The book based around the exhibition Jonathan Meese & Michał Jankowski Freedom to Freedom presented at TRAFO at the turn of 2023/24. Illustrated with rich visual documentation of the show, the publication features texts by curators Dagmar Schmengler, Michał Markiewicz and Stanisław Ruksza, as well as Daniel Richter’s statements about the artists made during the panel discussion accompanying the show.
In a sub-cultural style, two artists symbolically enter the boxing ring at TRAFO in Szczecin to stage a battle of paintings together. In and around the installation simulating a confrontation, there is a clearly perceptible exchange of energy between the art tools used – it flattens pompous political and cultural hierarchies to the limits of absurdity, cutting through social games of classes, values and identities. The intersecting works of Berlin-based Jonathan Meese and Zielona-Góra-born Michał Jankowski are complemented by non-artistic artefacts and visual commentaries on their multi-layered conceptualizations.
