Vernissage 12 February, 6pm

An exhibition by Tatiana Czekalska and Leszek Golec - a duo of Łódź-based artists cooperating since 1996. Drawing from various philosophies and disciplines they strive to develop a new quality of art by portraying real life, often in its humblest manifestations. The duo posses well-defined environmental awareness which they express through their works imbued with a continuous search for harmony with nature. Their projects often involve animals or other living creatures which take centre stage of events to emphasise their equality with humankind,. The artists create spaces, object and sometimes curate events where a living creature, if only the humblest one, becomes the highest value. The objects they create often serve clearly defined functions, such as providing shelter, or assuring the survival of different forms of life facing threats from modern civilization, including cultural stereotypes.

Czekalska and Golec promote a humble, gentle and respectful approach to other forms of life around us. They attempt to depict a world in which it is possible to dispose of your own selfish perception and try to empathise with another creature, thus creating equal chances and adopting the principles of partnership.

- "Their personal ethics are transformed in their works into a sublime aesthetic. An aesthetic which sees all of the living creatures as works of the highest form of art", says Jarosław Lubiak in his essay accompanying the exhibition Imcompletetransformation held in CSW Zamek Ujazdowski (Warsaw, 2004).

The exhibition held in Galeria Bielska BWA shows a number of works by Tatiana Czekalska and Leszek Golec created in the period between 1988 and 2012. These include photographs (made with the use of various techniques), oil paintings, objects and animations. The exhibition features a series of photos made by Leszek Golec in 1998 which are shown for the first time to the public; 13 photographs in the series of Contract Killer; Petformance for Photography 2009­-2012, which was first shown in Atlas Sztuki in Łódź last year, and T-shirts in Panels - a series of six printed T-shirts used by "small and vulnerable moving creatures" (animals).

Tatiana Czekalska - born in 1966 in Łódź where she lives and works. Degree from the Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź, 1995.

Leszek Golec - born in 1959 in Świebodzice, lives in Łódź, works in the Polish Sculpture Centre in Orońsko. Degree from the College of Photography, 1989. .

The exhibition is open from 13 February to 3 March 2013.

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See video from the exhibition Czekalska + Golec, Contract Killer, Atlas Sztuki, Łódź, 2012 >>

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