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A new comfort zone?
On 1st of May, two exhibitions will be launched: Comfort Zone at the Sztuka na Miejscu gallery at Łaciarska 4 Street, which opened at the beginning of the year, and Nowa Fala-New Wave presented at the Vivid Gallery in Kościuszki Square. The former is an attempt at dealing with the issue of the comfort zone undertaken by the professors of the Academy of Art and Design. What is its scope? What is its meaning? Does actually getting out of that zone where one knows everything promote human development? Or is it time for something completely new? For a positive change? A new wave – something other than the coronavirus reality we have grown accustomed to? Students of the Faculty of Painting have us covered in that regard.
Art is art
A self-portrait of Hanna Kujda, graduate of painting studies, will be on display between 3rd–9th of May at the MD_S Gallery at the exhibition entitled The Identity of the Place, which is her diploma piece supervised by professors Zdzisław Nitka and Paweł Lewandowski-Palle. Gertrude Stein – American writer of Jewish origin, who had an impact on the development of modernist art and literature, called upon people to see things for what they are. The title and the theme of the exhibition refer to her words – A Rose is a Rose. The Bourgeois Brewery, which breaks all the traditional rules for gallery spaces and offers an opportunity to reduce the distance between art and everyday life, will give us a chance to look at the works of doctoral students of the Faculty of Painting of the Academy of Art and Design – starting on 17th of May.
Where is the end?
The End exhibition is headlined by something German philosopher Georg Hegel once said – “we learn from history that we do not learn from history”. The exhibition, located in the City Arsenal, focuses on two important aspects: the end and the conscious experience of it, and the phenomenon of resilience. Based on the concept of the past in artistic creation, artists wonder what the end is. Is it a conclusion to a period of creation or a return to the past – an original sketch or imagination? Reflecting on the pandemic, which became our joint experience, they deal with the notion of resilience – a characteristic of people, who do not give in to pressure, stress, overload, while remaining capable of work and being creative.
On value, space and “good change”
In the second half of May, we are going to see the diversity of temperaments and expressions. The festival programme features three consecutive exhibition openings: On 19th of May, Galeria za Szkłem will teach us the meaning of the play on words Papiery wartościowe by showcasing a collection of paper works. An hour later, the Neon Gallery will host the opening of Segment – an exhibition of paintings which, by means of revising matter, structures or modules, will indicate the areas through which contemporary artists perceive architecture. And finally, we have Dogs and Bitches at the Exit Gallery on the premises of the Bourgeois Brewery – a strong, if not colloquial title reflecting the condition of reality on the verge. One could ask – where is art right now? What is its current purpose? Is it already redundant?
Magdalena Klich-Kozłowska
