January 31 - March 21, 2015
Profile Foundation, Franciszkańska 6, Warsaw
Jarosław Kozakiewicz’s Anatomy of Space is a laboratory of forms, their geometry derived from the anatomy of the human body. The multifaceted, irregular solid figures are created by drawing lines connecting the human bodily orifices. Traced in space, the straight lines delineate the edges of the geometric figures/modules. Each module is different, just as every body has a different measure, expressed in different numerical relationships. Geometric solids derived from bodily proportions are informed by the tradition, dating back to classical times, of connections between geometry and the body. In Kozakiewicz’s case, the Vitruvian figure, iconic for this tradition, is transformed and, unlike in Leonardo da Vinci’s drawing, no longer serves as a source of measure and proportion. Kozakiewicz is interested in its relations with the environment, the body’s “opening out” to space, the human being perceived not as a model but as a body in process, connecting to the world via orifices responsible for the various existential functions. In his seemingly abstract solid figures from recent years, their skeletal constructions, growing in space, emerging from the grid of lines connecting the bodily orifices, remain empty, open to the surrounding space, with metal walls present only at points of “contact,” where the structures of two bodies adjoin.
Kozakiewicz, whose practice can be situated at the intersection of the visual arts and architecture, is a sculptor preoccupied with architectural designs. Forms/modules derived from the anatomy of the human body are used by him as sculptural forms as well as architectural modules. A grid line tracing the changing positions of her bodily orifices was transformed into an irregular, sculptural-architectural structure. In his current solid models, in their steel, geometric structures, the artist develops his own grammar of forms, an anatomy of space where the geometry of the body externalizes and grows as successive modules are added. Architecture of the body transforms here into an architecture of space.
The exhibition presents a set of newly made steel spatial forms of various formats in which the human body served as a point of departure and an architectural analogy for thinking about space.
Exhibition curator: Bożena Czubak
Jarosław Kozakiewicz (born 1961 in Białystok) is a sculptor and author of architectural designs. He studied Sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw and continued his education at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York. His artistic practice draws on ecology, genetics, physics, astronomy, and ancient cosmological theories. He represented Poland at the 10th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice. Winner of prestigious awards, e.g. the Stowarzyszenie Krytyków Pokaz prize (2004); the 1st prize in an urban sculpture competition, Stuttgart (2006); or the audience award at the 10th Fellbach Triennial of Contemporary Sculpture (2007). Laureate of numerous architectural awards, e.g. the 1st prize in a competition for the Park of the Reconciliation of Nations facing the former German Nazi concentration camp in Oświęcim (Ghost Bridge design), or a special mention (with ALA Architects) for a design of the Warsaw Museum of Modern Art.
His solo exhibitions have been shown at venues such as the CCA Ujazdowski Castle in Warsaw(2011, 2006, 1999, 1997); Biała Gallery, Lublin; Stary Browar, Poznań (2009); Galeria Arsenał, Białystok (2007, 1999); Zacheta National Art Gallery, Warsaw (2007, 2005, 1998); Centre of Polish Sculpture, Orońsko; Polish Pavilion,10th International Architecture Exhibition, Venice (2006); Academie Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart (2005); Austrian Cultural Forum, Warsaw; Galeria Miejska Arsenał, Poznań (2004);Royal Castle, Warsaw (2003); Alexandre De Folin Gallery, New York (1998).
