NEWDEAD EMPIRE

2022
'(Non) exhibition' (group exhibition)
Garage Museum residence. Moscow, Russia
plywood, gypsum, wax, epoxy, glazed ceramics, textile
150x50x350 cm

In this project, Grishina reflects on the tradition of human ‘consumerism’ towards animal bodies, such as the killing of exotic or particularly aesthetically pleasing species to create luxuries or ‘curiosities’, a kind of necropolitics. The prototype for the mutant creature snuggled up on a child’s baize blanket was ‘Jennings dog’, a famous ancient sculpture of a Greek Molossus dog. Supposedly, when collector Henry Jennings purchased the sculpture from a Roman antiquary, it was missing a tail. Jennings called it ‘the dog of Alcibiades’, referring to the legend of the handsome Molossus dog, who had his tail chopped off by the military leader Alcibiades in order to divert attention from his crimes. Grishina gives the “Jennings dog” his tail back, but in the form of a snake’s torso. One may assume that by constructing such a fantastic creature Grishina is imitating the experiments of taxidermists who create another “outlandish” object for their client’s luxurious interior.

Text by Ekaterina Savchenko

Special thanks to:

Ksenia Nechay