A CHAPEL AGAINST FASCISM: Denys Shantar at Supermarket Art Fair
Former Off the Grid resident Denys Shantar goes to Supermarket Independent Art Fair in Stockholm, Sweden, together with Komplot !
Text of curators Thibault Leplat & Camille Van Meenen:
“We invite Antwerp-based artist Denys Shantar to develop and exhibit the next stage of his ongoing project, God Save the Queers. This work is the result of a year-long research period at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp (BE) and an artist residency at the contemporary art centre Cas-co in Leuven (BE), where the project had its first public showcase in September 2024.
Drawing from Christian iconography, mythology, art history, folklore, and personal experiences, Shantar weaves a complex narrative that reflects on themes of childhood, religion, migration, and queerness. His research into the lives and representations of Christian saints and martyrs serves as a foundation for his exploration of queer identity within both historical and contemporary socio-political contexts.
At Supermarket 2025, Shantar will present A Chapel Against Fascism— an installation blending textile fresco and sculpture challenging dominant narratives and confronting historical and contemporary struggles tied to queerness, religion, and resistance. SUPERMARKET — Stockholm Independent Art Fair is an international art fair for artist-run initiatives. Supermarket is dedicated to exhibiting artist-run spaces, artists’ collectives, nomadic spaces and independent artists’ initiatives of all shapes and from around the world. Supermarket takes place annually in Stockholm, Sweden.”
Cas-co wishes Denys a great presentation in Stockholm!
This project is kindly supported by the Flemish Government. |
Interview with Denys Shantar on A Chapel Against Fascism
Presented at SUPERMARKET 2025 – Stockholm Independent Art Fair
Curated by Thibaud Leplat and Camille Van Meenen (Komplot, Brussels)
A Chapel Against Fascism is a solo exhibition by Denys Shantar presented at SUPERMARKET 2025 — Stockholm Independent Art Fair, upon invitation by Thibaud Leplat and Camille Van Meenen, curators of Komplot Brussels. Shantar produced a new work for the occasion which spans as part of his in-depth research under the title God Save The Queers. He developed this project during his one-year research period at The Royal Academy of Antwerp and his Off the Grid residency at Cas-co, where it had its first public showcase in September 2024.
Thibaud Leplat and Camille Van Meenen ask Denys Shantar a series of questions about A Chapel Against Facism and his process since his residency at Cas-co Leuven.
For Supermarket Independent Art Fair 2025 in Stockholm, Sweden, you developed the next part of your project God Save the Queers. This is a project you initially worked on during your Off the Grid residency at Cas-co. In your own words, could you contextualise this project that has been in the works for the past two years?
This project is an ongoing collection and archive of mainly textile collages, showing combinations of saints and their iconography to tell new contemporary stories, my own and also those of the saints through a critical queer lens.
It began as a reflection on my own queer identity, having grown up in a deeply religious environment. It was a reflection on my past, and trying to figure out what to do with these experiences that were at times also traumatic, and how to use them in a more positive context.
I started by exploring the saints who had been part of my life for over twenty years — looking at their hagiographies, their iconography, and the contexts in which they were venerated. I categorised and reworked the religious material I had collected throughout my childhood and teenage years. Simultaneously, this process became a way for me to define what queerness meant in the context of my life and this work.
We met during your open studio days at Cas-co, which led us to invite you to participate with Komplot Brussels at the SUPERMARKET — Stockholm Independent Art Fair in April 2025. Can you tell us about your process since the residency and how A Chapel Against Fascism has been influenced by your time in Leuven?
The opportunity to showcase most of the works made during my research year together in one space at Cas-co for my final presentation inspired me to create more immersive spaces and think about religious aesthetics outside of the church context, but still create a place for reflection and open conversations.
During the residency, I also had the opportunity to create a large-scale work with Saint Gall and Saint Ioan. That experience gave me a new perspective on scale and a monumental approach to textile work, and played a big role in creating an even larger piece for SUPERMARKET.
I’m grateful for the freedom I was given during my Off the Grid residency and the trust they had in me, which was similar in our collaboration for SUPERMARKET. As an artist it’s not always the case to have that much liberty and I think a big part of God save the Queer’s success was that people really believed in the project and the impact it can have. I’m extremely thankful for these three big organisations: Royal Academy Antwerp, Cas-co Leuven and Komplot Brussels for their support and making it happen.
3. Your main focus within your research for A Chapel Against Fascism is Saint Alexander of Munich and his involvement in the anti-fascist movement under the name of White Rose during WWII. Why have you decided to look at this historical figure, and what draws you to explore the canonisation of saints in general?
When I was a teenager and still going to the Russian Orthodox church in Zurich, I saw a leaflet for the canonisation of Alexander of Munich. I took a picture of it, and throughout these years, he has been on the back of my mind.I have been researching his life and collecting new puzzle pieces, like his friendship with Hans Scholl and how they founded White Rose.
Last year, I read in an Instagram post about Hans Scholl’s imprisonment for his alleged homosexuality. The idea of a convicted homosexual and a future Orthodox saint coming together to fight fascism really intrigued me. It’s an image of contradiction and complexity.
This is one of the main points, but now reflecting on the piece, Alexander also embodies the figure of the “ordinary person”. He wasn’t flawless; he was a young men who experienced the war, a soldier as well, and seeing what it does with people and to people, he saw the need to do something and change something.
What is interesting is that in their leaflets that they distributed with the White Rose, they also used quotes from the bible to appeal to different groups of people. Here, I also see similarities with my work and what I am trying to do. Sainthood is quite a unique status that you get awarded post-mortem by the institution of the church. With that, you get, unwillingly, a special position. You get categorised, you become the bridge between god and the world. You become divine.
This project is very much about the intersection of politics and religion, but what is important to know, saints and the church were always political and always will be.
4. Highlighting nuance and ambiguity in the lives of the figures you research plays an important role in the narrative you create for your final pieces. Why is this important?
I keep telling people that I don’t make things up. I’m not that creative, and the church has already invented the most absurd things you can imagine. People are often surprised that the saints I depict are real, and that’s exactly why it is important for me to highlight these religious figures.
It’s about shifting the context to give new, subversive perspectives. Even grouping saints together isn’t a new idea — it’s something the Church has done for centuries to support its own agenda. It’s trying to compose a strong opposition and fight the institution with its own weapons. My work is never an answer, it’s always a question and an invitation for conversation.
5. The saints and martyrs depicted in A Chapel Against Fascism all went against the grain. Can you expand on that?
Yes, they were rebels. The opposite of the obedience that the church teaches. They were radical, like Jesus himself.
This is where I find a connection to queerness. Being queer is not simply a sexual term for me, but as Sarah Ahmed writes first of all a “special term” and “something that doesn’t follow a straight line”. In German, we have the word quer. It means not following a straight line, or something odd; it is something in your way if it crosses you, something stubborn and something different.
Most saints went against the social and sexual norms of their time. They were immigrants, fools, hermits, martyrs, mystics, healers and activists. You can only become a saint if you don’t want to become one; your actions must be pure and selfless and serve a greater good. It’s about standing up for what is right, because you truly believe in it and use your moral compass for judgment.
6. In April 2025, A Chapel Against Fascism is increasingly resonant within the context of rising right-winged politics across Europe and beyond. Why was it important for you to address this and do so within the context of a fair, albeit one for independent art spaces?
I feel that as an artist, I have a responsibility to use the platforms I have to speak up and start conversations about things that I care about and believe in. On a more personal level, it is also a way for me to process all the mostly bad news we see every day. Of course, that does things to you, and you feel helpless a lot of the time.
I sometimes feel a bit useless as an artist, but on the other hand, it’s the only thing I’m good at, so I try to make at least a small change. I don’t have any delusions, my work will not save the world, but maybe it can spark some hope, at least it does for me.
I had a very interesting conversation with people at the fair, many feel the same and feel like they have no one to talk to. The Chapel gave them a safe place to talk to me, share their fears and concerns, so I guess in the end it worked in some way…
Shantar is set to continue his project God Save The Queers, being renewed for another year of research at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, set to start in September 2025.
