24.07 - 13.09.2020
Kasia Bielska. Bodies Unaligned
Address: IFF Gallery, Racławicka St 99, Fort Mokotów, Building 6
Opens: 24 July 2020 (Friday), 4:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Opening hours: Wednesday to Friday 2:00 PM – 6:00 PM, Saturdays 12:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Guided visits with the artist and curator: 25 July, 22 August, 12 September at 1:00 PM (Limited availability. Tickets can be purchased at http://sklep-iff.pl)
Price per ticket between 25.07.2020 – 13.09.2020: 7 zł
Exhibition curator: Krzysztof Miękus
There is a broken line going down my palm that runs along all the way to the tips of my fingers and the spaces in-between. It’s like the pathways running through maps of mountainous regions. It’s the seam that holds me together. First, I created the bond and then I gave it meaning. The gesture wasn’t planned at all.
When working with the Lowen method, the body is subject to constant observation. The key is not in what I say but in what I do with my body. My movements and the emotions they contain.
I trust my body. It doesn’t allow itself to be fooled.
I became aware, recently, of the parallel between me as a photographer - observing the body that is my subject - and me as a subject of therapy - where I am, myself, the subject of observation and where the emotions coded in the movements of my body are analyzed.
I put a casting call up on Instagram. I set just two conditions. First, I wanted brutal honesty. Second, I didn’t want any professional models because this would take away from the realness. As I shot the images, I looked for the moments when the body hovers between gestures, out of position, out of order. The body as it moves from one pose just before it shifts into the next. It’s in these moments that the body reveals its beauty, with all its vulnerability.
The photograph of my father’s hand is the last one I took of him. I have no idea if it’s a good picture or not, but that isn’t the point.
The exhibition presents 37 photographs taken between 2016-2020, with the main pillar of the exhibition focussed on photographs taken by the artist over the first few months of 2020. Among the 60 individuals who answered Kasia Bielska’s casting call on Instagram, she chose ten and invited them to take part in an honest and intimate photo session.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Kasia Bielska is a graduate of the Cinematography Department at the Lodz Film School. She was born in Warsaw and lives and works there today. After graduating, she won a number of prestitious photography competitions, including the Sony World Photography Awards in the category of ‘Contemporary Issue’. She was a finalist in the Adobe Design Achievement Awards, as well as the Viva Photo Awards in the ‘Beauty’ category. She won the Golden Sword award for commercial photography from the Polish Club of Advertising Creators (KRT) three times: in 2014, 2015, and 2018. As a finalist of the New York Photo Awards, she spent a year in New York, working on commissions for the Pratt Institute, Lab Magazine, Nylon, Founders & Followers, Gods Magazine, IMG Models and others. Kasia Bielska’s work has been featured as part of the World Photography Festival in London and at Riga Photomonth. Bielska’s minimalist approach to form and her subtle sensibility to fashion photography places her work at the intersection of commercial photography and art.
WORKSHOPS WITH KASIA BIELSKA
The Fort Institute of Photography invites to take part in photography fashion workshops with the artist throughout the month of September.
These workshops are organised in cooperation with the Fashion Designer Awards, based on an innovative formula whereby participants and finalists are brought together in ten designer-photographer duos. Over two weeks, the duos carve out a fashion photo shoot concept under the guidance of Kasia Bielska. The photographs that come about as part of the workshops are to be shown as part of the FDA competition final on 9 October 2020.
Applications are open between 27 July and 23 August 2020. All the information related to the workshops is available on the the IFF website and the Facebook page.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
We ask our guests to take the following measures to stay safe during the pandemic:
All guests must wear face masks and disinfect their hands before entering the exhibition space. There is a maximum of 30 guests allowed inside the space at a time. Guests are asked to maintain a distance of at least 2M from one another.
There will not be any speech or other official opening to the event. We welcome our guests to speak directly with the artist and curator, keeping all the above precautions in mind.
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IFF Foundation Patrons: Fort Mokotów, White Stone Development
Exhibition Partners: Studio 99, Stroer, Artibo, G’rls ROOM
OFFER OF WORKS FOR SALE AND RENTAL OF THE EXHIBITION
All photographs shown at the exhibition are available for sale. The full presentation, including dimensions, editions, techniques and prices, can be viewed and downloaded here
For more information please contact us: biuro@fiff.org.pl
