Persona

To coincide with the 100th anniversary of The International Journal of Psychoanalysis, MA Culture, Criticism and Curation students at Central Saint Martins present Persona, a group exhibition at The Institute of Psychoanalysis, 112a Shirland Road, Maida Vale, from 12 November to 16 November 2018. The exhibition displays works by contemporary international artists that investigate and explore the many facades of identity, personality and how they are articulated amongst different realms of human life. Sexual identity, digital persona, professional identity and social roles are just some of the themes crystallized by the artworks in conjunction with never-seen archive material from the Institute of Psychoanalysis. Formed by the preposition per (meaning ‘excess’) and sona (from sonare meaning ‘to play’), the title derives from the Latin dramatis personae, an expression used to define the mask worn by actors in Roman theatre. The mask function was not only to conceal the actor’s identity but also to amplify its intonations, functioning like an enhancement of personality. Inspired by Sigmund Freud, the curators will collaborate with Martina Camani, Jiaqing Mo, Melik Ohanian, Çağlar Tahiroğlu and with the Institute of Psychoanalysis to achieve an explorative and contemplative exhibition, reflective of aspects of Freud’s theories that still resonate today. Persona attempts to showcase this tension between identity and personality, exploring how art can be a useful resource to address and visualize this inner turmoil. Participating Artists Martina Camani lives and works between Vicenza and Venice. In her vision, theatrical elements and installation coexist, seeking to identify existential and sacred contents with pop aesthetics. She was awarded with the Combat Prize in 2016. Jiaqing Mo currently lives and works in London and Shanghai. Her practice centres upon the construction of conceptions, covering video, theatre, performance and installation. Among the others, her works were displayed at the Chicago Design Museum, ICA Institute of Contemporary Arts and Macau Orient Foundation. Melik Ohanian is a French contemporary artist of Armenian origin. He lives and works in Paris and New York. Between science, philosophy, astrophysics and visual arts, Melik Ohanian explores and, in various media, transcends the material aspect of the work. His work has been shown in many solo exhibitions including: Galerie Chantal Crousel, Centre Pompidou and Palais de Tokyo in Paris, Yvon Lambert in New York, Museum in Progress in Vienna. He has also taken part in a large number of group exhibitions around the world, in particular the 52nd and 56th Venice Biennale, the São Paulo Biennial, the Berlin and Sydney biennials in 2004, Moscow and Lyon biennials in 2005 and Gwangju and Seville biennials in 2006. Çağlar Tahiroğlu is a Turkish-French artist based in London. Her artistic work investigates a range of topics, from psycho-analysis and clinical psychology to wider political and societal issues like forced displacement and gender. Her artwork has been shortlisted/nominated for prestigious awards such as MullenLowe Nova Awards and Helen Lidget Studio Prize, and her work has been acquired by University of Arts Collection.