HONZA ZAMOJSKI – New Drawings, Portraits and a Poem

Like a bad student, Honza Zamojski’s work appears to be poking fun at the teacher, even the classroom itself. Indeed, his exhibition, New Drawings, Portraits and a Poem, encapsulates the attempts, frustrations and humor in art-making through a number of perspectives. Zamojski pulls aparts references and figures that constitute an “anxiety of influence,” intervening into historic and iconic images with cartoon figures and crude representations. These influences span subjects from art history and religion, to science and pop culture, which all are leveled out through Zamojski’s comical depictions. The idea of being an artist can be just as important as the work, and Zamojski makes this process transparent.

The exhibition structure itself reveals Zamojski’s process throughout different sections, illustrating the construction of an image through various sources and sketches, which are edited and reconstructed to create the “final” result. The works become characters, creating an invented taxonomy and system of images. In addition a poem in the exhibition space provides further entry into the thought process of the artist, mostly including doubts and insecurities.  Much of the sources for the work aren’t evident in the end product, but they aren’t entirely superfluous either. For Zamojski, the lines between his own work, other artists’ works, inner lives, the beginning of a work, and the completion of a work are all intertwined. The full drama of “being an artist” is played out in many forms throughout the exhibition.  Zamojski defies the myth of the artist by playing with and parodying the construction of this role. However, the exhibition isn’t cynical, in fact, the possibility of sincerity actually emerges through Zamojski’s examination of artistic practice in its entirety.

Ruba Katrib