In public spaces, Rajkowska puts emphasis on collective experience: she works through shared traumas, sifts through collective memories and brings back repressed narratives that come from the spaces’ pasts and form the present. However, in the space of a gallery the artist seems to struggle with her own history. Works that have originated in and are meant for private spaces are notas available to the public as Rajkowska's urban projects. The viewer is deprived of the possibility to participate, as was the case of a Berlin exhibition entitled Złoto, Srebro, Mosiądz (Gold, Silver, Brass, 2014), which featured works created by the artist throughout the past six years.
The axis of the exhibition was formed around Rajkowska’s bond with her father. Her previous projects, such as Rose's Passage, in a sense forced a specific reaction; the exposition at Żak Branicka gallery offered the viewer's a glimpse into the intimate history of Joanna Rajkowska's family, and although the shadow of the Holocaust was clearly felt here, it took a backseat.
Gold, Silver, Brass is not only a story about the loss of property, but also the loss of place. Born in Bydgoszcz, Joanna considers herself a native resident of Warsaw – her family's history has been connected to this city for seven generations. Some of the works presented at the exhibition were collages created out of photographs of her grandfather and great-grandfather or scraps of old maps of Warsaw. The narrative of the exhibition is the story of the artist's identity. In the exhibition's narrative, the eponymous silver, gold and brass possessed a metaphorical function – sometimes they combined fiction with reality, other times they took the form of family mementos.
Painkillers
Painkillers is a common name for weapons used in warfare – it also happens to be the name of Joanna Rajkowska's project from 2014. The artist cast forms of rifles, grenades, cartridges and pistols from a mixture of powdered medicines and polyurethane resin. In her work, she discusses the involvement of pharmaceutical concerns in the production of chemical weapons, while patenting new drugs and investing in clinical research. Both business areas use similar technology and the same field specialists. Founded in 1863, Bayer AG became known worldwide for its aspirin. However, during WWI, Bayer was involved in the development and manufacture of chlorine and mustard gases.
The project – together with a film titled Progress – premiered at Zachęta as part of the Postęp I Higiena(Progress and Hygiene) exhibition, which was curated by Anda Rottenberg. The video presents a girl who repeats names of various weapons after a person that's behind the camera; it amounts to an intense clash of child innocence with the horrors of war.
A year later, Rajkowska created Painkillers II (2015) – a continuation of the project, which was born out her interest in the paradox of the capitalist world we live in. Painkillers function as something transparent in our daily lives. Hardly any of us realise that the same corporations that produce our tablets are involved in the development of war and various armed conflicts. In addition to various types of weapons, Rajkowska also created casts of objects, which served as weapons. It included, among others, a suggestive pair of latex gloves and a nuclear bomb core resembling a cloth sheet. The combination of objects used for killing and medicine – the eponymous painkillers – was the binding element for all these items.
Environmentally engaged projects