Opening event:
30 March 2004, 19:00
 
Exhibition dates:
31 March 2003 - 04 June 2004
 
GALLERY hours:
Weekdays from 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
 
Address:
Hellabrunner Strasse 1
81543 Munich, Germany
 
 
The photographs of Julia Kissina do not document events - they produce images that open a window to another world. It is an imaginary and provocative world of images that breaches the gap between mythology and genetic madness. The "Toys" series shows children dressed for play. But where does the playing end when you are toying with the very nature of the beast?

Kissina's work takes a playful look at the aesthetics of creatures in half-human, half-animal form, mutants that inhabit the worlds of spirits and gods in all cultures. The disguises of the children in the photos collide with the imaginary power of the observer, who is likely to sense something menacing beyond the playfulness. At the same time, the viewer will be overwhelmed by the innocence of the children and the sheer beauty of the images.
 
Boris von Brauchitsch writes in a catalogue entry on the "Toys" series: "These effigies of provocative aesthetics, works of art in the age of biological reproducibility, transform the path to ruin into a fairy tale of transfigured romanticism in which the wretched reality flashes repeatedly through our minds, and challenges us to take action."
 
The works in this series were created in 1998-1999. They are shown here for the first time in Munich.
 
Meet the artist:
June 1st, 8:00 p.m. "Kunst und Verbrechen" Julia Kissina talks of her performances and shows the film "Ohne Zeugen," an event that took place at a Berlin police station in 2003 Venue: lothringer13/laden, Lothringer Str. 13, 81667 Munich
 
 
Biography
 
Born in 1966 in Kiev. Studied at the Academy of Art in Munich, advanced studies under the direction of Prof. Pia Stadtbäumer. Completed her studies in 1998. She has received support from a wide range of organizations, including project grants from the Academy Association of Munich (1994), the Gisela and Erwin von Steiner Foundation (1995), the Prinzregent Luitpold Foundation (1997), the city of Munich (1998), the Jürgen Ponto Foundation in Frankfurt (1999 - 2000), the Award of the Art Association of Heidelberg, and a DAAD grant, Zurich (2001).
Julia Kissina currently lives and works in Berlin.