“The modern era might be characterized as a period of the discovery of self. Our current post-modern era can be characterized as a transitional period of the disintegration of self. Perhaps the coming “post-human” period will be characterized by the reconstruction of self”. (Post Human Exhibit Catalog Essay, Jeffrey Deitch, Losanna, 1992)

Post-human is a term which embraces values and meanings which originate from the world where we now live in, a world that seems to have suffered too much from the violent issues of the post-modern era that have left a disconcerting sense of the aridity of our existence.  

Post-human may be considered a philosophy with a new way of thinking, a new vision of the world and its definitions; it is an epoch marked by important socio-economic changes which have led to the discovery of a new approach to our identity and the way we see our body reversing the parameters and principles that were considered sacrosanct. Following the ferocious post-modern destruction of our identity, there is  an urgent  need for regeneration which may, for the first time, seem to question concepts like the balance between human and natural evolution.  

As a result of scientific progress in the fields of biotechnology and genetics in particular, post-human is indeed the current world of transformation and manipulation where reality is no longer indelibly linked to our “natural” appearance but to the ever increasing possibility of complete reconstruction of ourselves.  We may decide to change sex, our facial features or body shape, we can all look the way we want to, and what is human steps down in favour of artifact.  Pushing beyond the natural limits has gradually brought about an evolution that is becoming less natural and forever more artificial, where the individual can be modified and reconstructed.

This contemporary collapse has sparked a new personal model which, along with a total absorption of political, economic and, above all, social change, has given rise to an existential debate of great complexity as it has delved into the very roots of a new statement of ourselves.

This difficult but at the same time singular context determines our reading of the artistic production of  Saul Zanolari, an artist whose irony and creative vitality allows him to tackle contorted and often awkward themes like changing values in aesthetics, the ease with which we can transform our so-called biological bodies, and the ever more evident conquest of artifact over natural.     

Through an unusual play on the effects of balance, Zanolari takes us into a  “third dimension”, which brings together, in ways that are, at times quite evident and at others less so, two traditional worlds considered to be disconnected: reality and fantasy. In his works reality and fantasy seem to encroach on each other, alternate and almost become one and the same, giving rise to a projection that goes beyond the limits of the human beings, leading us to the discovery of a different concept of the body.  

For Zanolari, as for most post-human artists, such as Matthew Barney and Vanessa Beecroft, the body has an absolute value, as it is the protector and at the same time the victim of an ever increasing need of transformation in accordance with the canons dictated, on the one hand by new aesthetic models, and on the other by the race determined by developments in the name of biotechnology or genetic manipulation. The body is no longer an inviolable property, but, being unsuited to the reality we inhabit, it has become a transformable object, variable and therefore temporary, since it has distanced itself from a natural evolution.

Given the emphasis that the post-human artists place on the importance of the “human” body, it is no wonder that Zanolari’s favourite subject is the portrait which should not be seen in the traditional sense of the term, since they are not a simple interpretation of the truth. He does not provide us with a faithful representation of a person, but quite the opposite, by an ingenious process of reconstruction of the figure, Zanolari transforms the human body into an artificial one,  producing bizarre two-dimensional portraits within which are concealed some deeper issues, like the relationship between identity and body. His characters are not confined to an authentic representation, but are indeed surreal manifestations straying into an expression that goes beyond reality into a “third-dimension” where imagination meets truth.

In this very personalised creation, the artist gradually abandons the protagonist’s initial identity until it is undermined by that of his antagonist, a sort of avatar, who steals the protagonist’s natural and human features in order to transform, exasperate or destroy them as he pleases.  The result is a complete metamorphosis imposed by the direct vision of the artist  who gives life to new and unusual characters in a mix of initially human traits transformed by an amazingly vibrant creative imagination. 

The artistic corpus of Saul Zanolari includes a selection starting from the famous series named  Twilight of the Goddess, the emblematic production of his  Dolls, up to the intriguing series of Drag Queens which, together with the  DJ parade, represent his favourite subjects. As may be seen from the strangeness of the figures, the artist favours extremely extravagant and eccentric characters, considered to be perfect interpreters of a scenario that has about it a feeling of the surreal but, at the same time, makes a veiled hint at the truth. From one stupendous  face to another, the particulars are original and never fortuitous confirming the artist’s careful study of the figure, the face and all those  tiny details which, being exaggerated by the artist’s imagination, make Zanolari a highly creative observer.

A feature that all his portraits have in common is the sensation of motion and rhythm, his characters refuse to be static, their gestures and movements acquire a great sense of vibrancy in spite of the traditional two-dimensional effect of the photo. The protagonists are caught in what would appear to be a casual pose, like Zsa Zsa Gabor, indefatigable wife  with a past history of  merely nine husbands,  who is provocatively flinging away her wedding rings, no doubt ready to accept yet another;  or an unusual Shirley Temple, “inexplicably” unsmiling, who, with just a hint of a pout, looks threatened by sinister shadows;  or yet another, an exceptional  Amanda Lepore, famous Drag Queen, whose plunging neckline revealing the generous curves of a cleavage which is being used as a handy little shelf from which popcorn is bursting forth and swirling  around her.

Besides the mundane parenthesis of legendary stars and celebrities, Zanolari presents his curious series of  Dolls, in which he gives us examples of  dolls reinterpreted in a contemporary light. With these  “post-human dolls” the artist reinterprets some of the most popular fairy tales that we all grew up with, with a different and original reading however. He looks questionably at a Little Red Riding Hood, basket on her arm, little rosebud lips but with her wooden legs, or The Princess and the Pea with her long red hair and lacy dress, arms folded, who seems to be crying tears of tiny, thin blades,  or an Alice in Wonderland, dressed up as a fetish waitress, whose pockets would seem to hold keys to who knows what secret doors. 

Fairy tales form the basis of a child’s education, the first steps towards an understanding, albeit imaginary, of the outside world. The choice of this theme conceals the desire to reinvent  those stereotype princes and princesses who, as such, are now forced to undergo the current social changes:  just as we have reached a sort of  going beyond the human, so now, fables too, must lend themselves to new, contemporary meanings. Fairy tales, therefore, as allegories, as the origin and containers of those concepts that, along with imagination, magic and fantasy, are able to lead us to places where no other means can, thank to the force of their communicability which is simple but incisive.   

Exclusive to this exhibition is the first ever showing of Zanolari’s choice to use sculptures, a new medium compared to his past production. Driven by his creative imagination to give greater concreteness to his post-human dolls, the artist has given life to six of his Dolls. Paparty, Pap Alice, Red Wood, Paw, Annie and  Paris Pose take shape in six sculptures of about 70 cm each, which abandon the usual two-dimensional form in favour of a “vibrant” three-dimension. The desire to  “create”, almost in the flesh, these six post-human dolls, conceals a deeply intimate challenge to  breathe life into already-existing characters from the past, caught in photo form and then being reborned. These sculptures carry with them the signs of their “past lives”, now contaminated by new connotations, continuously searching for an identity.  

On a par with the sculptures, Zanolari once more shows his versatility as an artist with other two great communicating compositions, Forbidden City and CCTV 18, which are quite unusual compared to his past single subjects. This double work, emblematic of his Chinese experience of the last few months, has as its protagonist two huge pairs of eyes,  the artist’s own on one panel, and a pair of almond-shaped ones on the other, which observe and investigate an unusual Chinese reality currently at the centre of intense social, environmental and political debate.  

In the work Forbidden City, the most personal of the two, the artist questions a reality, in this case the Chinese situation, which he has been a witness to for only a few months.  Most likely a prey to a few personal phobias, Zanolari portrays himself with a health mask while looking, in a detached sort of way, at the happy-go-lucky attitude of the two vain dolls in the foreground, showing off their made-up faces and pretty clothes. Separated from the two figures on the lawn by a long dividing forbidden ribbon, the artist and the curly mulatto doll, do not seem to be able to take part in the fun that is happening at a short distance from them. The curly doll and Zanolari’s gaze seem to be fixed as if in expectation, unlike the two dolls on the other side of the ribbon who appear to approach the beholder as if inviting him to join the scene with the general enthusiasm typical of a Country  experiencing a moment of great growth. In a realty that is perhaps still difficult to understand and capture, there are still cultural impediments which may one day be overcomed and shared, like that dividing ribbon which looks as if it is about to snap, right beside the doll set apart form the others.   

While Forbidden City expresses Zanolari’s questioning,  CCTV18 symbolises a China seen through almond-shaped eyes.  Thus, no longer the artist’s eyes, but Chinese eyes gazing at the euphoria and the colours of a Nation, strengthened by  tradition and pride, where on a sports ground, just to remind us of the forthcoming and long-awaited event of the Olympics, there linger the same familiar dolls, now as representatives of the traditional masks of the Peking  Opera. Such friendly masks, those of  Sun Wukong, “Monkey King”, greatly loved character of classic literature; those of Xia Houdun, interpreter of the famous opera “Three Kingdoms” and those of  Dian Wei, the brave warrior, all of which would seem to be  inviting us to take part  without any ribbon separating us in the apparently idyllic and happy atmosphere. Only those who look closely, however,  will notice that the doll in the foreground might not be able to listen to what she wants to because of a glass “mistakenly” placed upside down, as if to suggest that the desire to communicate is not overly sought after….

As well as the very personal choice of themes, the artist also stands out for the originality of his technique which goes beyond common artistic languages.  In fact, Zanolari enjoys astonishing his observers with the freshness of an artistic code that is neither photography nor painting, nor simple digital designs, but rather an original fusion of them all.  He has invented a new artistic language suited to the singularness of what he wishes to transmit, he does not confine himself to the realism of a photo or to the stillness of a painting, but strays into a totally exclusive technical exercise.      Taking a real photograph as his starting point, Zanolari, using a touch of irony, digitally transforms this simple snapshot  into an ex novo portrait.

His brush is a mouse, his palette a screen which, with masterly skill, enrich reality with the infinite dynamics of fantasy, astonishing and disconcerting the observer who may still be too tied down to       traditional art forms.  It is through this play of colours, pixels and lines  that the artist appeals to his observers, prodding the common mechanisms of the imagination into opening the way to an unusual dialogue between the world of technology and that of  cognition. 

Having freed himself of all linguistic debts, Zanolari is truly an avant-garde artist in terms of both the novelty of the artistic subject, an allegorical image of a conceptual product which conceals a much more complex exasperation,  and the originality of the new linguistic model which perfectly fits into the current artistic panorama.  

Text by Silvia Cirelli