EXODUS

Alexey Morozov
EXODUS
Pisa, Italy
July, 21 - September, 30 2024 

In Pisa, with the support of the City Hall and the Region of Tuscany, an exhibition of Alexei Morozov (resident of a-s-t-r-a gallery) is taking place.

“EXODUS” is the second part of a trilogy the artist is working on. 

The first part, “PONTIFEX_MAXIMUS”, was presented at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples and in Moscow, at the MMOMA at 12 Gogolevsky Boulevard in 2016-2017. 

Now Morozov is unfolding another epic canvas in the form of a network site-specific installation in the historical geography of Pisa.

The ancient city appears as a sacred space on which a “network of meanings and statements” is cast. The intrusions of artistic objects in the space from Chiesa della Spina and Palazzo Blu to Torre Guelfa and Piazza dei Miracoli invite the viewer to follow the path of the Exodus of modern humanity, recalling archaic forgotten cults, biblical promises, Puccini's musical narratives and Chekhov's prophetic texts. The artist himself, who was born in Central Asia, at the terminus of Alexander the Great's Anabasis, in the mountainous country of Kyrgyzstan, has traveled his life's path in the opposite direction - from the East to Italy (to the midnight sea in the legends of the Turks and Mongols).

Morozov's work, in addition to appealing to Neolithic legends and ancient Greco-Roman iconography, is characterized by virtuoso sculptural and pictorial techniques, close in patterns to Italian and French plastic art of the 16th-17th century. 

But first and foremost, the artist is known for his clear and profound conceptual statements, which, together with his masterful visual style, will set him apart in the field of contemporary art.

The project is represented by monumental sculptures and two exhibition areas divided into spaces called “CASA” (*House), according to the principle of alchemical practices: the House of Renewal, the House of the Priest, the House of Birds and the House of the Anatomist.

To see the exposition you have to go along the Lungarno, from Palazzo Comunale to Palazzo Blu and further, through the church of Santa Maria della Spina (a masterpiece of early Gothic architecture, a jewel of the Tuscan architectural heritage of the early XIII century) to the former Fortress of the Guelphs - Torre Guelfa and the last but very important point on the Cathedral Square in front of the Baptistery with a view of the Falling Tower.

The beginning of the tour is in the loggia of the Palazzo Comune of Pisa, where “Pilonus” - the pylon of a cable-stayed bridge made of Corten steel, sprouting bronze porticoes with Caryatids - is installed under vaulted, Renaissance ceilings that form a special “air”. The artist's work in general is characterized by this organic dialogue between technogenic and anatomical plasticity, which makes the sound of his artistic language particularly relevant and contextual. Literally a hundred meters down the Arno, opposite the beautiful Palazzo Blu in Pisa, the second of the four monumental compositions, Morozov's sculpture Caryatid Metaphisical - a nude caryatid (3.5 meters high), frozen in an existential cry, is facing the ancient Arno. Above the capitol (with Ionics in the echinus) is a fragment of the entablature, an architectural element that visually ties the sculpture firmly to the surrounding architecture of the Pisan embankment. The Caryatid as the embodiment of the feminine in the Apollo-Artemis pair occupies an important place in Alexei's work, along with Kouros, the embodiment of Apollo. And it is at the entrance to the chamber space of the Chiesa della Spina temple, to which one has to walk along the embankment for the next 100 meters, that the viewer sees the continuation of the installation in the form of an impressive statue of Kouros_iGneus. The three-meter tall figure rises above the waters of the Arno on a laconic pedestal in the form of a truncated pyramid.  In the church, the artist deployed a very pure-sounding installation “Casa Metanoia” consisting of two canvases and four sculptures exhibited on specially designed structures, which fit very organically into the slender, monochrome interior of the church. The viewing is accompanied by a sound composition by Federico De Robertis (the most famous contemporary Italian composer). Alexei and Federico have been collaborating since 2018. For the next part of the exposition, there is a walk along the waterfront to Torre Guelfa-a monument of fortification architecture from the very beginning of the 15th century. On the three levels of the tower, Morozov deployed three installations: Casa Socerdote, Casa degli Ucelli and Casa Anatomica.

To complete the exhibition, go to Pisa's Piazza Cathedral Square (where the falling bell tower is). Opposite the Baptistery, the sculptor has placed the composition ERICIUS, created in 2016 and first presented in the same year in the main hall of the Naples Museum.