Michał Martychowiec
born in 1987 in Lublin, lives in London, the UK.
www.michalmartychowiec.com
Awake and Dream. Documentation (2009)
video and photography
An exhibition at the PATIO Art Center, Library Gallery, 26 Sterlinga Street
www.patio.art.pl
At the end of the Awake and Dream exhibition, inaugurated on 21 May 2009, the Signum Foundation presents a sort of a Post Scriptum in the form of documentation by Michał Martychowiec.
The artist took part in the Awake and Dream, presenting the Destination: The Magic Mountain series.
A new series, Awake and Dream. Documentation. was created on request of the foundation during artist’s studio stay in Palazzo Donà in June 2009. It is a visual history of the Palazzo and its recent transformation from a private estate into an amazing exhibition space: not a museum, but rather a space inhabited by art, where guests are welcome, even in the kitchen.
Documentation by Michał Martychowiec is an homage to Palazzo Donà, an attempt to discover the place anew as a treasure hidden in the shadow and glamour of Venice. The artist seems to be overwhelmed (or maybe charmed), just as if the monumental door of the gothic palace never revealed its interior to the fullest. A specific kind of close-ups, a bit unclear and indecisive, made of fragments of depicted objects and spaces, seem to be documenting not only the exhibition but also a secret hidden from our eyes.
The series by Michał Martychowiec fits among the traces left by former owners and objects of contemporary art, dedicated to the idea of desire in all of its disguises, and adds new content to the multi-layer history of Palazzo Donà. Places, people and items become another narrative element of the course of the unfolding history.
Thirty nine photos and 5 films of Awake and Dream. Documentation. were implemented into the initial exhibition. An amazing documentation seems to be an irresistible attempt of the photographer to face each passing moment by calling upon infinity.
In April 2010, the documentation will accompany the 2nd edition of Art and Documentation Festival in Łódź.
