The twenty first century meets the Renaissance in this new moving image work by celebrated Russian collective AES+F. Comprising of thousands of digitally animated photographs and backed by an impressive musical score, Allegoria Sacra bombards the senses and offers a potent allegory of modern life. Allegoria Sacra is the third work by AES+F in a broadly conceived trilogy that also includes Last Riot 2 and The Feast of Trimalchio, whose visual splendour captivated more than 82,000 visitors in just over three months at the Art Gallery of South Australia in 2010. Set in an international airport; the protagonists are suspended in time and place - purgatory. Here they wait, united by their desire to move from one world to another, yet remain detached and self-absorbed, like the figures in the iconic Giovanni Bellini painting of the same name. Futuristic scenarios, images of idealised beauty, youth, style, progress and wealth, and the fusion of historical with the contemporary will seduce the viewer. AES+F draw on varied references, from religious symbolism to Delacroix_x0019_ s orientalism and 1960s sci-fi cinema, but the social issues that sustain the work are drawn from the present. The viewer is ultimately left to question whether humanity can return to something more pure. Be among the first in Australia to see this brave new work at a spectacular free outdoor event at the Art Gallery of South Australia on Friday 24 February, 9.30pm.
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