09-402 Płock
Presentation of three new works by Grzegorz Rogala, Leigh Singer and Victoria Sara Davis — a combination of artistic installations and the art of visual essay
The multimedia exhibition features three works by Leigh Singer, Victoria Davis (Szymańska) and Grzegorz Rogala created specifically for the ongoing project “Stories. The World Is More Complicated Than Our Truths About It”. These works refer to the oeuvre of the Themersons through both the medium of the moving image and their content. The Themersons were the pioneers of the avant-garde cinema in Poland and are counted among the forefront of the European avant-garde of the 1930s and 1940s. Leigh Singer’s video essay discusses the Themersons’ films in the context of their time and continuation of their ideas. Victoria Davis, the director and script writer of the documentary “Themerson & Themerson” (2010) will be presenting a multi-channel video installation, the source material of which will be the unused footage of the film she worked on for 6 years, enriched with with new shots, soundtrack and commentary. Grzegorz Rogala will be showing an interactive installation generated with the participation of the viewer, presenting two artistic personalities — a female one and a male one (vide Franciszka and Stefan) — two individual paths that merge into one, maintaining their indvidual character at the same time. The work makes use of the operation of artificial intelligence, honouring the Themerson’s praise of chance.
The exhibition poses the following question: What could the Themersons’ work look like in the 21st century?
The exhibition will be accompanied by two interactive installations by Grzegorz Rogala and painter Joanna Krzysztoń.
The exhibition is curated by Małgorzata Sady.
Małgorzata Sady writes and talks about film, art and literature, translates, photographs, paints, and creates sound spaces. She works on documentaries and animated films and lectures at the Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology in Warsaw. Since the late 1970s, as a curator, translator and author of artistic projects, she has been cooperating with art centres, film studios, universities, theatres, performance art and film festivals in Poland and on all continents. Author of numerous translations in the field of contemporary art, literature, philosophy and history (Wittgenstein, Russell, Themerson, Czechowicz, Poświatowska and others). Two-time scholarship holder of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. Curator of the Themersons’ permanent exhibition at the Mazovian Museum in Płock. Since 2002, she has been publishing Themersons’ Scattered Works in her publishing house “Gaberbocchus in Poland”. She has been collaborating with the Themerson Festival in Płock since its inception. The work of this extraordinary pair of artists was the subject of many of her lectures, presentations, exhibitions and publications in Poland, Japan, Israel, Belarus, Switzerland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Australia, Great Britain, Ireland, Sweden and others. Currently, she is implementing a one-year project financed by the Culture Program — EEA Funds, inspired by the work of the Themersons, and is finishing work on the biography of Franciszka and Stefan, with whom she was friends for the last 10 years of their lives.
She leads a nomadic lifestyle in search of universal values and beauty.