The exhibition consists of a site-specific installation prepared for the largest exhibition space at TRAFO. The multi-part work has been created in the DIY method typical of the artist. Using template and quote, Jarodzki rejects the drawing and formal correctness and combines pop-art and conceptual aesthetics with “joyful” provocation. At the same time, the installation I’m walking with a knife through the city documents a number of painting templates created by the artist thus far.
Paweł Jarodzki comments: “The template is a sign. It is a hand impressed by an anonymous artist in a prehistoric cave, a Warhol’s screenprint, a propaganda poster sprayed on the walls in Bacelona during the civil war. It always appears in a hurry. When hot heads put pressure on unskilled hands, it is a sign of our time. A caricature of printing. It is like a stamp on ready-to-ship cases that our civilization is sending into eternity. It is a sign determining the contents of the parcel. It is a synthesis. It proclaims the death of the analytical mind of the old era in favor of the synthetic mind. It says: this is black, and that is white; this is bright, ant that is dark. It appears on the walls of our city at night, like the inscription on the wall of a certain king during a pleasant enough feast.”
In the context of the title of the exhibition at TRAFO, the artist adds: “I created the template – and the title of the exhibition – I’m walking with a knife through the city some time ago.
It was an expression of frustration, determination and disagreement on what was happening around us, on both a local and global scale.
Back then, it seemed a powerful message, perhaps a little abstract and futuristically poetic in our reality.
However, in the context of the recent events, it has suddenly acquired a very sinister and real meaning. As if we were talking about a theoretical wall that existed somewhere far away, but then suddenly, without any warning, we bumped into it with a great force. Although we did not even realize we had been in motion. Suddenly, something that has being talked about, something that could be considered an unjustified fear, has become real.
Currently, the title of the exhibition sounds like it was created under the influence of the tragic circumstances. As if the author accepted the violence and murder, or at least wanted to use them to give the exhibition publicity.
Therefore, my first thought was to change the title and completely cut off from the situation.
However, nothing can be erased and considered as non-existent. Especially now when the reasons for creating the template have become even more obvious. The radicalization of attitudes, insanity, the breaking of the next taboo in the public life, are happening here and now. There is a sense of fear and helplessness. The future has become unpredictable.
I hope this exhibition, under this particular title, provokes discussion or individual reflection on what we have led to, where we are going, and whether we can influence it anyhow. “
Paweł Jarodzki – painter, graphic artist, cartoonist, author of comic books and textbooks for children. Poet and video artist. Born on May 1, 1958 in Wroclaw. He is currently the professor heading the multimedia studio at the Faculty of Painting and Sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Wrocław. For many years, he was a curator at BWA Awangarda in Wrocław. The actual leader and co-founder of the group Luxus. For a number of years, his work has been closely related to the group’s activity. Since 1984, the group has participated in exhibitions and held a number of actions. Its characteristic aesthetics influenced the shape of the artistic scene of Wrocław. The most active period of the group’s activity was in the years 1984-1988. In 2014, the publishing house Korporacja Ha!art published Paweł Jarodzki’s book Kompletna historia wszechświata ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem Polski (The Complete History of the Universe with a Special Focus on Poland).
photo: Anastazja Jarodzka