Anton Ginzburg: At the Back of the North Wind

A mythical journey, commencing in the American North West (Astoria, Oregon), continuing to St. Petersburg and then to the White Sea, the site of the Soviet Gulag prison camps.

Imagine a place on Earth devoid of seasonal change and natural disaster, whose inhabitants were free of pestilence, aging, and war. It was a land situated so far from explored territory that it seemed otherworldly and could only be described or imagined through second-hand accounts of its existence. First chronicled by Hesiod, Homer and Herodotus, the ancients believed in such a place. They called it Hyperborea, a realm lying far north of the winter  territories, where the sun never set and whose landscape and waters were lush, fertile, and wild.
~~ Except from "The Shape of Time" by Matthew Drutt, curator.


At the Back of the North Wind is an exhibition of new works by Russian artist Anton Ginzburg, which will open to the public from June 3 to November 27, 2011 during the 54th Venice Biennale at the Palazzo Bollani.

In the exhibition, Ginzburg explores the presence of mythological patterns in the fabric of everyday reality, particularly the tension between the actual and the potential. By combining new technologies with traditional forms of art, media, and cultural artifacts, the installation conveys a currently relevant approach to these universal themes in visual terms.

Anton Ginzburg lives and works in New York. His works have been shown in worldwide museums such as Palais de Tokyo, Paris, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and more. At the Back of the North Wind marks his debut showing at the Venice Biennale.

" I was drawn to the theme of Hyperborea, a region thought to be far north, "beyond the Boreas" (the North Wind), through recent sensationalistic exposes claiming the discovery of a mythical land on the White Sea around the Kem' and Solovki Islands (site of the Gulag camps).
~~Anton Ginzburg

 "Hyperborea" series, 2011

@Anton Ginzburg

American North West

St. Petersburg

The White Sea

Courtesy Anton Ginzburg

At the Back of the North Wind at Palazzo Bollani / Venice Biennale

June 1 - November 27, 2011