Agnieszka Brzeżańska

Agnieszka Brzeżańska, SOVEREIGN AVATAR, 2014, courtesy Agnieszka Brzeżańska; NANZUKA, Tokyo, photo: Keizo Kioku

Trained as a painter, Agnieszka Brzeżańska cuts, sculpts, draws, prints, films, shoots photos, takes screenshots, and creates YouTube playlists. She also casts spells.

In the series Kobayashi Maru, first shown in 2014, the artist refers to an unsolvable training exercise from the TV series Star Trek that was designed for the Starfleet Academy to test psychological responses to failure—an exercise that Captain Kirk solves through hacking the system. Brzeżańska uses acrylic on fiberboard in combination with inkjet prints and metal leaf on glass to arrive at an eclectic, energy-filled whole. Geometric constellations placed in the center of each composition obscure photographic images underneath. Sourced from the news, the photos reveal disturbing scenes of contemporary wars and ecological catastrophes, each forming an ominous frame for the central image, be it rays of sunlight or a neoplastic-looking composition.

Brzeżańska couples these ten collages with a TV screen painted over with a smiley face; the three small holes reveal but frag- ments of a live news broadcast. The title of this last work can be read as an imperative: Watch.

And if you are disturbed by what you see, remember Captain Kirk.

—Magdalena Moskalewicz

    Venue:
  • Akademie der Künste

LIST OF WORKS

From the series Kobayashi Maru, 2014:

COLLAPSED TIMELINES, 2014
Acrylic paint on MDF board, metal leaf, inkjet print on archival paper
Private collection

DREAMTIME DEFENDERS, 2014
Acrylic paint on MDF board, metal leaf, inkjet print on archival paper
Private collection

FIRST SPARK, 2014
Acrylic paint on MDF board, metal leaf, inkjet print on archival paper
Courtesy Agnieszka Brzeżańska; NANZUKA, Tokyo

INTERDIMENSIONAL MERCENARIES, 2014
Acrylic paint on MDF board, metal leaf, inkjet print on archival paper
Private collection

NO MAGIC JUST MIRACLES, 2014
Acrylic paint on MDF board, metal leaf, inkjet print on archival paper
Courtesy Agnieszka Brzeżańska; NANZUKA, Tokyo

QUARANTINE GRID, 2014
Acrylic paint on MDF board, metal leaf, inkjet print on archival paper
Courtesy Agnieszka Brzeżańska; NANZUKA, Tokyo

RESISTANCE OF FREE EARTH, 2014
Acrylic paint on MDF board, metal leaf, inkjet print on archival paper
Collection Satoshi Shiraki & Michiyo Kamata

SOFT DISCLOSURE, 2014
Acrylic paint on MDF board, metal leaf, inkjet print on archival paper
Private collection

SOVEREIGN AVATAR, 2014
Acrylic paint on MDF board, metal leaf, inkjet print on archival paper
Private collection

VEILS OF ILLUSION, 2014
Acrylic paint on MDF board, metal leaf, inkjet print on archival paper
Courtesy Agnieszka Brzeżańska; NANZUKA, Tokyo

Watch, 2014–16
Metal leaf, monitor, live TV news channel
Courtesy Agnieszka Brzeżańska

All works with the support of Adam Mickiewicz Institute