Joanna Rajkowska

The Light of the Lodge

Source: Courtesy Charim Galerie Wien

Joanna Rajkowska May 15- June 7, 2014

The Light of the Lodge asks questions about the place, role and heritage of Freemasonry in European culture. Charim Gallery, once the location of one of the most important lodges in the cultural life of Vienna in 18th century, now serves as a laboratory, wherein the artist performs a dissection of masonic rituals. Reflection on the history of the gallery (where Mozart once played) in conjunction with critical observations of the Freemasons' creed, produced a number of artworks that refer to this most secret and still very influential organization. The carpet with a characteristic pattern but without ritual accessories and a holy book with erased text are amongst the deconstructed situations and gestures that reflect on the political rationale of the organization and on the artist's fascination with the refined culture it produced.