Opening Hours
Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm
Gallery
Art Agenda Nova
Batorego 2, Krakow
Artist
Malwina Rzonca
ABOUT EXHIBITION
The series of paintings “And how can you do that?” Takes up the topic of artistic gymnastics, a non-artist, because she trained her for several years during her childhood. However, the heroines of the paintings are girls dealing with it currently, seen during everyday exercises, but also during effective performances at competitions and behind-the-scenes preparations. In this way, canvases were created with formally interesting elements of brocade, which the artist also uses in her choreographies, as she deals with contemporary dance on a par with painting.
The topic here is a pretext, because Malwina Rzonca treats creative activity as a form of expression of her personal thoughts, sensations and reflections related to the search for the truth. Its aim is to construct an independent creative language, which corresponds equally with the latest trends in art as well as with the entire history of art, at the same time seeking an answer to the first and the lastest aesthetic needs of man. In the search for the truest values, she rejected all the canons of thinking that were a consequence of the education and upbringing process, or the influence of culture.
The basic method of her work is the confidence of intuition and even creative instincts supported by deep contemplation of the subject, while the most important sources of inspiration remain self-analysis of personality and unrestrained observation of the phenomenon of the world and human existence.
As the artist points out: “The question about BEAUTY has become the most important reference point of my aesthetic search. What is beauty? Is there any objective beauty …?
As a consequence of these deliberations, another slogan appeared – KICZ.
The semantic definition of this concept turns out to be no less difficult. Most often understood schematically and stereotypically, associated directly with certain topics, colors, etc. The rule, which I found in one of the online encyclopedia, says: szmira, cheesy. Someone else wrote: “[..] It was invented to satisfy the need of those who, insensitive to the value of true culture, are, however, eager for entertainment.” (…) The aggressive criticism of kitsch seems to me only a manifestation of the complex against this background. Kitsch is a universal human tendency, it affects everyone and is everywhere. It can have many manifestations and a different genre weight, but it is the river of truth about man.
In the series of paintings “And can you do that?” Once again I refer to kitsch, which is an expression of the purest energy, carrying with it the intention of enchanting with beauty. The observation of my daughter’s development and, above all, of her aesthetic preferences has had a significant impact on the nature of the paintings. A direct confrontation with the uncontrolled awareness of the child was for me the reason of reviewing and overthrowing thought stereotypes blocking the full freedom of creation. These paintings are also a continuation of the symbolic trend of my work. Feast of colors, brocade, extreme position is a symbolic reflection of human aspirations. Ladders is not only a sporting device, it is also a symbol of the process of psychological transformation and the ball is a mandala which is a symbol of individuation “.
The exhibition can be viewed in the nova gallery until October 13
Jolanta Gumula
www.artinfo.pl
What is kitsch? And is something bad?
You can ask about it by looking at paintings by the Rzwiny Malwina in the Nova Gallery; the artist herself may be asking about it, which once again refers to the concept of kitsch in the latest cycle of works “And you can do that?”.
Colorful, shiny brocade, eye-catching with the complicated positions of models, Malwina’s canvas can both delight and irritate the eye. The first seconds of communing with them evoke images of marketplace indulgences, which everyone probably liked once, and which for some people was probably a kind of long-awaited holiday. So positively. Looking at a more calculated (and certainly less spontaneous) way, the critics, congratulating on the objective look, will find that they are dealing with kitsch.
But what is this kitsch?
Understood schematically and stereotypically, usually identified with shit and trash, for the artist it is “an expression of the purest energy, carrying with it intentions of enchanting with beauty”. As he claims, the aggressive criticism of kitsch only seems to be a manifestation of the complex on this background and it seems that a lot is in this case.
The canvas presented in Nova is taking up the subject of artistic gymnastics. This subject is close to the artist – she coached her during her childhood. Demonstrated during the exercises and preparations for them, the girls emanate a riot of colors, and the brocade background introduces something from the stage atmosphere. Shining and gilding, they have a festive element in them, not to say sacral atmosphere. By the way, today, accustomed to the shiny and golden background of icons or medieval images surrounded by the atmosphere of devotional concentration and admiration, we are not fully aware that here, in some sense, we can deal with nothing but kitsch.
Malwina’s aim is to construct an independent creative language, corresponding to the latest trends in art as well as the entire history of art. She points out: “The question about beauty has become the most important reference point of my aesthetic search.”