When: 22 June – 22 July 2018
Opening: 22 June 2018 (Friday), 7pm

Supervisor: Education Department of the Centre of Contemporary Art

Exhibitions of the winners of the Director’s Prize at the contest entitled “SHOW YOUR WORK AT THE CENTRE OF CONTEMPORARY ART 2017.”

“Milky Way” by Agnieszka Fiejka is a very personal and intimate story of transformation, of growing up to make difficult decisions, but also of breaking free from the imposed social role of a woman as a mother. The work records the stages of a family breakdown and a rebirth of an individual as a basis for another family. The exhibition is a path – marked by milestones of lost milk teeth, defining subsequent stages of change: from realising the moment of stagnation, through the zone of apprehension and decision coming to life, through the zone of conflict and the end, to the final armouring.

“Milky Way” is a reflection on the socially imposed roles of a woman and the confrontation of personal needs with immense guilt related to the imprinted culture patterns of maternity and womanhood in general. On entering this “home”, the audience become participants in the discussion about the right to choose and the need to be “different”, all the while remaining a mother. This is a study of the proportion of responsibility for yourself and the responsibility for your nearest and dearest. In the unfolding process, in the advancing decomposition of a social unit I once promised to stay in for life, I am asking myself a question about my identity: am I allowed to do it?

The gallery becomes a kind of home – unfriendly and cold, just as it can be when the inhabitants are in conflict, when it ceases to be a safe harbour, as the symptoms of a pending breakdown crawl out of each corner.

“Anatomy of the City” by Remigiusz Koniecko is an exhibition of photographs originating from the emotions accompanying the everyday experience of space, and from the need to capture the essence and multidimensionality of this space.

Human presence and the way we modify our surroundings has a particular impact on the nature of space. Rather than surrender to it, we change it, superposing and creating a structure of places, roads and zones. The geographic landscape, urban layout, buildings and objects – all of this is the evidence or our presence in space. All of this is formed into a whole entity manifested mostly in architecture. The anatomy of its form, function and multidimensionality is studied by the author in the cycle of photographs titled “Formal spaces”. This is where he presents his own model of looking at space, which is an attempt at showing a hidden dimension of architecture and all the spatial associations of a human being:

“Every time I interpret the space around me, I define my way in discovering further dimensions of architecture, where a combination of physical and material aspect follows me with every step I make. For me, architectural space is a panorama of city life. The buildings I observe define the inspiring horizon with the relaxed rhythm of their peaks – not only do I find it moving, but I also discover an affinity between this line and the electrocardiogram recording of my heartbeat. For me this is a combination of life and geometry, a phenomenon defining our daily rhythm.”

About the artists:

AGNIESZKA FIEJKA – visual artist, photographer, activist, educator, mum.
She graduated from the Faculty of Art at the Pedagogical University of Cracow. In her art, she addresses such themes as suffering, solitude, motherhood and social roles assigned to a woman. Her art is intimate and feminine. In her everyday work she also deals with photojournalism and education. She collaborates i.a. with: International Culture Centre, Cracow Film Foundation, Netia OFF Camera.
She was one of the founders of Kolektyw FLU Grypa Twórcza. She’s an activist, fighting for women’s rights; she organises Black Protests in Cracow and she is a co-founder of Stowarzyszenie (S)Prawa Kobiet.

REMIGIUSZ KONIECKO – born in 1977. Graduated from the Faculty of Multimedia Communication at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk and from the Artistic University in Poznań. While he was still a student, he initiated his own cycle titled “Formal spaces”, which was the outcome of his interest in existential space. In his photographs he refers both to the form and function of architecture, trying to come up with his own model of perceiving the space. He obtained his doctoral degree at Leon Schiller National Film, Television and Theatre School in Łódź. Photography lies at the heart of his art and teaching.

Tags: exhibition