In London, the artist explores the dissolution of icons and ideologies in the uncertainty of contemporary society.
Danh Võ has become internationally known thanks to his highly critical work, which directly challenges and deconstructs the failures of idols and ideologies of past and present using readymades and contextualization to interrogate these structures. His latest exhibition, which opened at White Cube London during Frieze week against the backdrop of the then-upcoming U.S. election, delves further into the impact of power structures on personal and collective identity, critiquing the current disintegration of ideological systems -- a theme particularly resonant in today's political climate and in the wake of Trump's re-election.
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Early on, one specific piece sets the tone and establishes itself as the exhibition's central statement: a fragmented and bent rendering of Venus stands in front of an American flag, surrounded by precarious plywood structures. This dramatic scene suggests that the era of solemnity, solidity and monumentality associated with classical statues and temples has faded, leaving only fragments of civilization, democracy and freedom in an increasingly polarized and divided world.
Throughout the exhibition, Võ's work evokes the kind of deconstruction of idols championed by philosophers like Friedrich Nietzsche and later Martin Heidegger and Gilles Deleuze, dismantling the idealism that once characterized Western civilization. These philosophers argued that paradigmatic ideological constructions are mere tools for manipulating worldviews on both individual and collective levels, asserting that the myths imposed by religion and politics have long prioritized abstract ideas over reality, reducing the complexity of physical and historical truth to rigid, limiting constructs.
Võ visualizes these metaphysical structures -- built to contain and impose order on a chaotic yet dynamic reality -- with pinewood scaffolding that partially obstructs both physical and visual access, pointing to inherent fragility and instability. Scattered among these precarious constructions across both floors of the show are fragments of religious idols and political propaganda, symbolizing their clash with historical reality and reminding us of how contemporary society has progressively eroded the once-fixed philosophical and religious foundations upon which Western thought was anchored.
On the ground floor, Võ presents an overtly critical or perhaps parodic commentary on contemporary politics, leaving little room for interpretation. The display addresses the failure of civilization to uphold political ideals and order: Nancy Spero's All writing is pigshit (1969), which quotes French poet and playwright Antonin Artaud and denounces the failure of writing to make powerful statements, faces Leon Golub's 1976 portrait of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco. These works suggest that, in a controlled society, information becomes both constructed and prescriptive, designed to encourage passive acceptance within a political system that has forgotten the democratic values of the polis.
Descending the stairs, visitors encounter a bronze cast of a 16th-century Spanish figure of Christ crucified, hanging inert, stripped of both arms and the promise of redemption. In it, Võ presents pillars of "images of thought" imposed by religion, philosophy and politics as lifeless relics of the illusions they once held. These objects embody the failure of "representational thinking," wherein ideals hold value only insofar as they conform to predefined forms or notions established by authority. This concept, deeply rooted in Western philosophy -- from spiritual forms to the ideas of René Descartes and Immanuel Kant -- restricts knowledge to categories that fit our understanding, limiting the creative processes essential for new insights into the world. Ultimately, this reactive mindset, which relies on interpreting the present through the past, leads to a constrained worldview controlled by power dynamics that dictate societal norms and stifle engagement with the future.
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Other works in the exhibition consider how the global circulation of cultural symbols has eroded their profound, often centuries-old, symbolic significance. Abandoned cases branded with Coca-Cola and Johnnie Walker logos contain carved wooden figures from biblical narratives and the fragmented torso of a wooden putto -- all reduced in meaning by overproduction and endless circulation, leading to global homogenization. Bas-reliefs smuggled and concealed within a RIMOWA suitcase reference the global elite that engages with these symbols within a touristic framework while disregarding the deeper cultural histories of the communities that created them.
Similarly, a suite of bronze sculptures cast from original East Asian stone-carved artifacts depicting Hindu and Buddhist figures reveals a history of cultural predation that stripped these sacred objects of their spiritual significance. Exhibited from behind, the bronzes expose abstract patterns left by the looters who hacked and sawed them from their stone towers to satisfy the wants and whims of Western collectors.
Other works in the show reflect an appreciation for craftsmanship, celebrating labor and creativity as cornerstones of human ingenuity. A set of floral canvases originally painted by Northern European female artists between the late 19th and early 20th Centuries traveled to Thailand, where artisans applied gilding to the calligraphic lettering. These objects, surviving into contemporary times, retain an aura of dedication to the "religion of making" and serve as testaments to the intercultural exchanges that have propelled human progress.
Violently removed from their context and introduced into the endless commercial circulation of objects, art and artifacts and ruins are reduced to relics of a civilization that has progressively destroyed its idols, weakened its systems of law and order and stripped itself of sacrality and spirituality. The absence of new beliefs upon which to ground contemporary life, combined with extreme relativism, creates a sense of cultural disorientation, leaving individuals to navigate global events without a historical conscience -- a struggle that becomes especially fraught in turbulent geopolitical times, which can give rise to darker forces.
Yet Võ's quiet, bittersweet reflections also suggest the possibility of redemption through artistic labor, which still allows humans to shape a sense of reality and, thereby, to resist, adapt and endure any socio-political climate in which they find themselves. Confronted with the task of making sense of the world, creative thought enables individuals to resist imposed worldviews while critically questioning and engaging with the reality of a universe in constant flux -- one that requires new interpretative approaches.
Võ's work aligns with Gilles Deleuze's idea that art alone can trace new worlds of meaning by embracing the complexity and continuous change inherent in reality, beyond the limitations of past prescriptions. The show suggests that only by actively engaging with chaos in the creation of the new can humanity evolve on both individual and collective levels -- true thinking is a creative act, liberated from imposed rules, protocols and outdated idols.
Danh Võ's solo show is on view at White Cube London through November 16.