1. Art and Diseño

Karolina Kaźmierska
www.karolinakazmierska.com
[email protected]
0033.6.83.40.18.28
Architecture is not simply the environment we will investigate. It is also, and first and foremost, an environment from which we experience the world. My mural paintings and the elements of construction that I use
to create structures are inspired by painted façades and the architectural details of Polish building blocks.
These are geometric patterns. The geometry, omnipresent in the former Eastern Bloc's urban landscape,
has become the decor of my everyday life. My sculptures support the memory of this environment. Abstraction is not meaningless. Moving the context provides additional interpretation by making a call to
geometric abstract art. What interests me is the role of images in the creation of a visual culture and their
capacity to waken the viewer's subconscious thoughts with their "emotional baggage."
I ask myself about form as a concept of an idea. In my sculptures I put decorative patterns, words, or images from newspapers. What interests me is the analogy that is created in our imagination between the
word and the image; the word is the form which "creates image." The phrases used are often pulled from
political or public speeches. They are phrases which speak directly to the viewer by calling him to act, the
effect of the word identifies with the action of the gesture. Propaganda language, which is a manipulative
power, is the expression of power, subordination and control. The superimposition of words and images
creates ambiguity of the message.
The cuttings are inspired by traditional art practiced in certain Polish regions. Polish Women prepare
"cacka" during important festivals to decorate their houses. The cutting patterns are geometric. They create a repetitive decorative style. Cutting out newspaper images gives a new vision. While the reading of
this image is broken, it requires us to take a more sophisticated look, to be more attentive.
Taking the notion of architecture as its starting point, I try to create environments or use forms that play
with the concept of decoration. This is why light plays an important role in my work. The viewer is immersed in a universe. Neon lights are often the only source of light. They play a joint role; illuminate the
shapes themselves and serve as a component of the volume's structure. The light reveals space, but can
also betray the readability of a piece.
Selection of works
2010-2014
WINGS n°1- 2014
8 neon tubes (60 cm of lenght each), scotch tape
WINGS n°2- 2014
8 neon tubes (60 cm of lenght each), scotch tape
It is a look at the meaning of certain
forms which, originating from geometry and often carrying a sense of
history, have just as many historical
traces as they do real life experiences. What interests me is the capacity
of neutral shapes a priori to awaken
images in ourselves and our desire
to charge shapes with a meaning
and a history.
UNTITLED - 2014
7 neon tubes (120 cm of lenght each), 35 neon tubes (60 cm of lenght each), scotch tape,
detector of movement, 250 x 320 cm (various dimensions)
KOŁO GRANIASTE (RING-A-RING-A-ROSES) - 2014
superposition of cutting-out, ink prints (21 x 29,7 cm each),
cut-out glued on 2 plasterboard cut-out, 319 x 160 cm, 195 x 141 cm
KOŁO GRANIASTE (RING-A-RING-A-ROSES) - 2014
ink prints (21 x 29,7 cm each), cut-out glued on plasterboard cut-out, 248,82 x 160 cm
CACKO N°45 et 46 (triviality n°45 et 46) - 2014
cutting-out press, 17 x 20 cm
CACKO N°49 (triviality N°49) - 2014
cutting-out press, 14 x 10 cm
CACKO N°50 (triviality n°50) - 2014
cutting-out press, 24 x 16 cm
CACKO N°56 (triviality N°56) - 2014
cutting-out press, 23,5 x 15 cm
IN GIRUM IMUS NOCTE ET CONSUMIMUR IGNI - 2012
24 neon tubes (60 cm of lenght each), scotch tape, detector of movement
IN GIRUM IMUS NOCTE ET CONSUMIMUR IGNI - 2012
print ink jet on adhesive transparent vinyl
L’ENVERS DE LA LUMIÈRE EN EST UNE AUTRE.
Karolina Kazmierska presents a set of works which
take a different view to which the edifying show, la
Fête des Lumières, has become accustomed to. At
the same time it reminds us that light is also a controversal subject, in her usual methods at least.
This work is introduced to question traditional presentations by borrowing the very idea of festivity
from other cultures and manners: le fil d'Ariane,
which allows us to interpret Karolina Kazmierska's
work, is often subversive and a mix of "luminous
languages."
The first piece is a composite object aiming to introduce l’Autre (the Other): this star-shaped piece
actually resembles decorative Islamic architecture
and the popular practice of Polish cut outs, all produced on a significantly enlarged journalistic picture. The image's reduced pixelation contributes to
its imprecision and falls in with the ornamental idea
that there is not one there, as there is hidden light
which signifies hidden cultural knowledge.
LELUJA - 2012
print in jet on paper photo cut-out glued on mdf slab
100 x 100 cm
Once the principle of opposition is established, i.e.
introduced by borrowing other cultural practices in
the context of a traditional catholic festival, we can
head to the wall made of neon lights and covered
with black scotch tape which lights up (and illuminates to us) our path. Even the idea to include the
Arabic reference as a religious trace is reversed: in
the gallery's neutral space there is a flashback, the
light composition is activated by the viewer.
It is therefore not the divine light that strikes the human, it is the human which allows the illumination,
and twice - neon lights are symbols of electrical
engineering but also symbolise technique or skill,
and the aggression necessary which this implies to
activate the piece: submit your presence to a giant flash which will make the image possible.
We exist: searching for the other side of the light we find other lights, which we had not thought of, synthetically: illuminated
languages (in this sense they shed light on thought) of Islamic decoration, popular practices and this ancient art, to conclude
with one final piece, a latin quote.
In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni ("We are going in circles in the night and we are consumed by the fire") reads right
side up and upside down, as a final call to reflect on what we are searching to find, even if in this search we use our nights (the
space-time in which the fight against darkness is dramatised) and our lives.
A rigorous and enlightening journey which Karolina Kazmierska prepares us for, inviting us to expand the beam of what we call
"light," because as is often the case in art (including pop art) it is all a question of language.
I will round up by borrowing a quote myself, Goethe's final words, this light genius, just before his death: "Licht! Mehr
Licht!" (Light! More light!)
Gonzalo Peña
EMBÊT E MENT EM BOÎT E MENT - 2013
printed photo cut-out glued on mdf slab cut-out
120 x 120 cm each
I WANT YOU TO LIVE YOUR BEST LIFE - 2012
grids, neon tubes, scotch tape, print glued on mdf slab
FAN - 2012
70 prints ink jet on paper, glued on mdf slab, 200 x 200 cm
UNTITLED - 2012
wall painting, acrylic
BOMB ON COAL - 2012
print photo cut out glued on plexi
ŻOŁNIERSKA - 2012
wall painting, acrylic
OLIMPIJSKA - 2012
wall painting, acrylic
In this series I use photos representing politicians and atheletes. Like sportsmen, politicians portray an image of force, power
and even authority. During World War I, sport became a weapon in the service of political victory. It is a propoganda tool and
acts as a national interest in reviving the feeling of belonging and national identity.
Even nowadays, the Youth Olympics, World Cup and other international tournaments offer occasions to celebrate different
nations, to relive previous rivalities and, especially, to emotionally experience the abstract concept of citizenship.
CACKO N°28 (triviality n°28) - 2012
cutting-out press, 11 x 8 cm
CACKO N°34 (triviality N°34) - 2012
cutting-out press, 23 x 14 cm
CACKO N°14 (triviality n°14) - 2012
cutting-out press, 13 x 10 cm
CACKO N°39 (triviality N°39) - 2012
cutting-out press, 7 x 10 cm
CACKO N°2 (triviality n°2) - 2013
cutting-out press, 19,5 x 23,5 cm
CACKO N°10 (triviality n°10) -2013
cutting-out press, 9 x 10 cm
CACKO N°1 (triviality N°1) - 2013
cutting-out press, 16 x 8 cm
Agility, craftmanship, nature, fragility, volatility, acceptance, dependance. All of these are found in Karolina
Kazmierska’s structures. DIY (Do It Yourself) aesthetics will oppose industrially manufactured products. “Total
quality” is a symptom which confronts nature, even that of human beings. There is this desire to make oneself, to revive simple, available materials. DIY involves perfectly assuming the irregularities that arise, without
searching for absolute perfection. It is a “rehumanisation” of the work. In this way, the railings made for the
structure were made in her studio by assembling planks of wood and covering them with black scotch tape. An
accessible, rudimentary, manual technique, which is in harmony with a feeling of urgency, as if this structure
should exist right now, without delay. The result is that the railings appear solid, quasi metallic, while it is actually delicate, fragile.
Railings, or geometric shapes composed of lines, are a recurring pattern for Karolina
Kazmierska. It is the idea of a network, of connections established between points, which generate the shape.
The initial structure can then be disrupted, randomly distored (by a drop or spontaneous join). So the framework is altered; along with the connections between the points. This work on the evolution of networks may
allude to interpersonal connections in groups or societies.
The bars are tangled up to create an unstable architecture which separates two spaces. A back and forth game
is possible from one part to another, offering the choice of two environments. Neon patterns illuminate the
inside. Neon lights reinforce the use of straight lines and minimal and geometric shapes. But, paradoxically,
this harshness expands towards exoticism. The neon lights outline the palm trees. Palm trees are aesthetically
pleasing and rock-and-roll, rather unstructured. This is not to create an amusement park for fun, detached
from reality. “It is also a reflection on society’s need today to shut itself away and have fun in secure and artificial surroundings.”*
In the end, Karolina Kazmierska’s constructions, even though based on rigid shapes, give a deep humaine
and delicate impression.
François Loustau/La Maison
critic text for th exhibition Topographic 2. à propos d’une île, Eglise des Forges, Tarnos, 2011
*citation of Karolina Kazmierska
MAKE THE WORLD YOUR OWN - 2011
16 grids (390 wooden sticks, scotch tape, nails), 15 neon tubes
(120 cm of length each), 29 neon tubes (60 cm of length each)
2 detectors of movement
The area painted in black, plunged into darkness. We are no longer on a flat and rectangular surface defined by
a mirror which questions its front-facing viewer, but in a situation where it takes an integral section of architectural
space like a direct connection to the environment. The neon lights are the only source of light. They play a double
role; illuminate the shapes themselves and serve as a component of the volume's structure. They complete the
shape and structure of the sculpture, by creating an atmosphere. The light reveals, using black, the invisible. It
betrays the readability of the structure. It opposes the rigid structures. The light dramatises the figure, the door to
the acme of effect and a temporal snapshot. On one side it dematerialises everything, by making the reality aerial
and suspended. But on the other, it personifies reality, showing and introducing a materialisation of time and a temporalisation of shapes.
SUPRANATURALISTES CONSTRUCIONS n°1 - 2011
wooden sticks, scotch tape
OK KO-2011
14 neon tubes (60 cm of length each), scotch tape
SUPRANATURALISTES CONSTRUCIONS n°2 - 2011
wooden sticks, scotch tape
200 x 200 cm
SUPRANATURALISTES CONSTRUCIONS n°1 - 2011
wooden sticks, scotch tape
SUPRANATURALISTES CONSTRUCIONS n°2 - 2011
wooden sticks, scotch tape
200 x 200 cm
SUPRANATURALISTES CONSTRUCIONS n°3 - 2011
wooden sticks, scotch tape
200 x 200 cm
FALL - 2010
2 planks of MDF 150 x 140 cm, lack painting, 12 neon tubes
MENTAL CUT, (They would not make us believe that white is white and black is black) - 2008
ink on paper, 100 x 100 cm, print on transparent paper
MENTAL CUT is determined by a physical action which creates an experience, a bodily performance. It develops in the process of “doing” and in the repetition of gestures. The wall is a surface on which the composition is
created. It plays a base role for the painting. At the same time it is a support and a component of the image. It is
in direct relation with the rigid structures. It is a show area as well as the struture’s constructive base. The railngs
are like the framework, which measure the space of the room and question its perception. It is an experience
which focuses primarily on the problem of threshold between pictorial space and sculptural space and this of
the threshold between geometry and gestures.
MENTAL CUT - 2010
15 grids (360 wooden sticks, scotch tape, nails),
wall painting (acrylic matt painting, acrylic satin painting)
Paper works
UNTITLED - 2014
cutting-out, pencil, 21 x 29,7 cm
UNTITLED - 2014
cutting-out, 21 x 29,7 cm
UNTITLED - 2014
cutting-out, pencil, ink, 21 x 29,7 cm
UNTITLED - 2014
pencil, ink, 21 x 29,7 cm
research sketches for the serie “WINGS” and “ORZEŁKI” (little eagels) - 2014
pencil, ink on paper, 42 x 29,7 cm both
research sketches for the serie “WINGS”- 2014
pencil, ink on paper, 29,7 x 21 cm both
research sketches for neon installations - 2014
pencil, ink on paper, 29,7 x 21 cm, 42 x 29,7 cm
research sketches for neon installations - 2014
pencil, ink on paper, 29,7 x 42 cm
Karolina Kaźmierska
19, quai Arloing
69009 Lyon
Tel.: +33(0)6.83.40.18.28.
[email protected]
www.karolinakazmierska.com
www.xukafonsztof.com
www.atelier-oeildeboeuf.com
born 04/05/1981
Polish nationality
Individual Exhibitions:
2014:
- “Supernova à effondrement de coeur”, Café Cousu, Lyon, FR
2011:
- “OK/KO”, curator: Elżbieta Dzikowska, Galeria Krytyków Pokaz, Warszawa, PL (http://www.galeriapokaz.pl/)
Group Exhibitions and prizes:
2014:
- Light installation, Atelier Editions AMort, Oullins, FR
2013:
- Satellites, Xuka Fon Sztof, wortwedding, Berlin, DE (http://wortwedding.blogspot.de/search/label/06%20Juni%202013)
- Studio Opening, in l’oeil-de-boeuf, Lyon, FR
2012:
- Light and travelling, (as a part of la Fête de la Lumière),360m3, Lyon, FR (http://360m3.com/)
- Studio Opening, partnership with la MAPRA, Lyon, FR
- Quarks Festival d’Art Contemporain et Culture Souterraine, Mikrokosm, Lyon, FR (https://vimeo.com/50365700)
- “Même la Joconde subit les outrages du temps”, in l’oeil-de-boeuf, Lyon, FR avec Samuel Biscuit, Fréderic Houvert, Adèle Occuly, Anne Pitoux, Flöde av Pkim, Anne Renaud, David Rossi & Nan Wang, Arnaud Sabard
2011:
- “Colony Collapse Disorder, Thinking about Key Figures Indices, Xuka Fon Sztof, in l’oeil-de-boeuf, Lyon, FR
- “L’Enclos”, collaboration with David Rossi, participation of Grégory le Lay et Gonzalo Peña, in l’oeil-de-boeuf, Lyon, FR
- Topographic 2, “A propos d’une île”, L’Eglise des Forges, Tarnos, FR, with Jennifer Caubet, Bertille Bak, Romain Kronenberg et
Fleur Noguera, (http://topographic2.blogspot.com/)
- “Nachbarn. Abgrenzung und Gemeinsamkeit”, Xuka Fon Sztof, Blaue Halle, EISFABRIK, Hannover, DE, (http://www.kunstdiskurs.de/)
- “C’est du gateau”, in L’oeil-de-boeuf, Lyon, FR, with Leo Baldwin-Ramult, Anne Sophie Bosc, Guillaume Dorvillé, Fréderic Houvert, Angeline Isabel, Nayoung Kim, Elodie Petit, Anne Renaud et David Rossi
2010:
- “On vous rappellera”, collaboration with David Rossi, La Forge de Belleville, Paris, FR
- “Granica # 29”, Galeria Wschodnia, Łódź, PL (Xuka Fon Sztof - artistic duo with Ewa Surowiec), (http://www.wschodnia.pl/)
- 55° Salon de Montrouge, Focus sur une école, “The Magnificent Seven”, (group project directed by Franck Scurti and Joël
Tardy), Montrouge, FR, with Pierre Gaignard, Aldo Paredes, Pierre Paulin, Elodie Petit, Anne Renaud, Clémence Torres,
(http://www.salondemontrouge.fr/?page_id=24)
- “Maessge”, Open Space Ventzi, Poznań, PL, with Ewa Surowiec, (http://openspace8.wordpress.com/)
2009:
- Prize Pézieux (Attributed each year for two laureates graduated of School, designed by exterior jury)
- Exposition de Noël, Ancien Musée de Peinture, Le Magasin, Grenoble, FR
- “V=A3”, with Agata Frydrych et Clémence Torres, Spacekraft Pompadour, Lyon, FR
(http://www.katya-bonnenfant.com/spacekraft/_v/catalogue.pdf)
Residencies:
2014:
-Residency International Program NARS Foundation, New York City
2013:
- Residency Schloss Bröllin, as a part of PAiR (Performing Arts in Residency), Xuka Fon Sztof collaboration with
realtympanica, DE (http://www.broellin.de/gb/index.php/module-styles/pair)
- wortwedding, Berlin, DE (http://wortwedding.blogspot.de/search/label/06%20Juni%202013)
2007 - “Vor Ort”, Isernhagenhof, Isernhagen, DE
Publications:
2011 - Catalog of exhibition: Topographic 2, “A propos d’une île”, realized by La Maison
2010 - Catalog of exhibition: 55ème Salon d’art contemporain de Montrouge, livret «The Magnificent seven» realised by l’ENBA
(http://fr.calameo.com/read/0000046973cf2887b5e38)
2009 - “V=A3”, catalog of group exhibition, 60 exemplaries, ENBA Lyon, graphic designers: Jonahtan Rouah, Thomas Baille http://www.katya-bonnenfant.com/spacekraft/_v/catalogue.pdf
Education:
2007-2009 – École Nationale des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, Diplôme Nationale Supérieure d’Expression Plastique
(mention-distinction)
2006-2007 - École Nationale Supérieure d’Art de Dijon, forth year
2004-2006 - École Régionale des Beaux-Arts de Rennes, Diplôme National d’Arts Plastiques (félicitations-commendations)
2003-2004 - École Supérieure d’Art et Céramique de Tarbes,
1996-2000 - High School n° II of Sieradz, Poland
Other Activities:
Since the year 2010 cofounder of the association L’Oeil-de-boeuf which is located in Lyon. Its activity hinges on the production,
exhibition and distribution of art. It is an exchange place which aims to welcome, with an openness to dialogue and proposals
from artists.
In 2010, alongside Ewa Surowiec, an artistic duo was created - Xuka Fon Sztof, which is a platform for artistic and curatorial
activities. Its premise is to explore different art and life domains and the interdisciplinary cooperation with other creators.