Two exhibitions
NEW MOON
Angelika Markul
20.03.2009 – 31.05.2009
Lucim lives on
03.04 – 31.05.2009
Waly gen. Sikorskiego 13
87-100 Torun, Poland
Angelika Markul
20.03.2009 – 31.05.2009
Angelika Markul is one of the most interesting artists of the new generation. She uses an extremely unique repertoire of forms, combining video images with installations constructed of glass, wood, black foil, eye irritating lamps, or industrial ventilators. Certain elements constantly appear in her works, forming new configurations and arranging the space differently. During the NEW MOON exhibition – an extensive presentation of Angelika Markul’s art – CoCA’s interiors will become a giant installation, composed of her previous videos, sculptures and a site-specific project.
The title of Markul’s exhibition is derived from one of the phases of the Moon – a period described in many cultures as extremely fortunate, as the time of purification, balance, transformation, the time of sowing. Paradoxically, the works of Angelika Markul manifest neither harmony, nor alleviation. The sensual world created by the artist is disturbing, even repulsive; a world on the verge of decay, that makes us avert our eyes. While manoeuvring through this world, the viewer is forced to lean on one’s senses and intuition. Reality mixes with irrational, overscaled landscapes, inhabited by trapped exotic plants and animals. Movie scenes take place in radically composed, dramatic background, illuminated with pale, glimmering light, surrounded by latex forms and wheezing ventilators.
Angelika Markul was born in Szczecin, Poland. She has lived and worked in Paris since 1997. In 2003 she graduated from Paris Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts in multimedia, directed by Christian Boltanski. Markul collaborates with the Galerie Frédéric Giroux in Paris and Kewenig Galerie in Koln. During the inauguration of CoCA in Torun (2008), she presented her spectacular foam sculpture entitled Iceberg.
Lucim lives on
03.04-31.05.2009
There are 900 cities and 56.000 villages in Poland… The countryside has a special meaning in Polish culture, constituting a getaway, a place to hide, an area of freedom, space where various sects, communes and enclaves arise and open air workshops take place. Such an ambivalent attitude of inferiority complex and denial, intertwining with the fascination with folk tradition and the myth of life in full harmony with nature, formed two equally strong stereotypes, black and white, that effectively conceal the true image of the countryside.
Looking through the prism of space, objects, documents, traces, little details, the contemporary Polish artists participating in the project managed to create a modern commentary regarding different visions of rural utopias, from the ones put into practice as state-owned farms or biotechnological solutions, to those completely futuristic and unreal.
The idea of the exhibition originates from the celebrations of the 30th anniversary of the Lucim group, whose activity was truly exceptional in the field of visual art in Poland. The project itself is in contradiction with the formula of a retrospective, historical, museum exhibition. From one point of view, the title illustrates the spectacular continuity of the project, and from the other – relates Lucim activities to a variety of attitudes towards the countryside. The resulting polyphony of voices should bring the countryside phenomena back into art discourse and subject it to criticism. The exhibition is accompanied by an extensive educational project, featuring workshops, publications and a panel discussion.
CoCA
Founded in 2008, the Centre of Contemporary Art is the newest institution solely dedicated to contemporary art in Poland. With its inter-media and interdisciplinary formula, a multi-format program and international cooperation, CoCA presents the most interesting facets of contemporary art and related discourse. Through exhibitions, artist talks, seminars, artist-in-residence, publications, education programs as well as establishing a collection, CoCA has committed itself to supporting contemporary art in Poland.
Visit us!
Centre of Contemporary Art ‘Znaki Czasu’ in Torun
Waly gen. Sikorskiego 13
87-100 Torun, Poland
For more information:
Katarzyna Toczko
katarzyna.toczko@csw.torun.pl
tel. +48 56 610 97 23
mob. +48 666 871 624
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