Exhibition Review: Diana Markosian: Santa Barbara
Diana Markosian, TDiana Markosian, The Arrival, 2019. © Diana Markosian
Text by Lingfei Ren
Copy Editor: Ben Blavat
There are two entrances to the exhibition Diana Markosian: Santa Barbara at the International Center of Photography. On one side you enter an archway as if being invited to a home; on the other, you enter through a theater curtain as if going to see a drama. The two symbolic entrances indicate how Diana Markosian will tell her story — a story about family and memory that blurs reality and fiction.
Diana Markosian, My Father on My Birthday, 2019. © Diana Markosian
The soap opera Santa Barbara, one of the first American television shows to be broadcasted in Russia in 1990s, provided a fantasy for people who were suffering from poverty. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Markosian’s mother Svetlana was determined to secure a better life for her children. One night, when Markosian was seven years old, they left home without saying goodbye to her father. The next day, they arrived at an airport in the real Santa Barbara, where they met a stranger who later became their new father. Putting her faith in the American Dream, Markosian’s mother had sacrificed herself as a mail-order bride to provide for her children. Eventually, she could not maintain the marriage in absence of real love, and the man who once saved them left them behind.
Diana Markosian, Eli and Svetlana, 2019. © Diana Markosian
The exhibition features staged photographs, family archives, a scripted film, pages of script lines, behind-the-scenes video clips and an old-time TV playing a segment from Santa Barbara. Through this work, Markosian reconstructs reality and reimagines her family story by using the soap opera she watched as a child as a portal to dream and escape.
Diana Markosian, Eli's Home, 2019. © Diana Markosian
The film combines documentary and cinematic styles and often deludes the viewers, leaving them guessing whether the scene is truth or fiction. A reenactment is performed by actors and actresses cast by Markosian. Interview scenes between Ana Imnadze — the actress who plays Markosian’s mother — and the real Svetlana are interspersed throughout the film. The interview was seemingly conducted for Imnadze to better understand the character, but it also gives audiences a deeper insight into Svetlana’s thoughts and experiences.
Diana Markosian, Svetlana, On Set, 2019. © Diana Markosian
The film also contains a recording of a conversation that appears to be between Markosian and Svetlana.
”I’m trying to understand you, Mom.”
“You need to love me. You don’t have to understand. I don’t need understanding.”
By reexamining her childhood in Russia and America, Markosian tries to reconcile with her mother’s decision, as well as her own doubts and struggles.
Diana Markosian, A New Life, 2019. © Diana Markosian
Diana Markosian: Santa Barbara is curated by Sara Ickow, ICP’s manager of exhibitions and collections, and David Campany, ICP’s managing director of programs. It is on view through Jan. 10, 2022, at 79 Essex Street, New York.
