While reproductive rights have been a prominent theme in contemporary art for many years, instances where the event of childbirth does not or cannot take place – such as infertility, abortions and miscarriages layers – are placed outside of discussion within heteronormatively-dominated social conventions. In her new exhibition “Rites of Letting Go”, Hungarian artist Dorottya Vékony aims to shed light on these neglected stories through ongoing research, participating in fertility rites, workshops and talks while sharing her way to address reproductive issues.
The exhibition opens with Tube, 2023, a semi-translucent silk curtain covered with an enigmatic calligraphy which, on closer inspection, turns out to be small sticks. Nearby, a group of black and white photographs titled Subtle Transformation Practices, 2020–, depicts groups of women adopting contorted, interlocking poses as they appear to perform fertility rituals. The photographs are printed on translucent glass and displayed under projectors to produce a double image projected onto the gallery wall, reinforcing the enigmatic character of the postures. In the next room, the video Labyrinth 1., 2022, is projected onto the floor and shows two women navigating a maze – a metaphor for the cyclical nature and complexities of the reproductive process. In the series of interviews titled Conversations2022-2023, women remember their traumas of childbirth-related losses and the support systems that helped them survive.
In Fertility2020-21, the naked bodies of Subtle Transformation Practices are scaled to near life-size and placed in the gallery in modular, puzzle-like configurations that dissolve anatomy into abstract compositions. Meanwhile, the final room showcases the site-specific installation, Cave, 2023, an encompassing, almost uterine space. One enters through a curtain made of synthetic hair to face enlarged photographs of placentas covering the walls and amorphous ceramic sculptures referencing fertility rites, each fluidly molded form seeming to metamorphose between male reproductive organs and females. In the middle of the space, a birthing chair invites viewers to sit while listening to a guided meditation. At the end of the exhibition, the dramaturgy sends the viewer back to Vékony’s own involvement with his subject. In Self-portrait, (family)2023, the artist finally shows himself, like an intimate and humorous paraphrase of the impregnated Virgin Mary.
