SomoS presents the solo exhibition Schief und Vergänglich (Crooked and ephemeral) by Monika Zarzeczna, featuring sculptures and drawings that invite us to reflect on temporality and sustainability. The New York-based Dutch-Polish artist produced the exhibition during a sojourn in Berlin as Artist-in-Residence at SomoS.

“Not interested in adding to our mess,” the artist programmatically uses locally-sourced cardboard in her sculptures, deconstructing and reconstructing it into abstract shapes, painted in a coherent palette of muted colors that betray her background in painting. The array of sculptures hints at mysterious potential functions while never truly disclosing their secrets.

Centered on her interest in chance, the sculptures stem from the idea that the materials have their own natural behavior, leading Zarzeczna to explore how they interact with their spatial environment; hanging, leaning or sagging.

Zarzeczna is interested in temporality, in the “trans-state of objects, a misunderstood idea, a partially gone memory, an object with a lost purpose,” a state related to her standing in the midst of cultures as an immigrant. As the artist states, “perhaps these sculptures function in a way that is not initially intended but reveal a certain beauty, a newness.”

Recycling is a constant aspect of Monika Zarzeczna’s work. For Schief und Vergänglich, she has explored the Berlin-Neukölln neighborhood where abandoned objects can be found anywhere, gathering reusable materials. The recycled cardboard sculptures in Schief und Vergänglich reflect local lifestyles and consumer behavior. However, we not only find references to past utility and the surrounding area in the works but also faint echoes from art history, such as Robert Morris’s interest in sagging shapes, or Bauhaus’ flat colors, their surfaces faded and corroded like past ideologies, ready to be recycled.

About Monika Zarzeczna

Monika Zarzeczna is a Dutch–Polish artist based in New York, working predominantly in sculpture and installation. She attended the School of Visual Arts Utrecht and the Amsterdam School of Fine Arts, receiving her BFA in painting and BA in Visual Arts Education. Her work has been shown in the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Slovakia, and the United States at venues including Museum Perron Oost (Amsterdam), Sculpture Center (New York), David Castillo Gallery (Miami), and the Spencer Brownstone Gallery (New York).

Program: Improvisational Performance by Anna Deborah Disse

During the opening reception, on Thursday 19^th January 2023, at 7:30 pm, Anna Deborah Disse will conduct an improvisational performance that creates a conversation with the exhibited sculptures.

The Berlin-based dancer and performer’s research focuses on the dancing body exploring emotionally driven states in connection to the breath, voice, and imagination. Together with their dance collective dajci*, they explore methods of active listening, constant questioning, and radical care.

Anna creates movement that manifests an expansion of amorphous forms, viewing this expansion as an act of feminism, stating, “I invite the moving body to listen. With all my sensorial pores. The collaboration between my inside and the outside space composes a continuous flow of instantaneity.”

Details

Opening reception: Thursday, January 19^th 2023, 6-9 pm, with an improvisational performance by Anna Deborah Disse at 7:30 pm

Exhibition: 20^th-28^th of January 2023, 2-7 pm (Tue-Sa)

Location: SomoS Arts – Kottbusser Damm 95, 1.0G, 10967, Berlin
Public Transport: U8 – Schönleinstraße, ext. Schinkestrasse

Entry is, as always, free

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