{"id":4004,"date":"2023-09-18T17:15:37","date_gmt":"2023-09-18T15:15:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fondazionearnaldopomodoro.it\/?p=4004"},"modified":"2023-09-18T17:17:27","modified_gmt":"2023-09-18T15:17:27","slug":"riyas-komu-oils-well-lets-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fondazionearnaldopomodoro.it\/en\/riyas-komu-oils-well-lets-play\/","title":{"rendered":"Riyas Komu. Oil\u2019s Well, Let\u2019s Play!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Riyas Komu. Oil\u2019s Well, Let\u2019s Play!<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n

curated by Marco Meneguzzo
\nOctober 20, 2010 - January 30, 2011
\nFondazione Arnaldo Pomodoro, Via Solari 35, Milano<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\t<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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For the second installment<\/strong> of the Project Room<\/strong><\/em>\u2014the space dedicated to emerging young artists, in partnership with UniCreditGroup<\/strong>\u2014the Foundation presents the installation Oil\u2019s Well, Let\u2019s Play!<\/em><\/strong> (2007) by Riyas Komu<\/strong> (Kerala, India, 1971), curated by Marco Meneguzzo<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Oil\u2019s Well, Let\u2019s Play!<\/em><\/strong> consists of a series of moving sculptures, featuring a sort of Trojan horse drawn on elaborate carved wooden legs that evoke the Hindu tradition of Ratha, representing the moment when the gods exit the temple in procession to bestow their blessing. From this figure, which resembles a grid, takes shape a geographical map of the world outlining the global hegemonies of America, Iraq, and the Middle Eastern conflict.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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This installation by Komu<\/em> \u2013 says Marco Meneguzzo \u2013 is an allegorical\/symbolic representation, and includes skulls, carts, maps, metamorphoses, grates that are both prisons and windows: whether we want to or not, whether we realize it or not, we recognize a world of oppressors and a world of the oppressed, a dark and grim image of ongoing destruction, against which the only defense is the artist\u2019s icon as exorcist\u2014one who understands and is able to reveal the future, yet can only rely on the saving power of art.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Riyas Komu, an Indian Muslim sculptor living in Mumbai<\/em> \u2013 continues Meneguzzo \u2013 does not want to engage with the subtleties of the language of art. However, he wants to say something through this language: his motivation is ethical, not aesthetic, and for this reason he consciously takes the risk of being a moralist. His struggle against dominant ideologies (and perhaps in favor of some emerging ideas) is so clear as to be almost didactic, but it comes from a world that is still allowed to be naive, provided it respects the rules of its naivety. For many, this is globalization in art\u2026 for many, this is globalization tout court.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\r\n\t\t

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