of the Buddha that exists within each of us, helping us to remember that we are not only physical, material beings. What is most needed in this era is a feminine presence". Tara, whose name means "Star" (perhaps with reference to the Polar Star, whose brightness has the power to guide those who have lost their way) is the lighting energy personified. At the same time, Tara is a passionate mother, an angry protector, a fast and fearless subjugation of obstacles. With eyes darting like lightning, she beats her feet and sows panic among gods and demons alike, repairing wrongs and injustices and fulfilling her promise to give the divine feminine energies to the world. Her intense femininity is anything but docile or submissive. Tara and her followers of yogini, drink the blood of the adversaries of the Dharma, dance naked on the bodies of the defeated enemies and embrace the male consorts in a passionate sexual union. They are transcendent liberators who stand up for the "enlightened nature" present in each of us when we turn to our inner wisdom. Critical review curated by Alessandra Magni Art Director of M.A.D. GALLERY MILANO Biennial of Art 2017
Critical review curated by Alessandra Magni Art Director of M.A.D. GALLERY MILANO Biennial of Art 2017
Wherever you go ... that your feet do not stumble, that your arms do not weaken and that your words are true. Then your hopes will be fulfilled and your efforts will be successful (Fabio, from a tribal Prayer from northern Thailand). When people meet or leave, they usually say and/or do something, to show their good feelings or as a sign of respect. There are many different ways to do this, which can vary based on nationality, gender, religion, age and profession and also the degree of formality or informality. The wai, as the Indian namaste, belongs to the family of the Pranamasana greetings or the Anjali mudra. A mudra is a symbolic gesture or typical ritual of Hinduism and Buddhism. While some mudra involve the entire body, most are performed with hands and fingers. A mudra is a spiritual act, a seal of authentic energy used in the iconography and spiritual practice of Indian religions. Mudra means "seal" or "sign". The meaning of the phrase is therefore "salutation seal." Anjali is sanskrit for "divine offering", "a gesture of respect", "blessing", "greeting", and derives from Anj, which means "to honor and celebrate". The union of the palms provides the connection between the left and right hemispheres of the brain and represents unification or "adjudication". This yoke is the symbol of the practitioner's connection with the divine in all things. The wai is also a common way to express gratitude or to apologize. At any moment the movement is slow and graceful. Critical review curated by Alessandra Magni Art Director of M.A.D. GALLERY MILANO Biennial of Art 2017
Africans have a thing called ubuntu. They believe that a person is a person through other persons. “That my humanity is caught up, bound up, inextricably, with yours. When I dehumanize you, I dehumanize myself. The solitary human being is a contradiction in terms”. Africans believe in belonging: “I am because we are.” This should be the secret of every ethnic group, of every tribe, of every people: to love, to share, to be all one. We are here to make the world a better place and I think that happy people and people who love each other, have a better chance to do that than anyone else.
Critical review curated by Alessandra Magni Art Director of M.A.D. GALLERY MILANO Biennial of Art 2017