EX-VOTO

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EX-VOTO

Julie Born Schwartz

From November 02, 2018 17:49 to December 19, 2018 19:49

Opening: Fredag d. 2. november kl. 16-18

Posted by Galleri Image

EX-VOTO

Film installation with three HD videos (30 min with sound) and photographic works.  

Nestled in the remote town of Cascia, within the mountains of southern Umbrian, lies the Santuario di Santa Rita de Cascia - the resting place of Saint Rita (1381-1457), canonised as the Saint of Impossible Causes.  

The film Ex-voto (2018) examines the legacy of Santa Rita through the daily activities of the nuns currently resident at the convent in Cascia. It also draws on the twentieth century French conceptual artist Yves Klein's connection to the saint. Klein was deeply fascinated by Santa Rita and left several ex-voto's at the convent. The resulting film explores expressions of faith in material and visual culture whilst offering a meditation on the nature of spirituality itself.  

Santa Rita has a global following and Born Schwartz is the first film-maker to have been granted access to the cloistered areas of the convent. Over the course of two years, hosted by the Mahler & LeWitt Studios residency program in nearby Spoleto, she became acquainted with the nuns, making intimate interviews and recording their lives on film.   The film incorporates other locations near Spoleto which have spiritual connotations, including Tomaso Buzzi's folly complex in Montegabbione, 'La Scarzuola', and a submerged church used by Russian film-maker Andrei Tarkovsky in his film 'Nostalghia'.  

Julie Born Schwartz lives and works in Copenhagen. She studied at Goldsmiths and the Royal Academy Schools in London. She has exhibited and had screenings across Europe. Recent exhibitions and screenings include:Vermilion Sands, Copenhagen; Code Art Fair 2017, Copenhagen; Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt; Royal Academy of Arts, London; The Theatre Museum at the Court Theatre, Copenhagen; Theatre Museum, Düsseldorf; Socle du Monde Biennale 2017, Herning; Museum of Religious Art, Lemvig; Union Pacific Gallery, London; Photographic Center, Copenhagen; The Sunday Painter, London. For a full list and information about her films please visit her website: http://www.juliebornschwartz.com/.  

The exhibition is supported and made possible by the Danish Arts Foundation and Mahler & LeWitt Studios residency program.