On the occasion of his exhibition at the aTAK Gallery, the artist prepared, among others, a series of collages celebrating the first decade of the venue’s activity. The works were based on materials related to history of the gallery, such as reproductions of works from exhibition catalogues for group and solo shows, invitations, and posters.
The chronologically ordered documentation presents works by several dozen artists in a panoramic view, bound by an original, coherent vision. In Grzegorz Kozera’s eyes, ten years, which appears to go by by in a moment, makes one look at the gallery’s history as a time which by no means has been lost – the curator Jerzy Wojciechowski wrote about the artist’s collages.
Yet another series was The Conspiracy of Illustrations, which also comprised collages, this time referring to Janusz Jaremowicz’s publication Z galerii sensów (From the Gallery of Senses), published by aTAK. The small-format works were composed out of paintings reproduced in the book, which Kozera was not able to escape.
The latest outdoor installation by Kozera, presented at the Narracje festival in Gdańsk, referred to literature. In similar fashion to other historical and stylistic references to visual arts, the piece took form of a literary mystification on Jean Genet. The artist invited the audience to imagine that Genet made a trip to Gdańsk. ‘Genet was quite a mystificator. Kozera follows his suit, fabricating traces of the author’s presence in Biskupia Górka. The route of Genet’s hypothetical pilgrimage is marked by artificial graveyard flowers which the artist diligently collected from different necropolises’ – Stach Szabłowski, the curator of Narracje, wrote.
Grzegorz Kozera’s oeuvre is one hand focused on oneself, on experiencing the events of the passing time, notated by collages (…), and on the other on the fascination with the perception of another man, experiencing his presence, as if he was right there. If Grzegorz Kozera is looking for inspiration in the past, it is by no means in the figurative tradition, but in Dadaism, whose way of thinking is especially expressed in small collages’ – Wojciech Skrodzki wrote about Kozera’s artistic practice on the occasion of his exhibition with Edward Narkiewicz and Alex Urso at the Monopol Gallery in Warsaw (2016).
Recently, the artist attaches increasing importance to collage and creates most of his works using that technique. However, according to his own statements, painting remains the most important form of expression for him, even if he steps away from its classical form.
‘Even if I do away with its traditional tools, such as: paint, brushes or canvas, its typical means of expression: composition, space, and especially colour, are still incredibly important to me. I try not to drift away from reality too much, putting certain gestures above purely formal, pictorial means. For that reason, I often use banal objects of everyday use, noticing a great, visual potential in them’ – Kozera says.
Selected exhibitions:
- 2016 – DADA tak? Tak! (DADA yes? yes!), Biała Gallery, Lublin
2016 – 8th Narracje Festival, Królestwo 60,8 m n.p.m. (Kingdom 60.8 m a.s.l.), Biskupia Górka, Gdańsk
2016 – W końcu (At Last) (solo show), aTAK Gallery, Warsaw
2016 – Wiosna (Springtime), Monopol Gallery, Warsaw
2016 – Entre sistemas. Pintura polaca contemporánea en la colección de Krzysztof Musiał, Centro de Arte Contemporáneo Francisco Hernández, Vélez-Málaga
- 2015 – 42nd ‘Bielska Jesień’ Painting Biennial 2015 - Galeria Bielska BWA, Bielsko-Biała
2015 – Krzywy Kwadrat (Crooked Square) (solo show), Promocyjna Gallery, Warsaw
2015 – Potęga abstrakcji (The Power of Abstraction), Museum of Modern Art, Minsk
2015 – Palindrom (Palindrome), National Gallery of Art, Sopot
2015 – Miradas: Arte Polaco Actual, Palacio Horcasitas, Balmaseda, País Vasco
2015 – Zapisy przemian. Nasz wybór z kolekcji Krzysztofa Musiała (Records of Changes. Polish Art from Krzysztof Musiał Collection), Płock Art Gallery
- 2014 – DADAskalia (solo show), WizytTUjąca Gallery, Warsaw
2014 – Trochę dziwny (A Little Strange) (solo show), Bardzo Biała Gallery,Warsaw
2014 – City – Inflammatory State – SURVIVAL Art Review, Wrocław
2014 – Mowa nienawiści. Wykluczam wykluczenie (Hate Speech: I Exclude Exclusion), Jewish Historical Institute, Warsaw
2014 – Surrealism and beyond, Magazzini dell’Arte Contemporanea, Trapani
- 2013 – Parasol w Prosektorium (Umbrella in the Dissecting Room), Salon Akademii, Warsaw
Awards and Distinctions:
Art grant from the Office of the Capital City of Warsaw, 2016, 2014
Honorary mention at the 42nd ‘Bielska Jesień’ Painting Biennial 2015 – Bielska Gallery BWA, Bielsko-Biała, 2015
3rd Prize and honorary mention from the magazine Exit: New Art in Poland at the 21st National Review of Young Painting ‘Promocje,’ Galeria Sztuki, Legnica, 2011
Author: Michał Jachuła, luty 2017, transl. Anna Micińska