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Agata Słowak + Aleksandra Waliszewska "A Marriage of Heaven and Hell"
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Agata Słowak, Aleksandra Waliszewska
This is Blum Tokyo's debut exhibition with Agata Słowak and Aleksandra Waliszewska, A Marriage of Heaven and Hell. Opening on March 23, 2024, it will be both artists’ first exhibition in Asia and has been organized by curator Alison M. Gingeras.
Riffing on the title of William Blake’s visionary poem, this exhibition presents a metaphorical “marriage” between the work of two artists whose paintings are steeped in apocalyptic imagery and conjure radical evocations of the human condition. Echoing Blake’s questioning of received ideas about the opposition of good and evil and the extolling of the vital interconnectedness of both forces, Słowak and Waliszewska create transgressive visual narrations that foreground strong female protagonists who navigate highly symbolic scenarios. Their heroines are almost always toggled between conflicting pulsions—sex and death, love and anxiety, repulsion and desire—as if trapped in some amoral fairytale. Animals and monsters often populate their tableaux, taking on anthropomorphic qualities rooted in Old Master iconographies, including the vivid engravings Blake made to illustrate his verse.
Despite hailing from different generations, both artists who live and work in Warsaw base their practice on their art's historical erudition and a deep commitment to figurative painting and traditional techniques. The Tokyo exhibition will include a selection of new oil paintings by both artists as well as a suite of gouache-on-paper works by Waliszewska.
Riffing on the title of William Blake’s visionary poem, this exhibition presents a metaphorical “marriage” between the work of two artists whose paintings are steeped in apocalyptic imagery and conjure radical evocations of the human condition. Echoing Blake’s questioning of received ideas about the opposition of good and evil and the extolling of the vital interconnectedness of both forces, Słowak and Waliszewska create transgressive visual narrations that foreground strong female protagonists who navigate highly symbolic scenarios. Their heroines are almost always toggled between conflicting pulsions—sex and death, love and anxiety, repulsion and desire—as if trapped in some amoral fairytale. Animals and monsters often populate their tableaux, taking on anthropomorphic qualities rooted in Old Master iconographies, including the vivid engravings Blake made to illustrate his verse.
Despite hailing from different generations, both artists who live and work in Warsaw base their practice on their art's historical erudition and a deep commitment to figurative painting and traditional techniques. The Tokyo exhibition will include a selection of new oil paintings by both artists as well as a suite of gouache-on-paper works by Waliszewska.
Schedule | Mar 23 (Sat) 2024-May 2 (Thu) 2024 Opening Hours Information
Opening Reception Mar 23 (Sat) 2024 17:00 - 19:00 | ||||
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| Fee | Free | ||||
| Website | https://blum-gallery.com/exhibitions/a_marriage_of_heaven_and_hell | ||||
| Venue | Blum https://blum-gallery.com/ | ||||
| Location | 5F Harajuku Jingu-no-mori, 1-14-34 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku , Tokyo 150-0001 | ||||
| Access | 1 minute walk from the Takeshita exit of Harajuku Station on the JR Yamanote line, 2 minute walk from exit 2 at Meiji-jingumae Station on the Chiyoda and Fukutoshin lines. | ||||
| Phone | 03-3475-1631 | ||||
| Related images | Click on the image to enlarge it |
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