When artist Ivana Vladislava arrived at the opening of her new exhibition “Inner Beauty is for Ugly People” at Robert Grunenberg Gallery, it felt pretty much like a superstar arriving at the red carpet of a movie premiere. Rarely have I seen an art event with so much excitement and suspense in the air. The gallery and the street in front of it were packed with what can only be described as a fandom. I told Ivana immediately that this was the art happening of the year – she laughed it off in that moment, but I’m pretty sure it dawned on her later that evening that this was not an exaggeration.
Ivana is not a regular artist; she is exceptional, and she is coming at the art world from a different angle -one that might not feel very compatible with this world at first. But she clawed out a space for herself and has reached a passionate audience that embraces and uplifts her beyond what other artists that might even be more established could only dream of. And that’s what makes it so ingenious and incredibly satisfying. She is an icon; she is the moment.
When I chatted with her recently at the House of Pride, an event during Berlin Pride that she was gracefully co-hosting, a young, slightly intoxicated, gay gentleman approached her over-excitedly, and it was more than obvious that Ivana’s sight let some of his synapses snap. You could say this is the consequence of having too much aura – some people simply lose their minds. It must be a heavy cross to carry sometimes, but on the other hand, it’s something you can make intriguing art of.
Speaking of intriguing art: The artworks of Ivana are a conversation with the self-image. For her new show “Inner Beauty is for Ugly People,” she dives deep into the topic of self-optimization and the obsession with beauty. One of her pieces, titled “Lookmaxxing,” is a hammer with several heads that end in little Ivana faces, all looking towards the facial bones they are -symbolically- about to smash in hopes they will later grow together again more favorably. This is maybe the most bizarre beauty trend – when people attempt to smash their own bones in the quest for beauty. The Ozempic pen holder and the Botox syringe tray are almost harmless examples in comparison.
The centerpiece of the show is an assortment of beauty and make-up products and tools, all with tiny Ivana miniatures that morph into lipsticks, make-up palettes, combs, and brushes. It’s the ultimate commodification of the artist’s body into a product – it reminds me of the SOPHIE song Faceshopping: “My face is the front of shop. My face is the real shop front. My shop is the face I front. I’m real when I shop my face.” It’s heavily philosophical – but at the same time it’s also incredibly funny. A certain sense of self-deprecating humor seems to be a red thread in a lot of her work, both in the gallery and on her social media channel. Who wouldn’t want to have a pickled version of themselves in a mason jar?
Ivana is one of those rare occurrences where the art transcends the artwork itself; she herself is the artwork. I would even go so far as to say her fans are a part of the artwork as well – that’s actually my biggest takeaway from visiting her exhibition opening. There were so many beautiful humans, clearly a very certain creative and expressive type. It’s the best audience you can hope for.
If you buy one of her works, it’s less so about having an object you can put in your collection and wait for its value to rise. Your purchase becomes a testament to being a part of a larger conceptual artwork that is Ivana Vladislava. You become a part of the world that she creates. And that just feels incredibly delicious…
Now, where is my Ozempic pen?
