Grzegorz Stefański, choke (2017), one-channel video, dimensions variable duration 10min., looped, edition 3+2AP.
Director of photography: Mikołaj Syguda. Performance: Mateusz Korcz and Andrzej Piasecki
l’étrangère is pleased to present Grzegorz Stefański’s first solo exhibition in the UK, choke.
The exhibition will feature two of Grzegorz Stefański’s video installations — choke (2017) and do-over (2016) — together with restraint (2016), a photographic print created alongside the artist’s synonymous award winning video.
choke (2017), the main focus of the exhibition, canvases the movements of two Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighters, who perform their routine for the camera. The slow-motion film operates as a vehicle for observation, where the entangled limbs and torsos are abstracted from their context, and their connotations are obscured. do-over (2016), similarly looks to distort the context of the gesture. The film records the sometimes violent nature of movements made by a young musical conductor, who has been asked to perform a series of musical scores from memory.
Grzegorz Stefański (b.1983, Poland) is currently completing a Masters degree at Slade School of Fine Art in London. He holds degrees in Philosophy and Photography and a Masters degree from Mirosław Bałka’s Studio of Spatial Activities. His artistic practice is located at the nexus of psychology, performance and film; primarily concerned with the human body, identity and the politics of embodiment.