Martyna Czech and Krzysztof Piętka

The Lotna Gallery in Warsaw will open an exhibition of paintings by Martyna Czech and Krzysztof Piętka Żmijowisko (Snake pit) on November 29, 2024. The exhibition is an attempt to comment on the post-pandemic situation of artists in Poland and the collapse of the feudal foundations behind the gallery system on the art market.

Artists are excluded by society because of their uniqueness, otherness, which makes them who they are. The lack of basic stabilizers of a chaotic life in the form of health insurance, retirement, disability pension and a certain monthly payment make them both the “social margin” and the “upper class”. Every day they face financial difficulties and emotional problems, standing at the crossroads of various extremes, obsessions, fears, pressure, stress. To remain yourself and be an artist, you have to have a “hard ass, soft heart” when you fall off the ladder of dependencies of the art world. Creation itself is a toxic process, apart from the specifics of the profession and the constant exposure of one’s health to poisonous fumes, which involves reaching for one’s own, often autobiographical and traumatic experiences.

“Stereotypically, more disturbed individuals are outstanding artists, but empirically speaking, the elements above us are more disturbed. We are just hamsters in small wheels, powering the whole money-making machine.”

How to sell yourself without “selling out”? Artistic idyll is a myth and only privileged “great” artists can remain outside the circulation and not give a damn about the “lesser” ones. Isolation of an individual can lead to complete madness, just like hunger. Lack of talent, skills, ideas, authenticity are not a problem, because money and tricks rule this ladder. This beautiful instance from the outside does not forgive mistakes, protests or rebellion, or even a change of artistic style. 

So, you can see that the everyday life of an artist is not an idealized life of a free spirit, but a constant struggle for survival, which is no different from the culture of working hard in international corporations. And it is probably even worse – it is a constant rat race, in which you cannot just change your job or escape from your psychopathic boss. Being an artist, competing with yourself in creative work is a ticking bomb; it is an emotional rollercoaster, chaos, a constant trigger… we invite you to the very center of this SNAKE PIT.

Martyna Czech (born 1990) – graduate of the Faculty of Arts of the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice, main diploma with distinction in the Painting Studio of dr hab. prof. ASP Andrzej Tobis; additional diploma in the Literature Interpretation Studio of dr hab. prof. Grzegorz Hańderek of the Academy of Fine Arts (2017). Winner of the Grand Prix of the 42nd Painting Biennale “Bielska Jesień 2015” at the BWA in Bielsko-Biała (2015), finalist of the Biennale of Young Art Rybie Oko 9 (2017). Winner of the Talenty Trójki in the Visual Arts category (2017). Nominated for the Paszporty Polityki in the Visual Arts category (2019).

Krzysztof Piętka (born 1990) – graduate of the Faculty of Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice. He defended his diploma in the studio of prof. Andrzej Tobis. He is a finalist of the most important competitions for young artists such as “New Image / New Gaze”, the national painting competition named after Wojciech Fangor (2015), the Painting Biennale Bielska Jesień (2017) and the Biennale of Young Art Rybie Oko (2017).

Media patronage: kmag.pl and format.asp.wroc.pl