RAFAŁ DOMINIK – Black Mesa

The intense and formally varied works by Rafał Dominik are situated in a very different domain than Gizela Mickiewicz’s restrained sculptures. Yet despite their many differences, and despite the two artists’ differing approach to artistic substance, their exhibitions at the Arsenal Gallery have not been conceived as parallel by accident.

 

The works by Rafał Dominik are an explosion of colour, an attempt at capturing emotions, a sketch of feelings shown through a broad variety of techniques, materials and artistic approaches. Dominik is inspired by popular culture, by exquisitely designed shop windows, by mundane objects found by accident or acquired over the Internet. The artist finds it easy to make use of the vast resources of popular culture and of all kinds of technological innovations. Yet, in spite of his considerable nonchalance, he does not fall into exaggeration. It would be certainly unjustified and reductive to perceive his art as an ordinary exploration of the realm of kitsch. Dominik makes many small transgressions; he uses a large variety of solutions, including simple ones, which nevertheless enable him to create objects that seem to be very advanced technologically.

Gizela Mickiewicz is currently working on a cycle of sculptures made of materials that have been invented and patented in the course of the last few decades. So far, none of these materials has been used to any greater extent, for instance in industry. Materials obtained as a result of laboratory experiments have unique physical properties, but their practical potential remains unexploited. Mickiewicz uses them in order to create peculiar sculpted self-portraits. The form of her works constitutes a sublimation of the properties of the given material, such as considerable lightness coupled with resistance, plasticity coupled with durability. At the level of meanings, her subtle and formally refined works of art are surprising indeed. Materials fashioned into the forms of minimalist works of art do not evoke concrete associations, because they cannot be referred to any practical purpose known from real life. What the viewer encounters is a semantic enigma in a sculptural form.

The works by Dominik and Mickiewicz demonstrate various manners and aims of exploiting innovative technologies or materials with advanced properties. At the same time, both artists consider the classic issues in art, such as the form of a work of art or material of which it is made, to be fundamental. History of art knows many examples of artists’ making use of technology and scientists’ parallel interest in their efforts. A case in point is the Experiment in Art and Technologies project carried out at the Bell Telephone laboratory, in which Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol, Jean Tinguely and other artists took part. The aim of experiments carried out in the 1960s and 1970s was not only to aid artists in their creative investigations, but also to acquaint the society with transformations fuelled by technology. Examination of the output of those contemporary artists who exploit the potential of both the obscure and the popular modern technologies and newly invented materials gives rise to a number of questions as to the inclusiveness of the language of art and its assimilative capabilities.

 

Rafał Dominik, b. 1985 in Warsaw, graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw in 2009, receiving his Master’s diploma in Leon Tarasewicz’s atelier. He is the founder and lead singer of the Galactics band. He was active in the Czosnek Studio collective making designs for cultural institutions and business companies. He attempts to integrate art into everyday life. Apart from practising the traditional branches of art such as painting or drawing, he is involved in designing computer games, mobile apps and others. He makes use of technological innovations to produce works from scripts based on films or science-fiction stories which function in the collective imagination. He applies materials which create an aura of modernity, but which at the same time are easily obtainable and familiar. From those materials he creates objects aimed at stimulating recipients who have diverse cultural competences and activating their imagination and its assimilative capabilities.

 

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Rafał Dominik, b. 1985 in Warsaw, graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw in 2009, receiving his Master’s diploma in Leon Tarasewicz’s atelier. He is the founder and lead singer of the Galactics band. He was active in the Czosnek Studio collective making designs for cultural institutions and business companies. He attempts to integrate art into everyday life. Apart from practising the traditional branches of art such as painting or drawing, he is involved in designing computer games, mobile apps and others. He makes use of technological innovations to produce works from scripts based on films or science-fiction stories which function in the collective imagination. He applies materials which create an aura of modernity, but which at the same time are easily obtainable and familiar. From those materials he creates objects aimed at stimulating recipients who have diverse cultural competences and activating their imagination.

 

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12 March, 11.00 – a guided tour of the exhibition with an exhibition curator and artists

 

The event will be adapted to the needs of hearing impaired or deaf people.

 

Interpreted by: Justyna Nowosadko

 

Admission is free.