Karolina Breguła, Ulica (The Street), photography, 2013, photo: courtesy of Zachęta Gallery
This will be the 6th edition of the competition aimed at promoting and honouring young Polish artists and their work. Hanna Wróblewska, the director of Zachęta says:
Every two years an international jury selects the best artists from the young Polish scene, the ones that have the best parts of their careers still ahead of them.
The curator for the event, Ewa Łączyńska-Widz, adds that “This competition sets trends and indicates which artists are interesting and important for contemporary art". The finalists for Views 2013 are Tymek Borowski, Piotr Bosacki, Karolina Breguła, Łukasz Jasturbczak and Agnieszka Polska. All the artists were born between 1977 and 1985, and emerged as finalists thanks to the committee of Tomasz Fudala, Aleksandra Jach, Marcin Krasny, Agnieszka Pindera, Maria Rubersz, Stanisław Ruksza, Karol Sienkiewicz, Piotr Stasiowski and Monika Szewczyk.
Most of the works presented in the exhibition contest are films, but there will also be one work that combines painting and computer graphics. Agnieszka Polska’s film collage will portray a heaven for artists. Karolina Breguła peers into the life of a provincial official who is trying to encourage the people of his village to adopt progressive behaviour. Łukasz Jastrubczak chose Renaissance Florence as the backdrop for his film which features "konceptualista;" a hero with geometric attributes known from the artist's previous projects. Piotr Bosacki will be presenting a piece that is based off of an animated film and a set of objects. Also using a multi-media format, Tymek Borowski will show his large-scale newspaper that is installed on a wall and expands into virtual reality.
Łukasz Jastrubczak, Śpiący kowboj (Sleepy Cowboy), sculpture, cement, black pigment, 183 x 40 x 30 cm, 2011, photo: courtesy of Zachęta Gallery
Ewa Łączyńska-Widz explains that:
This contest means a great deal to Polish art and is recognised internationally. It certainly represents a cross-section on what is happening now in Polish art. You can see surreal trends, likening to the films of David Lynch. The artists are creating fictional events, they are modifying reality and changing it.
The winners of Views 2013 will be announced at a gala on the 24th of October. An international jury will present the awards; the grand prize is 15,000 euro and second prize is a three-month study residency in Villa Romana, Florence. In addition, all the artists are nominated for an award of 2,000 złoty (almost 500 euro) decided by the public. Votes can be cast at the Zachęta Gallery, on Facebook or on Twitter.
The competition Views is organised by the Zachęta Gallery, the Deutsche Bank of Poland and the Deutsche Bank Foundation. Winners of previous editions include Elżbieta Jabłońska (2003), Maciej Kurak (2005), Janek Simon (2007), both Wojciech Bąkowski and Anna Molska (2009), and both Konrad Smoleński and Honza Zamojski (2011).
See Also:
The Spojrzenia Event Page
Sources: PAP, Co jest grane, own materials, author: JN, 16/09/2013
Translation: SMG 17/09/2013