In a series of symbiotic encounters, DESTE juxtaposes artworks by Pawel Althamer with works by artists Urs Fischer, Jacob Kassay, and Jakub Julian Ziolkowski. Althamer’s work is interrupted by incongruous presences and disrupted by subtle contrasts in a series of parasitic relationships: his totem-like sculptures and Urs Fischer’s shifting mirror and line sculpture; his Mezalia, a fragmented urban landscape, next to Jakub Julian Ziolkowski’s nightmarish universe, and a selection of his sculptural work alongside Jacob Kassay’s shimmering silver canvases. As a result of these unusual combinations, each artwork turns into the ghostly reflection of its neighbour.
Through his work, which ranges from sculpture and drawing to installations and performance, Althamer investigates the meaning of basic visceral human relationships, questions the limits and deeper meaning of identity, and examines the world we live in. Trusting in the power of art to change the world, the artist’s work addresses the social and economic conditions that structure our society. A prolific artist and a key figure of Poland’s art scene since the 1990s, Althamer has pursued the transformative potential of art and, through his work, offers viewers a new understanding of everyday life.
