Brooklyn, NY (April 25, 2023) — Ortega y Gasset Projects is pleased to present Rage Fantasies, a solo project in The Skirt by the New York based artist Aika Akhmetova curated by artist and OyG co-director Leeza Meksin. An opening reception will be held on Saturday, May 6th from 5 to 7 pm. The show will be open to the public through August 27, 2023.
For their site-specific project in The Skirt, Aika Akhmetova created Rage Fantasies – a video installation with sculptural elements exploring the taboo subject of rage within familial structures. The work is autobiographical as the space is set up to mimic the entrance area or in Russian “подъезд” of Akhmetova’s childhood apartment building. The artist states that “it’s a very typical “подъезд” that is no different from thousands of other “подъезд”s that were built during Soviet Union time in Kazakhstan. This liminal space in between the outside and inside acts as a playground for teens growing up in these apartment buildings, it’s a place of your first kiss, your first fight, a place where you hang around when you don’t want to go home just yet.”
In the installation the viewer acts as an accidental spectator who overhears' conversations from family members that are not meant to be heard. There are videos masquerading as windows, false elevator doors and mailboxes that will never get any mail. The subterranean aspects of the Skirt are magnified and accentuated to bring the viewer into a psychologically and emotionally resonant space.