Sylke von Gaza

Project "Beyond the Veil", Chiesa San Lio, Venezia 2015

Work Commission for Cappella Gussoni

Since 2013, in collaboration with Curia Patriarcale di Venezia, Sylke von Gaza has been painting in several churches in Venice: Chiesa San Fantin (2014), Chiesa San Lio (Project Beyond the Veil, 2015), Cappella Santissima Trinità (Basilica della Salute, 2016).

In 2015, during the Venice Biennale, the Curia Patriarcale di Venezia commissioned a permanent work contribution by Sylke von Gaza to the Gussoni Renaisscance chapel in Chiesa San Lio, an old Venetian church nearby Rialto. Therefore, the artist was creating in situ three-panel paintings for the Gussoni family chapel (Gussoni Red Veil Paintings Triptych) during the 2015 Venice Art Biennale - following old artistic traditions.

Netherlandish and Italian Renaissance painting has always been a key source of inspiration for Sylke von Gaza. With her large-scale abstract oil paintings, she positions herself within the tradition of the Old Masters without, however, referencing them directly in her formal language. Oscillating between past and present, Venice provides an ideal creative environment for the artist, whose works not only probe the questions of tradition and identity in painting but also provoke a discussion of the intrinsic value of art and society.

For this Beyond the Veil project, Sylke von Gaza joined forces with the priest and curator Gianmatteo Caputo, director of the Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art in Venice, and the Swiss Renaissance historian Julian Bruno Vogel. The title of the project is intentionally ambiguous; it alludes to the artist’s series of Veil Paintings as well as to the figurative meaning of the phrase ‘beyond the veil’ – i.e. after death – which is echoed by the figure of the Virgin cradling the dead Christ on Pietro and Tullio Lombardo’s altar relief in the Gussoni chapel. Radiant in a luminous yet contemplative red – a colour that draws on the liturgical tradition – Sylke von Gaza’s three canvases frame the Lamentation scene of the stations of the Cross. Last, but by no means least, the word ‘beyond’ invited viewers to go beyond the contemplation of the finished work, to witness the old-masterly process of its creation and to watch the artist at work in the public space of the church.

Calling for a bold combination of art historical references, the re-articulation of archetypal themes and the consideration of its architectural setting, the project Beyond the Veilallowed Sylke von Gaza to take her work in a new direction. The project lasted from May until October 2015. Sylke von Gaza’s contribution was integrated into the Gussoni familiy chapel's ensemble with its altar relief by Pietro and Tullio Lombardo and the tomb of the Venetian painter Canaletto and will remain there permanently.

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