Ufo art gallery kraków

artists

Unknown

Tomek Baran, Marcin Dymek, Karolina Jarzębak,
Radim Koros, Bogumił Książek, Marta Niedbał,
Kinga Nowak, Julius Reichel, Grzegorz Siembida,
Agnieszka Szostek

Curated by: 

Maria Ciborowska

Views from outside: 

Grzegorz Borkowski,

Kamil Kuitkowski, Delfina Jałowik

Photo: 

Szymon Sokołowski

7.07.2023 – 27.07.2023

Galeria Podbrzezie

installation views

Unknown

When does the creative process become as interesting as its final result?

The most general answer may be as follows: when something cognitively unexpected was revealed during creation. Or unexpected forms have appeared, which indicate freedom in shaping what is still unknown and unclear, but already indicate new possibilities of meaning. This gives rise to the need for emotional or mental decisions – how to continue the creative process. And in a deeper, more fundamental sense, only then does it really begin. Then begins his story worth telling, because without it the final effect may turn out to be incomprehensible (and not just misunderstood). Therefore, what needs to be told is the story of the process of a person’s creative experiences and decisions, the story that was developed in this process or simply happened during it.

All this may be important in relation to the Unknown project, especially when modifications to the intended intention were anticipated during its creation, when the action plan itself included openness to changing the plan, openness to the unknown, and being surprised (or even astonished) by the results of subsequent stages. process, readiness to change even the artistic medium of the work or the formula of the work. It’s about being ready to be surprised by the result, a surprise experienced both by the person creating it and by the people viewing the work at the exhibition.

But isn’t it the case that when we try to recognize the unknown, we also have to take into account the change in ourselves? Perhaps something is unknown to us and at the same time we are attracted to recognize it because we are stuck in a certain form of ourselves, a form that already feels the need to change itself in some way. After all, a creative person is not, in fact, a completely permanent or homogeneous person, as he or she contains various ‘sub-personalities’ which may only reveal themselves in the process of creation. Then the identity of the creator partially changes and evolves, or perhaps rather his or her artistic identity.

Artistic identity may include openness to the influence of certain factors external to the creator. What factors? We can mention at least three types here.

1. In recognizing the unknown, it may be helpful to be open to the properties of the materials used, which can reveal their own form-generating possibilities during the creation process. 

2. Achieving unpredictable results may be achieved as a result of cooperation with other creating people, or also with non-human beings, i.e. actants (such as technical devices or natural processes) that autonomously shape some elements of the work’s form, and perhaps even modify its general principle or logic.

3. In dealing with what is unknown, we can also be supported by openness to everything that, for lack of a better name, we call “chance”, which includes all unforeseen time synchronizations and changes in contexts of meanings that lead us to events that we were not able to design.

These types of external factors, if we are open to them during the creative process, can build a sense of connection with the multiplicity of what exists around us in our world. Recognizing the unknown can therefore be a path to a more conscious existence, and practicing art can be a process of acquiring knowledge otherwise unavailable. We are not sure that this will be possible, but it is still possible.

Grzegorz Borkowski

About Unknown

Artists

  • Tomek Baran (1985), born in Stalowa Wola, lives and works in Kraków. He obtained his diploma in 2010 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow, Faculty of Painting. In his artistic practice, he willingly experiments with the medium of painting and explores its boundaries. He uses a variety of materials both in terms of the substrates used, the looms carved or constructed, as well as the materials he uses.

  • Marcin Dymek (1986) born in Krakow. Graduate of the Faculty of Graphic Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków; diploma in drawing in the studio of Professor Joanna Kaiser (2012). Currently, a doctoral student at the same university, where he also runs a drawing studio. Participant of scholarship programmes at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Universitatea de Arta si Design, Cluj-Napoca (Romania, 2010) and Sabanci University in Istanbul (Turkey, 2010-2011). Lives and works in Krakow.

  • Born in the Czech Republic. Graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow (diploma in the Department of Graphic Arts in the studio of Prof. Lech Polcyn). In 2022 he received his doctoral degree from the Painting Department of his alma mater. Co-author of the UNKNOWN project at UFO Art Gallery. He lives and works in Cracow.

  • Born in 1974. He studied philosophy at the Jagiellonian University and painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. He defended his diploma in 2000 in Sławomir Karpowicz's studio. After graduation, he went to Tuscany for seven years. There he met Silvio Loffredo and Mario Luzi. He lived and worked in Florence and Tizzano until 2009. He is a lecturer at the Painting Department of the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow, where he has been running an interdisciplinary studio since 2019.

  • Julius Reichel (*1981), graduate of the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, in the studio of Jiří David, is looking through intensive exploration of the changing visual code, linked to the current feeling of life, for an image matrix that will work in an actual time period or any other. He considers himself to be a modern tracker of product / content on the overall net.

  • Grzegorz Siembida (1984) is a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow (diploma at the Faculty of Painting in the studio of Prof. Andrzej Bednarczyk). In 2022, at the Faculty of Art of the Pedagogical University of KEN in Krakow defended his doctoral thesis. He deals with painting and painting installation. His expressive works are a collage of various means of artistic expression. In his art, the artist uses both experiences and practices related to the trend of American expressionist abstraction, as well as artistic procedures associated with pop art or street art. Cultural animator, coordinator of artistic projects.

  • Agnieszka Szostek was born in 1982. In the years 2000 - 2003 she studied at the Cracow School of Art and Fashion Design, 2002 - 2007 at the Academy of Fine Art in Cracow, 2003 - 2008 at the Academy of Fine Art Munich, where she studied under the supervision of Prof. Sean Scully and Prof. Günther Förg. Co - founder of C U AT SADKA. Based in Berlin and Cracow.

  • Karolina Jarzębak (born 1990) - visual artist working with performance and video art, creating objects and installations. She graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow at the Faculty of Painting in the studio of prof. A. Bednarczyk. Co-founder of Galeria 404 (2015-2017) in Krakow. The sad one in the "Sad Face" duo. Founder of the Jak Zapomniec gallery. She draws inspiration from memes and pictures found at the end of the internet. Problems faced by millennials, loneliness, the symbolism of sadness and anxiety, caused by the current socio-political situation in Poland and in the world, are the main themes of her work.

  • Through the weaving of threads, Marta Niedbał’s work reveals sensual leakages and unstable boundaries of bodies. She is an interdisciplinary artist interested in soft skills of resistance that challenge dualisms and dichotomies and engage the body with its relationship to affect, emotionality and sexuality. Graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow and completed a scholarship at the LCC University of the Arts in London, she holds a PhD in visual arts granted in 2023 (UKEN). Awarded the grand prize of the ING Polish Art Foundation, WGW, 2023.

  • Kinga Nowak, born in 1977 in Krakow. Graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow, Faculty of Painting in 2001. Studied at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris in years 2000-2002. In 2007, she worked as a visiting lecturer at the University of the Arts, London College of Communication, London UK. In 2014 included in the publication “100 Painters of Tomorrow” by Kurt Beers, publisher Thames & Hudson. Since 2017 professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. Since 2015 together with Michał Bratko she runs an art space Widna. Lives and works in Cracow.

works

events

One word

A documentary film showing the creative process of artists participating in the Unknown exhibition.

Realization: Michał Sosna

Choreography: Kaya Kołdziejczyk

Choreography workshops: Faina Malinowska, Denys Hryshuk

Performers: Anna Piechura, Katerina Bilobrova, Vladyslav Kurpika, Marcin Dymek, Grzegorz Siembida, Kinga Nowak, Agnieszka Szostek, Bogumił Książek, Ola Idzikowska, Maja Krysiak, Tomek Baran, Radim Koros

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