"Praise of the shadow II"- a post-residency exhibition of the New Art Space at mia ART GALLERY

1.12 - 13.12.2023 r.

mia ART GALLERY, Plac Solny 11, Wrocław

Artists: Anastazja Palczukiewicz, Tomasz Kawecki, Jakub Leniart

Curators: Bogusław Deptuła, Łukasz Huculak

We would like to invite you to the second instalment of the exhibition "Praise of the Shadow", which is a summary of a two-month artistic residency, which took place in Nowa Ruda Art Space, and its aim was to explore themes and issues related to Nowa Ruda and its surroundings.

The effects of the artists' work will be on display at the mia ART GALLERY in Wrocław.

We move among shadows. Anastasia Palczukiewicz brought her shadow from her native Belarus, but decided to materialise it in the space of Nowa Ruda, as this is a space filled with the shadows of former residents and the presence and history they left behind. Tomasz Kawecki from Krakow, a visual artist and photographer, found numerous shadows in the vicinity of Nowa Ruda, which attracted his attention or which he created himself, inspired by the places in which he found himself. A torch, for example, proved helpful in creating the 'scenery' for his photographs. For Kuba Leniart, the medium of photography was the beginning of his encounter with Nowa Ruda, for example with the silhouette of the church visible from the window of his studio or others, used to create projections that became ghostly sketches for the creation of his new paintings. The shadows of the projections turned into paintings.

Nowa Art Space is located on the premises of the former "Splot" Folk and Artistic Handicraft Cooperative in Nowa Ruda, a small town with a unique historical and industrial charm, situated in the Central Sudetenland (between Kłodzko and Wałbrzych).

Each of the three artists taking part in the residency focused on different issues related to the place where they lived and worked.

Anastasia Palczukiewicz
Belarussian artist of Polish origin, working with various media including sculpture, installation, video and sound. Her artistic practice is based on issues of identity, the formation of which is conditioned by the relationship between the subject and forms of power. She studied at the BAZA Institute of Contemporary Art and Theory and the Rodchenko Moscow Art School, as well as the École Nationale Supérieure d'Arts de Paris-Cergy, among others.

Tomasz Kawecki
Visual artist and photographer. He is a lecturer at the Academy of Photography in
Krakow. He studies at the Institute of Creative Photography in Opava(CZ). His works have been exhibited and published all over the world and have been recognised with awards in the USA, Poland, Japan and Italy, among others.
Tomasz's works are inspired by various manifestations of nature. Using elements of performance and installation, Kawecki's practice explores the boundaries of fiction and reality, resulting in a quasi-documentary outcome.

Jakub Leniart
Graduate of painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Wroclaw. He works in the field of painting and new media. In his work to date, he has attempted a painterly interpretation of the archetype of the seven deadly sins. He is particularly interested in Japanese animation, a humanist approach with elements of hedonism, and draws on the aesthetics of instagram, queer and manga. Finalist of the 45th Biennale of Painting Bielska Jesień, winner of second place in the Attitude competition