Allegoria Sacra (Sacred allegory)

AES+F
Russia
est. 1987-1995

Allegoria Sacra (Sacred allegory)
2010-11
3-channel moving image with sound, 39:39 mins
Place made
Moscow
Medium
3-channel moving image with sound, 39:39 mins
Edition
1/3
Credit line
Gift of John and Jane Ayers, Candy Bennett, Jim and Helen Carreker, Cherise Conrick, James Darling AM and Lesley Forwood, Scott and Zoë Elvish, Rick and Jan Frolich, Andrew and Hiroko Gwinnett, Dr Michael Hayes and Janet Hayes, Klein Family Foundation, Gosia Kudra-Schild, Ian Little and Jane Yuile, Dr Peter McEvoy, David and Pam McKee, Hugo and Brooke Michell, Jane Michell, Peter and Jane Newland, John Phillips, Dr Dick Quan, Paul and Thelma Taliangis, Tracey and Michael Whiting, GP Securities and anonymous donors through the Art Gallery of South Australia Contemporary Collectors Director's Project 2011
Accession number
20118MV7
Signature and date
Not signed. Not dated.
Media category
Moving Image
Collection area
Other international art
Copyright
© AES+F | ARS, New York

  • AES+F is a Moscow-based artist collective which produces large-scale, multi-channel video installations, digital ‘paintings’, photography and sculpture. The name AES+F comes from the initial of each member’s last name: Tatiana Arzamasova, Lev Evzovich, Evgeny Svyatsky and  Vladimir Fridkes.

    Allegoria sacra is the third work in a trilogy, the other two being Last Riot and The feast of Trimalchio. Set in an international airport, it is inspired by Giovanni Bellini’s Allegoria sacra, 1490–1500, and his imagining of Purgatory. Bellini’s iconic painting resonates with AES+F’s view of the modern world and the experience of being suspended in time – or the sense of limbo most keenly feltin today’s modern airport. The river Styx becomes the runway and Bellini’s allegorical heroes are replaced by passengers, while angels are substituted by air hostesses. In the transit lounge of this dystopia, strangers wait to be transported, united by their desire to move from one world to another.

    Leigh Robb, Curator of Contemporary Art


  • [Book] AGSA 500.