Warsaw’s Kasia Michalski Gallery is currently staging Agnieszka Polska’s exhibition “Cuckoo,” featuring the video and centerpiece My Little Planet (2016), presented in Poland for the first time.
“Cuckoo”—which explores the normalization of constant fear ensued by late capitalist societies through a poetic and humorous lens—also features a set of collages on photographic paper and prints on textile.
My Little Planet (2016) is a symbolic narrative of a society where time is measured by the rotation of daily objects around the planet, such as a Marlboro cigarette butt, a bottle cap, and sticking plaster. The film highlights the banality of norms and regulations forced upon society.
Visitors, however, must walk through another of Polska’s works first, Słonko (The Little Sun), to watch the film. The curtains, with Polska’s prints on textile, refer to a children’s poem by the realist writer, Maria Konopnicka.
The exhibition also features new graphic works by the Polish artist, titled Bitter Tears of Ayn Rand 1 and 2 (2017), which directly refer to the intellectual figure.
While working on the piece, Polska had a surrealist vision of Ayn Rand crying colorful tears that fall on her books, after being overcome with regret over her texts and their repercussions.
Polska, born in 1985 in Lublin, has a multimedia practice which often draws from found materials and historical imagery. Much of her work re-appropriates and creates new possible contexts for historical narratives. If you can’t make it to Warsaw, be sure to look out for her work the 57th Venice Biennale this May, in Christine Macel’s curated show “Viva Arte Viva.”
Agnieszka Polska, “Cuckoo” is on view at Kasia Michalski Gallery, Warsaw, from January 19 – March 23, 2017.