Hi… :-)
Our names are Kamila and Marcelina, we created Turnus when we were art students - as an artistic and curatorial group -
at the beginning of 2020. It basically came from our need to do something and be able to join the art world on our terms.
Our practice is focused on togetherness - we believe that art thrives in social and playful settings - that’s why our gallery
is located above the cafe, where amazing events are happening everyday, from chess tournaments to poetry readings, with bingo and cartoon screenings. The main focus of Turnus is exploring different ways of collaboration, by connecting artists and their practices, in every form we can think of - because the goal is to try how our world would be without the idols…
We exhibited dozens of photographers on a big table in a park, builded more walls to fit more people in our gallery
on Wolska and created sculptures that were literal platforms for other artworks. This time we would like to invite You
for a walk around parks, parkings and squares, a beautiful sight recalled by Ant Łakomsk and Piotrek Kowalski.
postcard from the sidewalk
Łakomsk (b. 2001), though a painter, is not confined by the medium. Rather than attempting to deconstruct it, she enjoys meandering across its platitudes. Clichés, metaphors, and their often-wry reinterpretations are her source of inspiration.
Kowalski (b. 1997) creates sculptures that look almost like pieces from a science exhibition. He combines post-construction elements with carefully crafted elements looking like they were found on the street (but they are actually made from scratch) to study the intersection of city and nature and the influence of infrastructure on human behavior.
This is the very beginning of the story - it gets more and more mundane and the stories are like memories You never
get to remember. Combining these two, opposite aesthetics is a way of exploring the universal language of presented pieces. Both artists explore completely different, very particular aesthetics, even their own image, but with the intention of revisioning common known references. Though they’re not the same at all, somehow they unknowingly share the same sights. The idea is to create a versatile landscape, made out of differing, individual expressions and the question is how they can complement each other.
Ant Łakomsk’s most recent paintings are quiet oil landscapes depicting seemingly familiar sceneries. Unexpected details subtly disrupt their casualness; the scene morphing into outlines of shadow figures, fading into afterimages. Piotr Kowalski’s works stand around and before the paintings, adding to the impression of this dimmed landscape. The muddy coating on the slim metalworks somehow looks mesmerizing now.
The spirit of unexpected encounters aligns Ant Łakomsk and Piotr Kowalski with Turnus’ focus on creating exhibitions
as a platform for artistic exploration, unconventional collaborations, and sociability*. At Paris Internationale, we are showcasing two new series of these artists, creating a landscape, a postcard from Poland, further playing with yet another cliché of blurring the lines between art and reality.
*sociability - for us, art and the curatorial practice should focus more on the relationship with the viewer, in our gallery program - allowing the audience to engage easily with art by appealing to common nostalgias and expanding the show with ephemeral and welcoming events (like feasts and discussions)
turnustwojegozycia@gmail.com
www.turnus.fun