The meeting
28/06 – 03/08/2024
Morsztynowska 1, Kraków
solo exhibition
Van Rij Gallery is pleased to invite you to the opening of the painting exhibition "The Meeting" by Magdalena Zych, which will take place on June 28 at 6:00 PM. The exhibition will be open for visitors from June 28 to August 3, 2024.
Magdalena Zych's work is deeply rooted in reflections on the relationships between humans and non-humans. Their anatomy and portrait form strikingly resemble the human form, or perhaps it is our anatomy that resembles non-human shapes? This layer of interpretation brings positive thoughts about a future where humanity relinquishes its central position. Throughout history, this human position has developed a symbolism that has permanently defined and established the boundaries between basic categories of being and social norms. Animal symbols have become a metaphorical repertoire where specific species represent certain values or social customs. The dog became a symbol of loyalty - the lion of strength and leadership. What has humanity become a symbol of?
Huge, quivering particles resembling droplets interweave in Magdalena's works, symbolizing the wildness necessary for existence. The interspecies encounter is an attempt to create a bridge between different forms of life. Her works become a chronicle of transformations, blurring the boundaries between the human and non-human. Through non-human portraits, Zych reminds us of the duty to avoid segregation – the greatest limitation. Humans are, after all, part of a network of relationships that should form a community based on mutual responsibility and empathy.
Turning one's head away gives consent to someone else's suffering, causing us to lose – "because we walked indifferently past something when we should have stayed; and it's good that this will not be forgiven" (Marek Hłasko, Dirty Deeds).
Jakub Pojda (exhibition curator)
Magdalena Zych about the exhibition:
In my painting, I seek a connection with the other, building relationships with encountered and imagined beings. This is a form of contemplation for me – I experience and learn through the image, creating new relationships. I accept interdependence and gradually realize the illusion of individualism and independence.By entering into a network of interdependencies, I strive to better understand the other. In my compositions, I explore complex and ambiguous relationships, depicting beings in constant biological movement, flow, and metamorphosis. I want to know them and build a kind of compassion with them, realizing that our meeting is a relationship that will affect both sides. I reject the illusion of cold, enlightened cognition in favor of entanglement in interdependencies, where mutual understanding is never once and for all, but always changes us. My works invite reflection on whether we are ready to meet the other – without control and segregation, but with acceptance of mutuality and mystery.
Please contact me regarding cooperation, shipments and the current offer of paintings.