Marlena Kudlicka, shape hypothesis test 1x, 2016, Sculpture Collage, steel, 48 x 41 x 3cm, photo: Marcus Schneider, © Marlena Kudlicka
The Kudlicka / Gołkowska exhibition is the first such comprehensive presentation of works by Wanda Gołkowska and Marlena Kudlicka in Warsaw. It is a kind of staged dialogue, in which Marlena Kudlicka refers to Wanda Gołkowska’s art by creating new works and offering an innovative perspective on the art of the Wrocław artist.
Kudlicka and Gołkowska did not have the opportunity to get to know each other, but there are points of contact in their art. Presented together their works lead to the kind of discussion, even game, that is so important to both of them in their practices.
Marlena Kudlicka (born 1973) studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznań in Jarosław Kozłowski’s studio. She lives and works in Berlin. In her work she explores the relationship between meaning and space within a language conceived of as a structure or system. Her activities are rooted in an avant-garde break with the image as a representation, as well as in concrete poetry and conceptual art. Kudlicka’s works take the form of spatial installations, coexisting with the place where they are presented.
Wanda Gołkowska (1925-2013) was a graduate of the Higher School of Fine Arts in Wrocław, where she lived and worked all her life. She was one of the most important figures and an active animator of the Wrocław art scene. In her work she moved from painting to spatial forms, creating structures that could be altered and reflecting on the concept of art. Word and language were an important point of reference for her. She used mathematical rules in her works, especially those relating to natural phenomena (e.g. the Fibonacci sequence).
For the purposes of this exhibition Marlena Kudlicka will prepare an installation which includes selected works by Wanda Gołkowska. Thus, building on her own practice, Kudlicka will create new conditions for the reception of Gołkowska’s work, drawing attention to lesser known threads and emphasizing their topicality. At the same time Kudlicka’s works will retain an autonomous character and continue explorations previously developed by the artist. Giving her own works the poetic title: “Apostrophe, Catastrophe and Participle”, Kudlicka will also refer to the Galeria Studio space, located inside the Palace of Culture. As such the works by Kudlicka, and indirectly Gołkowska, will enter into a dialogue with the site and its architecture.
In 2021 the exhibition will be presented at the Wrocław Contemporary Museum.
Exhibition curator: Paulina Olszewska