Archiwalna

ADAM JASTRZEBSKI – Biogenesis

22.06.2012 – 23.08.2012

Arsenał Gallery, ul A. Mickiewicza 2, Białystok

Adam Jastrzębski. BIOGENESIS

The exhibition of Adam Jastrzębski sums up the artist’s work of the past few years, created under the pseudonyms Adam-X and Ixi Color. Jastrzębski’s performances, initially street art interventions in public space, urban actions and discrete ephemeral gestures, made use of elementary sculpture forms as a starting point for the construction of painting compositions. In 2002 Jastrzębski began a project aiming at creating a painting tool that would allow a speedy execution of unique paintings out of ready-made components. It was conceived as a set of paper stickers, a never-ending edition of a few dozen recurrent forms that later began to be used as sticker tags. All the elements were designed in a way that allowed their treatment as building blocks to be combined in a single structure, initially resembling a rhizome. Gradually, the artist’s activities shifted into the realm of artistic pursuits and reflections on the evolution of form. The expansion of artistic beings, the key to which Jastrzębski hopes to find in the philosophy of nature and scientific (biological and mathematical) research, led to the creation of finished painting and spatial objects. With the aid of a rational and analytic methodology borrowed from the exact sciences, the artist developed his own theory and practice in the realm of visual arts. For a few years he has been involved in the creation of more complex works, a cross-breed between a dictionary of art forms and a grand narrative on the issues of style, form and colour. The power of Jastrzębski’s art lies, among others, in the theoretical underpinnings of the works that precede them and in the precision of their execution. It moreover arises from the visual and psychedelic properties of the works, which have a marked spiritual tilt.

The eponymous Biogenesis, or the genesis of life, addresses primarily the question of the birth of form seen as an organic being with a specific genetic code, living an autonomous life, which is subject to the laws of evolution. Form is, then, capable of development, multiplication and reaction to the outside world. Subject to the passage of time, it is likewise subject to changes, including genetic transformations, which may as a consequence change it into a new being. Apart from the aspects of heredity and changeability of beings, in his work Jastrzębski analyses the fundamental questions of image construction. He delves into proportions, contrasts, colours, and scale. The artist’s compositions take the form of large-size abstractions of refined colours, created with the use of various art techniques either directly on walls, or avoiding contact with the walls (The Vinyls). The other works take the form of small paintings, or even “miniatures”, as in the case of unique books.

The show in Arsenał Gallery consists of the following works: Octopus Style, The Vinyl, Vinylogos, Peas and Carrots, and an installation composed of a few thousand colourful balls. Octopus Style is made up of two unique books on the changeability of form, displayed on screens in the form of movies, and a “cloud of elements” on a giant table; the cloud can potentially contribute to the creation of constellations of new works. Octopus Style is based on a series of motifs designed by Jastrzębski and subsequently transformed into samples, with infinite possibilities of constructing and combining ever new modules. The most recent monochromatic Vinyl, displayed on a Plexiglas wall, was made on the basis of a repository of elements for the construction of bigger formal structures. Vinylogos is a language which functions as a code. The monumental painting installation titled Peas and Carrots, with the use of colourful foil, addresses the phenomenon of the birth of form. The dictionary consists of a couple of elements “peas” and “carrots” and a “grammar”, i.e. the proportion in which they occur, randomly scattered, within the painting.

Adam Jastrzębski, b. in 1980 in Płock. Studied art history at Warsaw University. Between 2003–2008, under the pseudonym Adam-X, he created a series of projects in public space, mainly murals and street tags. Since 2004 he has been until now tied with Warsaw-based street art, e.g. with the authors of vlepvnet, an online portal about street art. Since 2008 under the pseudonym Ixi Color he has made a number of ephemeral interventions projects in public space, often coupled with performances. He is also active in the areas of video, photography and net art projects. Major solo shows and projects under the pseudonym Ixi Color: Vinylogos, BWA Zielona Góra (2011); Peas and Carrots, [v]iuro Gallery, Warsaw (2009); The Spiritual Hierarchies, Ikona Gallery, Łódź (2009); Ixi Color skleja rzeczy, Halo Galeria, Olsztyn (2008); The Artist Previously Known as Adam-X, Chłodna 25 Club, Warsaw (2008). Under the pseudonym Adam-X: Stil der Kraken, Zero Gallery, Berlin (2007); The Power of Formalism, Muzeum Sztuki, Łódź (2007); The Memory of This Moment From the Distance of Years, Schindler Factory, Kraków (2007); Multi-way Street, Muzeum Sztuki, Łódź (2007); Miron Białoszewski trzyma się kupy konstrukcyjnej, Chłodna 25 Club, Warsaw (2006). The artist lives and works in Warsaw.