05/11/15 - If there's an artist (in the recent history of the visual arts) that builds much admiration, that's Danh Vo (Vietnam, 1975). His work is so original that it puzzles observers. Loved by art critics and summoned by institutions like the Palais de Tokyo, in Paris, and Punta della Dogana, in Venice (post here), each of his exhibitions produces fascination. This time, through the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid, he is presenting "Banish the faceless/Reward your Grace" at the Palacio de Cristal, located at the Parque del Retiro. 

Banish the Faceless / Reward your Grace, by Danh Vō - 2015

Palacio de Cristal, Madrid

Views of the exhibition rooms

Danh Vo migrates from his home country to Europe, scaping Vietnam's war, and this change in his life is reflected in his work.  The artist takes over artistic objects of the West (like a wooden image of Christ) and symbols of a specific culture, and confronts them with pieces of his own culture in an ironic and daring way. These connections open new possibilities of thought.

Banish the Faceless / Reward your Grace, by Danh Vō - 2015

Palacio de Cristal, Madrid

The Palacio de Cristal,  a 19th century structure, is the ideal venue to lock, as in a huge glass cabinet, bones and a sculpture, which provokes a certain nostalgia for classic museums of Paleontology and Archeology. The installation was specially conceived for that space and it consist of several animal bones, hanged from different heights and, between them, a crucified Christ.

Banish the Faceless / Reward your Grace, by Danh Vō - 2015 (Details)

Palacio de Cristal, Madrid

Although the installation pretends to be nostalgic for the displaying ways of the past, as an example of Contemporary Art, it opens a new line of thought, in which Danh Vo confronts the religious image with the bones of dead animals, all together in the same space and with the same importance. A true challenge for a city like Madrid, so attached to religion and to what Christ represents.