During Film Festival Venice Italy, MC2 Gallery & Cantieri del Contemporaneo – Group Exhibition “Static Cinema”
Duration: August 29 – September 24, 2025
Venue: MC2 Gallery & CREA Cantieri del Contemporaneo
Address: 211/A-30123 Giudecca, Venice, Italy
Static Cinema is an exploration of the phenomenon of the static image, incorporating the grammar of cinema and entering into dialogue with movement and time. In the heart of Giudecca, during the Venice Film Festival, the exhibition invites us to reconsider the traditional perception of cinema – not as a continuous flow of frames, but as a space of pauses and frozen moments, where photography is not merely a halted fragment but an autonomous temporal reality.
The Deleuzian concept of the “movement-image” is reinterpreted here through the lens of the static frame, which does not simply arrest movement but transforms it, generating a new perception of time and space. In this sense, the static image is not the opposite of movement, but a parallel form of existence a space where movement slows down, unfolds in the pause, and becomes perception.
The Baudrillardian idea of the simulacrum and hyperreality is reflected in the way photography and video art, presented in the exhibition, blur the boundaries between real movement and its fixation. The static image does not imitate cinematic reality but shapes a new kind of visual experience that transcends the traditional perception of time and narrative.
Static Cinema is not simply a collection of works, but an attempt at synthesis between two poles of media philosophy: dynamic flow and static interruption, constant becoming and eternal suspension. Here, photography and video art become spaces of reflection on how visual culture constructs time, movement, and meaning.
The exhibition takes place in the historic spaces of the former naval warehouses in Giudecca, repurposed as a site for investigating the relationship between photography, video art, and the language of cinema.
Curators
Danila Tkachenko, Slavica Veselinovic
ART-ICON
Authors
Abigail Varney, Adrian Schaub, Alessandro Quintiliani, Alexandros Othonos, Alison Jackson, Amanda Rittenhouse, Ana Santana, Andrea Veltom, Andrew Fox, Angela Stouten, Anna Thiele, Annelie Vandendael, Antoine D‘Agata, Artur Ledo, Attila Ataner, Beatrix Szabo, Bechir Gueled, Belinda Richards, Beril Dilcan, Blagovesta Semkova, Brian David Stevens, Carmelita Greco, Caro Dahlhaus, Carolina Echeverri M, Catia Alpedrinha, Caty Gainer, Celine Croze, Chiara Meierhofer Muscara, Christine Mooijer, Christophe Joset, Clive Myburgh, Craig Stanman, César Guardia Alemani, David Bloomer, Dean Goldberg, Deb Achak, Desiree van den Bogaard, Dianne Yudelson, Diego Fabro, Elena Van Melkebeek, Elisabeth Caren, Ellen Mitchell, Emilie Brecard, Emma Bindrum, Emmanuelle Rabu, Enrico Cerri, Erik Stenbeck, Ester Sabi, Wen Roks, Elisa L. Iannacone, Evan Murphy, Evangelos Rodoulis, Faber Marco, Federico Dix, Frank Hoogeboom, Gass Wild, Gazelle Pezeshkmehr, Geert De Taeye, George Hudson, Graziano Arici, Henriette Sagfjord, Hilde Maassen, Hiro Nishikawa, Hugo Goudswaard, Irene Bernardt, Irina Jomir, Irina Levental, Ishmael Claxton, Ivana Dostalova, Izabella Saputa, Jan Phillip, Jan Skop, Jennifer Baron, Jewgeni Roppel, Johan Vipper, Jon Rafman, Jonas Carlsen, Jose Girl, Julia Zyrina, Juliana Gonzalez, Kalle Saarikko, Karin van de Laar, Karoline Schneider, Kathryn Mussallem, Katie Tasch, Keiran Perry, Kim Lang, Kirsten Sands Decker, Laura Antonia Abbott, Laura Reid, Laurie Swope, Lea Meienberg, Lee Howell, Leo Seidel, Liam Man, Lily Jeanette, Lisa Saltzman, Lorenzo Morandi, Madalina Axentoi, Maeve Moayedi, Maighread Jardine, Manfred Gruber, Marc Apers, Marco Mignani, Marcus Moller Bitsch, Marie Wengler, Mariette Aernoudts, Mark Seliger, Markam Keith Adams, Martina Holmberg, Melanie Jenkins, Michael Ackerman, Michael Anker, Michael Würker, Michaela Skovranova, Michel Kirch, Michelle Pedone, Miqo Cash, Mirthe Van den Berg, Mischa Lluch, Monse Guajardo, Morteza Majidi, Nicklas Svartengren, Olga Chernysheva, Paola Ruvioli, Pascal Haas, Paul Eric Johnson, Paul Kroh, Paulina Strugalska, Pete Muller, Rainer Ludecke, Rainer Roth, Reiny Bourgonje, Richard Ofarrell, Richard Tuschman, Roberta Corregia, Rodrigo Palma, Roger Ballen, Rolandas Urbonavicius, Ruihan Fu, Salvatore Montemagno, Sami Oliver Nakari, Samuel Zuder, Sander Bijlsma, Sandra Handschin, Sandra Milo, Sandro Livio Straube, Sina Muehlbauer, Susi Eggenberger, Satoshi Takahashi, Valeriya Soleil, Ypatia Kornarou, Yu-Chen Chiu, Yaro Zarny