Karol Radziszewski

Karol Radziszewski's I Always Wanted To... is a (self-)portrait of the artist that fills an entire exhibition space. Each work constitutes a different attempt by the artist to define his identity. In practical terms, Radziszewski's work is entwined with his biography and person so intensely that the border between the realms of art, privacy and everyday life has disappeared.

The presentation's core consists of photo and film documentation of the artist's family home in Białystok, which the artist fundamentally rearranged for his art school thesis project. The painting project I Trust You focuses on devotional images of Christ with a flaming heart, which are based on the mystical vision of Saint Faustina of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. Radziszewski produced an extensive collection of various versions of this image (oil paintings, devotional pictures, photocopied leaflets), combining these with the video "+/-," which documents the artist's several days' wait for the results of an HIV test. Finally, the exhibition also incorporates a premiere presentation of a film documenting the provocative actions of a fictional gay anarchist group know as the Fag Fighters lurking around Warsaw disguised in pink ski masks.

Karol Radziszewski
I ALWAYS WANTED TO...
painting, video, spatial arrangements, surveillance
Kurator: Stach Szabłowski