A photo from the exhibition "Four Rooms", photo courtesy of CCA
The Centre of Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle presents a group exhibition of international artists entitled "Four Rooms"
The young generation of artists create a series of works, paintings, installations and videos. The title of the show originates from the location of the exhibition - four rooms located in the basement of the Ujazdowski Castle, which are among the few parts that have remained from the original building. The title also refers to "Four Rooms", a 1995 film consisting of four short stories directed respectively by Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, Alexandre Rockwell and Allison Anders, who have been here 'replaced' by Polish artists Ewa Gorzadek and Małgorzata Szymankiewicz, Helena Kontova, Giancarlo Politi and Nicola Trezzi.
Surreal, visionary, brutal, ironic: these are adjective that perfectly fit the film as well as the artworks in the exhibition. Another connection between the film and the exhibition resides in the cohabitation between an official story "painters working between abstraction and figuration" and many parallel stories, which are all told by word of mouth.
In fact while at first sight the exhibition is a presentation of a young generation of artists working with the legacy of painting in an expanded and conceptual way as perfectly illustrated by the practice of Daniel Turner and Mark Barrow, if you dig into each story, as for the characters of "Four Rooms", one discovers that there is an invisible net linking many of the artists in the show. Having worked or studied together or even if it is simply only sharing the same nationality.
Ann Craven's generous and nurturing attitude can be seen in the work of Jacob Kassay, Heather Guertin and Ana Cardoso, who have all been Craven’s studio assistant. Artists Ana Cardoso and Sonia Almeida know each other from their home in Portugal although both having left to study aboard and were discovered by the CCA through different paths.
While attending the Slade School of Fine Art in London, Sonia Almeida met Jo Robertson and the two of them reconnected coincidentally during the preparation of this project. Columbia University in New York was where Francesca DiMattio, Garth Weiser, Elizabeth Neel and Patricia Treib studied and where Ann Craven who follows Patricia Treib’s work is now teaching. Similarly Heather Guertin, Zak Prekop and Aline Cautis, who all studied in Chicago and lost track until Cautis’s work was discovered in Romania, which noted the similarities with Guertin and Prekop.
Another trope which is repeated in the show is that of the couple: Francesca DiMattio and Garth Weiser, Heather Guertin and Zak Prekop, Gilda Mautone and Enzo Giordano have been together and their works are connected in ways that are subtle and beautiful. Probably the best example to describe it is Francesca DiMattio's use of Garth Weiser’s discarded canvases for her painting.
Ylva Olgland and Ida Ekblad are respectively from Sweden and Norway, as well as Davíð Orn Halldorsson, Ingunn Fjóla Ingþórsdóttirand and Baldur Geir Bragason, who all come from Iceland.
In the case of Paloma Presents (Urs Zahn and Roman Gysin) and Swiss Vittorio Brodmann, the story is even more articulated. Vittorio Brodmann started the project Paloma Presents in Zurich with fellow artists Georg Blunier and Mathis Altmann and therefore in this scenario he is exhibiting his own work as well as being the "shelf" as a member of Paloma Presents of a collaborative project by Swiss artists Urs Zahn and Roman Gysin.
Last but not least it is interesting to note how the title "Four Rooms" can be considered a sort of déjà vu in the contemporary art field, especially in Poland. If Italian artist Pietro Roccasalva who kindly provided the image for the poster devoted part of his production to the protagonist of the aforementioned film played by Tim Roth, "Four Rooms" was also an exhibition organised by Jaroslaw Suchan at Bunkier Sztuki in Krakow in 2002.
Artists: Sonia Almeida, Mark Barrow, Baldur Geir Bragason, Vittorio Brodmann, Ana Cardoso, Aline Cautis, Ann Craven, Francesca DiMattio, Ida Ekblad, Enzo Giordano, Heather Guertin, Davíð Orn Halldorsso, Ingunn Fjóla Ingþórsdóttir, Jacob Kassay, Gilda Mautone, Elizabeth Neel, Ylva Ogland, Paloma Presents (Urs Zahn & Roman Gysin), Zak Prekop, Jo Robertson, Małgorzata Szymankiewicz, Patricia Treib, Daniel Turner, Garth Weiser.
Special participation by Pietro Roccasalva.
Curators: Ewa Gorządek, Helena Kontova, Giancarlo Politi, Nicola Trezzi.
"Four Rooms" exhibition opens on the 7th of October 2011 and runs through until the 29th of January 2012 at the basement of the Ujazdowski Castle.
The Centre for Contemporary Art, Ujazdowski Castle
ul. Jazdów 2
00-467 Warsaw
www.csw.art.pl
Source: www.csw.art.pl