The photographs of Zofia Kulik are produced as photomontages, using
multiple exposures placed on photo paper through precisely cut masks. In
this way, one work can consist of even a hundred single images. Within
the realm of the self-portrait, Zofia Kulik presents herself as a queen.
Her kingdom lies in the empire of a photographic archive, a collection
made up of preserved or frozen gestures and motifs, a kingdom of
ornaments in which forms are constantly repeated and pictures are
rhythmically unravelled in time. Zofia Kulik started to produce
self-portraits after 1987. They came, as a manifestation of an awakening
of identity as an artist. Along with this self-portrait justification
came the ornament, which served as a way for Zofia Kulik to untangle her
vision of history, politics, and art.
In the series N.N. vs.
Artists, Paweł Książek intertwines a collection of diverse narratives by
accumulating sources through an archive of online images of anonymous
people and performance art. This impression is reinforced in these
artistically transposed images through references to art history and
performative practices from the 1960s and 70s, such as Vienna Actionism.
This weaving together of various thoughts and concepts becomes
paramount in the creation of non-linear tales that explore ecstasy,
anarchy, and existentialism. The vast series questions authorship and
censorship, as references of performance art are spliced with found
internet images that are in some way inadvertently interconnected,
either visually or conceptually. These large paintings portray people
with a scrawling of paint, clouding parts of the subject from view. In
the twisting of truth, the distinction between "real” and "unreal” often
becomes blurred in Książek’s pieces as elements are manipulated,
retouched, and compiled, leaving almost everything open to
interpretation and teetering on the edge of fantasy.
In the
series titled Shadows, Reflections, and All That Sort of Thing, Jorma
Puranen photographs historical portrait paintings from unusual and
unfamiliar angles. Rather than making a connection between the portrayed
and a specific landscape, Puranen leaves the paintings in place on the
museum walls and photographs them under curious conditions. The
resulting photographic portraits defy the accepted standards of a well-made photo. The daylight is reflected on the surface of the
painting, overexposing certain parts of the image, and obliterating
others in darkness. The series questions the relationships between the
portrait, the portrayed, the photograph of the portrait, and how the
employed mediums influence our perception of them as an "image". Jorma
Puranen, one of the leading conceptual artists using photography as
their medium in the Nordic region, has played a pivotal role in the
creation of the Helsinki School while being a practicing artist for the
past four decades.
Joakim Eskildsen’s work throughout his career
has consistently focused on his relationship with his subjects in their
natural environment, reflecting not only their culture but also their
way of life. His methodology is to submerge himself into their daily
lives for extended periods of time to capture their patterns of living,
their hopes and disappointments, and most importantly to share in the
understanding of who they actually are. In the moment of capturing a portrait, the ever-present existence of social context aids in
uncovering the true essence of the subject. In presenting them in their
own lives and with their own communities, we see them for who they truly
are. His photographic images reflect his unique sense and style for
storytelling and how we as a universal culture can visualize humanity on
the most basic level. Eskildsen is one of the most published artists
from the Helsinki School and has been seen on the covers of Time to the
New York Times Magazine.
In this selected work by Dominik Lejman,
the blend of painting and projection creates an ephemeral ghostly scene
with a formal resemblance to the baroque genre. The painted chiaroscuro
canvas stands alone, its darkened textures becoming the perfect
backdrop for a video projection. In this work, performer Bianca O’Brien
fluidly moves and interacts with the space, reflecting her own character
and personality while languidly perched in the style of a traditional
portrait. The contrast between classical presentation with her
contemporary movements emphasizes the innovative hybrid form of canvas
painting and projectible technology while depicting parts of the model’s
true self. At moments she stares straight through the canvas, piercing
its fabric with her eyes as they stare straight into your own. As the
film loop comes to its completion, she begins to unwrap her headpiece
and her form descends into darkness leaving nothing but the blackened
canvas.
Milja Laurila’s Untitled Women series uses the 1930s
book titled Woman. An Historical Gynæcological and Anthropological
Compendium as a point of departure. Originally published in German in
1885 and written by three men, the book is illustrated with hundreds of
photographs of naked women and children from all over the world,
primarily from colonized countries. The cross between anthropology,
racism, and sexism, come together to create an uncomfortable viewing
experience that claims to be "scientific.” The photographed women have
no voice, as, they are presented as "exotic” specimens found in nature.
In using translucent paper to cover parts of the original photos, making
only the eyes visible and obscuring the body, she flips the notion of
gaze. Laurila turns the focus away from the male scientists hailed as
heroes to the forgotten women who were no more than objects of research,
stripped of their respect, as well as their dignity. Her photographs
raise the question of who is the spectator versus the spectacle, and how
we see to be seen.
Summertale, the final piece in Kozyra’s series In Art Dreams Come True, consists of 13 videos of performances, quasi-theatrical productions, and audience-engaging happenings. The photograph- that was taken during the project- depicts Kozyra as an overtly female fairy-tale figure who is shown to be literally bound in rope while also being symbolically bound by the cultural norms that refer to how gender bias can restrict a woman’s position within society. Kozyra awakens the discussion on what it means to be a woman in today’s world. Her works challenge the fundamentals of how society judges and perceives how a woman exhibits herself in any endeavor she chooses. This work contributed to Kozyra’s international recognition, which set the tone for her work based around taboo, nudity, gender, expectation, etc. As a recipient of Honorable Mention at the 1999 Venice Biennale, she received international recognition for her work Men’s Bathhouse.