Joanna Krzysztoń & Grzegorz Rogala

Interpretations

The basis of today's visual culture probably comes from the widespread use of photography. This is especially the case now in the era of digital recording and transformation of images. It has long been stated that photography is not just a record of reality. It leaves traces but at the same time it deceives us and sometimes misleads us. Sometimes it is not an objective witness, but a means of supporting our vision of the world. Some artists try to reveal these hidden features of photography, subject them to new readings and shift the meanings and narratives of given shots.

Joanna Krzysztoń and Grzegorz Rogala, working in the field of visual arts, expand the scope of discussion on the photographic medium. In the series "Mothers, Sisters, Fathers" by Grzegorz Rogala, at first glance everything seems to be in its place. The artist reaches for archival photographs, but after the first encounter with them we realize that these are not simply old photos taken from a family album. They have been processed, used to create something new. The boundaries of what was are blurred in them, simple chronology begins to lose meaning. Scenes superimposed on each other disrupt the pattern of what came before and what came later. This makes us anxious. Looking at these photos we have an unstable sense of time and it triggers in us the need to reach for our own feelings and experiences. It is a kind of "being outside of time". Extracting such experiences by creating new images based on those from the past confirms further possibilities of photography functioning in the modern world.

In another series, Grzegorz Rogala reaches for old, damaged daguerreotypes and uses a process similar to extracting the so-called latent image in photography (i.e. developing the exposed material). However, to develop, or rather recall, the image captured by this one of the oldest photographic techniques, he uses the latest artificial intelligence algorithms. He also uses the original descriptions attached to the daguerreotypes destroyed by the passage of time. He accepts or transforms the obtained image at his own discretion, while maintaining its character close to the original.

Another project is the use of paintings traditionally painted on canvas by Joanna Krzysztoń to create various types of installations (including interactive ones). A series of her eleven small abstract canvases has been processed. The algorithm was instructed to search the painted abstractions for landscapes or still lifes, i.e. traditional painting themes from the history of art. The style of the old daguerreotype was also imposed. And so a series of large digital prints was created. Modern technology has produced dreamlike and hallucinogenic images in a nostalgic convention, similar to that which characterized Grzegorz's processed old daguerreotypes. "The world extracted from abstract paintings is visibly unreal and unspoken, but nevertheless has its own unique poetic expression" - as Joanna wrote in the commentary to this series.

Photography, which is the basis of visual experiments and explorations, will, through its ambivalence and diversity, increasingly expand the area of ​​possibilities of using new technologies in contemporary art. The latest works by Joanna Krzysztoń and Grzegorz Rogala brilliantly implement these trends.

Marek Grygiel, Warsaw, 27.06.2024

Joanna Krzysztoń

She studied at the Faculty of Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw (diploma with distinction in 1978, work by Prof. J Tarasin). In the years 1978-1981 she was a member of the experimental theatre "Akademia Ruchu". In the 1990s she collaborated with magazines devoted to interior design as a stylist. In 2007 and 2020 she received a scholarship from the Ministry of Art and National Heritage. For almost eight years she co-ran the alternative gallery 2b+ R on Bukowińska Street in Warsaw (together with Grzegorz Rogala, Klara Kopcińska and Józef Żuk Piwkowski). Since graduation, painting has remained the main stream of her work. In recent years, together with her husband Grzegorz Rogala, she has been creating interactive installations combining Joanna's painting with computer effects, they have been exhibited at several joint exhibitions in Poland and abroad (Great Britain, France, Romania). Two installations, of which they are the authors: "Music for the Park" and "Antipodes" found their place in the CRP park in Orońsko. From 2011 to 2020 she taught painting classes at the Higher School of Applied Information Technology in Warsaw at the Faculty of Graphics (currently WIT Academy). She has over forty individual exhibitions in Poland and abroad.

Grzegorz Rogala

In the years 1976-1981 he studied at the cinematography department of the National Film School in Łódź. He was a member of the S.F.P., ZPAP. Since 1988 he has run the "Studio Rogala", dealing with film production and post-production. He has realized or participated in the realization of approx. 800 film and advertising projects. In 1996 he was honored with the "Crackfilm" computer animation award, Kraków. For 23 years he has been actively involved in film, photography and interactive art. Works in the collections of the National Museum in Warsaw, the National Museum in Gdańsk, as well as in private collections in France, New Zealand, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland. Since 2007 he has run, together with Józek Piwkowski, the 2b+r gallery in Warsaw. Author of award-winning and distinguished at international festivals films and interactive installations: for the film "Linia" 1st prize at the Munich Film Festival, for the film "Podniesienie" distinction at the Bombay Film Festival, India, for the interactive installation "Chopin" 1st prize at the Cho-Ping media festival, Zachęta, Warsaw. For the installation "Traces" award at the festival in Novi Sad, Serbia. He has created several virtual scenography for the Chamber Opera in Warsaw. He has participated in dozens of individual and collective exhibitions. Since 2010 he has been teaching multimedia techniques at WIT according to his own program. Doctorate in intermedia at the UAP in Poznań in 2014.

Exhibition Availability

Ludwik Zamenhof Centre; 19 Warszawska Street; 27.09-20.10.2024; Tues.-Monday, 10:00-17:00