The exhibition of Teresa Murak was opened at the Polish Institute in Düsseldorf last week.
“To whom are you going” is the title of this retrospective presentation. Teresa Murak is mostly known as an artist strongly associated with a nature and carnality. She was co-creating a Polish neo-avant-garde till the end of the 70’s, being all the time still creatively active. The main kind of material used by Murak in her activities are the materials of organic origin: cress, moss, mud, dust, bread and water. They always have a strong link with the body and femininity. Some of her works already went down in history of art like the “Procession” where Murak was walking around the Warsaw streets dressed only in a coat made of sprouting cress, or a performance in which the artist was staying in the bathtub filled with water and cress seeds until they sprouted. The motive of seeding, germinating, growing is always present in her works. It is a symbol of life and the incessant strength which nothing can stop. Murak like a shaman, or more locally, like a witch celebrates her rituals in the “bosom of nature”, reinterpreting the archetypes associated with a woman – fertility, motherhood, weeding the garden.
The works presented in Düsseldorf come among others from the collection of Dr. Osman Djajadisastra, the collector and popularizer of Polish art, also the initiator of that show. We had a pleasure of receiving his reflections on the exhibition and the works of Teresa Murak:
“It was a magical night. Sometimes all pieces of a puzzle fit together perfectly. Here, a perfect location (the Polish Institute in Düsseldorf, a sensible curator, Monika Kumiega (seen in one of the photos together with Teresa and myself), artwork by Teresa, which has the possibility to create magic, due to its inner energy, which was felt very intensely at this evening by almost all participants. Teresa wants us to respect nature and its resources, using to underline this, natural materials, mostly so called “Kresse” (cress), but also water, mud etc. and methods of body art, land art, performances and documentations of these performances/actions via photographs, films and objects. These performances are often mimic religious rituals”
Below you can find the photo materials which we received directly from Dr. Djajadisastra.
Teresa Murak, from the series “Objects I -III”, Dr. Osman Djajadisastra collection, courtesy Dr. Osman Djajadisastra
Teresa Murak, exhibition view “To whom are you going”, courtesy Dr. Osman Djajadisastra
Teresa Murak, exhibition view “To whom are you going”, courtesy Dr. Osman Djajadisastra
Teresa Murak, exhibition view “To whom are you going”, courtesy Dr. Osman Djajadisastra
Teresa Murak, exhibition view “To whom are you going”, courtesy Dr. Osman Djajadisastra
Teresa Murak, exhibition view “To whom are you going”, courtesy Dr. Osman Djajadisastra
Teresa Murak, exhibition view “To whom are you going”, courtesy Dr. Osman Djajadisastra
