The exhibition of artist Domonkos Benyovszky-Szűcs at the Zsófi Faur Gallery draws attention to the forms and spread of aestheticised, invisible violence through art. The exhibition focuses on elements of violence that contribute not only to oppression but also, through their very invisibility, to its systemic reproduction.
Traditionally, these phenomena come to us ‘censored’: through romantic or erotic representations of violence. Eroticised and often aestheticised abuse is also a prominent product of the pornography industry, with similar themes found in Greek and Roman mythology.
These stories are presented with a new sensuality by the Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens, whose aesthetic is presented in dialogue with the visuality of the “feature” porn films of the millennium. The title of the exhibition, Caelestia Crimina – Celestial Sins, borrowed from Ovid, refers to this cultural medium.
The exhibition does not seek to apportion blame, blame or stigmatise, but simply draws attention to a widespread and silenced phenomenon through the medium of contemporary art. In addition to paintings and risoprints, some works are presented in the form of household textiles (towels, cushion covers), which can be bought to take home, as an analogy to the domesticated abuse that surrounds us.