All the lights that lead us there are blinding,
Łęctwo Gallery, Poznań, 2021
curator: Przemek Sowiński
One might conclude that nowadays it is difficult to see cause and effect relationships in the bigger picture of our lives or to produce a comprehensive narrative about the present. I would like to use my work to present a metaphor for this present moment, a certain confusion, disorientation, surprise, but also a bit of resignation and withdrawal. We know that something is happening, but we don't know why. The great machine of the world works, but most of us don't know how it works or what we are actually doing in it. The moment we find ourselves in seems peculiar, and the mood of decline is palpable everywhere. We know that the catastrophe is happening because of us and actually in front of our eyes, unfortunately no one can protect us from ourselves. It's a strange and sad situation. In 1995 Noel Gallagher of Oasis sang "Maybe you gonna be the one that saves me" in the song, Wonderwall. Now I don't think we can delude ourselves that such a person/something will come. Unless it is our end.
Jagoda Dobecka
There is no impending catastrophe in Jagoda's paintings yet. There are no sudden movements and desperate struggle for survival. The hedgehog and the snake, despite their fierce faces, seem to be getting ready for the final dance. Even the tongue approaching the coffee cup, resembling the trunk of some creature a bit like a big yawn, speaks more of boredom and repetitiveness of our small daily rituals than of danger. Blinded by convenience, we have evidently reached the moment of solstice and we all instinctively feel that something must happen. What will be this decisive element, which, when pulled out, will cause the collapse of the world as we know it and the values with which we have long ceased to agree? There is one painting in the exhibition where blood appears. I recall all the video compilations about cats, where hugs and kisses are interspersed with violent scratching. We've had quite a few of those scratches. Maybe it's time to finally wake up? In this surreal reality of repetitions, boredom and expectation, the old world, like a swan from the artist's installation, digests and spits out its murky waters over and over again. In one of the paintings the new world emerges like a pearl from a shell, gently touched by one of Jagoda's most important drag queens - Bimini Bon Boulash. Perhaps this is the long awaited salvation for the moment when the simple, almost kindergarten-like question: who are you? can be answered without any categorisation, without labels and with total ease: I am me.
Przemek Sowiński
Łęctwo Gallery, Poznań, 2021
curator: Przemek Sowiński
One might conclude that nowadays it is difficult to see cause and effect relationships in the bigger picture of our lives or to produce a comprehensive narrative about the present. I would like to use my work to present a metaphor for this present moment, a certain confusion, disorientation, surprise, but also a bit of resignation and withdrawal. We know that something is happening, but we don't know why. The great machine of the world works, but most of us don't know how it works or what we are actually doing in it. The moment we find ourselves in seems peculiar, and the mood of decline is palpable everywhere. We know that the catastrophe is happening because of us and actually in front of our eyes, unfortunately no one can protect us from ourselves. It's a strange and sad situation. In 1995 Noel Gallagher of Oasis sang "Maybe you gonna be the one that saves me" in the song, Wonderwall. Now I don't think we can delude ourselves that such a person/something will come. Unless it is our end.
Jagoda Dobecka
There is no impending catastrophe in Jagoda's paintings yet. There are no sudden movements and desperate struggle for survival. The hedgehog and the snake, despite their fierce faces, seem to be getting ready for the final dance. Even the tongue approaching the coffee cup, resembling the trunk of some creature a bit like a big yawn, speaks more of boredom and repetitiveness of our small daily rituals than of danger. Blinded by convenience, we have evidently reached the moment of solstice and we all instinctively feel that something must happen. What will be this decisive element, which, when pulled out, will cause the collapse of the world as we know it and the values with which we have long ceased to agree? There is one painting in the exhibition where blood appears. I recall all the video compilations about cats, where hugs and kisses are interspersed with violent scratching. We've had quite a few of those scratches. Maybe it's time to finally wake up? In this surreal reality of repetitions, boredom and expectation, the old world, like a swan from the artist's installation, digests and spits out its murky waters over and over again. In one of the paintings the new world emerges like a pearl from a shell, gently touched by one of Jagoda's most important drag queens - Bimini Bon Boulash. Perhaps this is the long awaited salvation for the moment when the simple, almost kindergarten-like question: who are you? can be answered without any categorisation, without labels and with total ease: I am me.
Przemek Sowiński