In the third Warsaw edition of the Friend of a Friend project, Galeria Raster, along with The Breeder from Athens and Sophie Tappeiner from Vienna, is presenting an exhibition confronting the nature of pain and discomfort—in their social, existential and identity dimensions but also the most literal, bodily aspect.
In his latest works, prepared especially for the FOAF show, Oskar Dawicki (born 1971) toys with extreme emotions. In a series of objects titled Pipes, this game takes on a literal but also ambivalent character—gold screws drill through bones in a melodious embrace. Similarly, in the photograph Hungry Gap (for My Mother), the artist directs an encounter between wild animals and the tool of their potential annihilation, as we observe deer sniffing warily at hunters’ rifles. Extreme overcontrol of stimuli is also the theme of the work 71 Sources of Light, in which the artist illuminates an empty corner of the gallery. All of these works function as a sort of performative still life, combining the existential, fatalistic aura typical for Dawicki with a painful diagnosis of our “here and now.”
The Breeder Gallery presents the work of the Greek artist and activist Georgia Sagri (born 1979). Sagri was one of the initiators of the Occupy New York movement, and her works, combining musical, performative and filmic elements, curatorial practices, installations and texts, have been presented at numerous museums and art institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw. Deep Cut (2018), shown at Raster, is an illusionist, overscaled depiction of a deep, bleeding wound. The festering wound on the gallery wall suits a time of economic and social uncertainty, becoming a dramatic sign of contemporary fears and dangers.