Curated by Capucine Perrot (Tate Modern) and Magda Lipska, (Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw), the exhibition's centerpiece is a child drinking a mix of Pepsi and Coca-Cola, set alongside an image of two half-naked young men working on a giant puzzle and a re-enactment of Yves Klein's iconic Leap into the Void - with a decidedly sobering conclusion as the artist is shown hitting the pavement below, rather than captured in mid-flight. These works draw upon history and contemporary culture to make a connection with the past, to examine the present through the symbols of the past in a way that is pragmatic, even at times critical of contemporary society and its shortcomings. All throughout, however, is a sense of irony and humour.
Magda Lipska says the language of both artists' works is inspiring and calls it a "conscious language of contestation, which refers to the traditions of avant-garde art, as well as to specific historical events, particularly from the period of (post-communist) transformation". In London Molska presents Hectacomb, a 2011 video work set in a greenhouse which draws upon the themes from the earlier piece Mourners, filmed in the same greenhouse and touching upon similar ideas of death and evil as discussed by a community of folk singers from the small town of Orońsko known as Jarzębina. Incidentally, the Jarzębina group is behind the rather kitsch folk rendition of Poland's official Euro 2012 anthem which has been creating quite a stir on Youtube.
Other works shown at the current exhibition include Tanagram (2006-2007) a five-minute-long video featuring two athletic models, dressed only in boxer briefs and futuristic helmets playing with the enlarged elements of the traditional Chinese game of Tanagram. Her 2008 video works W=FxS (Work) and P=W:T (Power) are shown simultaneously, depicting blue collar workers building a triangular scaffolding in in a field in Work, while white balls are set in motion inside a squash court in Power. The two works together examine the potential of the collective and the significance of the individual within that collective.
Ciprian Mureşan, "Leap Into the Void, After Three Seconds" (2004). Courtesy Plan B, Cluj / Berlin and Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles © Ciprian Mureşan
The Polish artist's works are set alongside those of Ciprian Mureşan (born 1977), a sculptor, illustrator, video artist and installationi artist from Romania. At Stage and Twist he shows Leap Into the Void, After Three Seconds (2004), a re-enactment of Yves Klein’s iconic image of himself jumping from a ledge, but in Mureşan’s version the artist lies sprawled on the ground having hit the pavement three seconds after his leap. Mureşan reduces the act to its literal consequences, referencing the troubled situation of artists in Romania today. Other works presented also take their cue from existing images and works of art to create a new context for the present.
Project Space at the Tate Modern presents a cycle of contemporary art exhibitions organised in cooperation with cultural organisations around the word, working with young curators from the Tate Modern and other institutions to found a fresh cultural exchange and dialogue. The series showcases the work of new or recently rediscovered artists in a global context. Previous partners included institutions in Amman, Lagos, Istanbul, Mexico City and Warsaw, with future partnerships planned with Cairo, Lima and New Delhi.
Anna Molska (born 1983 in Prudnik) is a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Poland. She lives and works in Warsaw. She Her work is based in video, filming performances involving ordinary people, instead of professional actors, to be protagonists, thus allowing for an authenticity, uncertainty even, and natural spontaneity that is an integral part of the work. She reconsiders revolutionary thought's power to cause social change through investigations of avant-garde visual and political idioms. She draws her inspiration from the Avant Garde and its relevance for society at large. Her works have been shown at the Calvert 22 Foundation in London, Malmo Konsthall in Sweden, The Power Plant in Toronto and the New Museum in New York.
Stage and Twist takes place at the Tate Modern's Project Space between the 25th of May - 14th of October. The exhibition has been Organised in collaboration with the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw.
For more information, see: www.tate.org.uk
Editor: Agnieszka Le Nart
Source: Tate Modern