POLAND-U.S. ARTISTS-IN-RESIDENCE EXCHANGE PROGRAM

Malgorzata Markiewicz, Krakow, Poland @

SPACES, Cleveland, OH

Residency: May 21 – June 29, 2007

SPACES
2220 Superior Viaduct, Cleveland, OH 44113
ph/fax (216) 621-2314
Gallery Hours: Tue - Thu 11-5:30, Fri - Sat 11-9, Sun 1-5

Malgorzata Markiewicz, Matrona, mixed techniques

Malgorzata Markiewicz (b. 1979) employs various media in her works, which include objects, re-worked ready-mades, photographs, actions based on everyday activities associated with women, and video works. She explores physical, bodily presence, weaving the inherent tensions in seemingly unambiguous objects or activities to create complex and often disturbing messages.

Her field of work includes design, broadly understood. Markiewicz designs untypical clothes and furniture – places to meet others. Fabric, textiles and clothes are among the materials commonly used by her, often placed in contrast with other objects. Incorporated in a work, the used clothes re-animate the essence of the previous owner. She treats the tradition of art textiles in a surprising and humorous way. Her works are concerned with such aspects of everyday life as home, family, the dull daily bustle, needle-work – which are all considered “feminine” in our culture – but also the broader issues of sexual identity and social position. The techniques of sewing, crocheting and weaving – transferred from everyday life – become basic and equal artistic media. Markiewicz has been a co-author of the feminist Internet project grzenda.pl.

Polish artist Malgorzata Markiewicz is the current SPACES World Artists Program resident in Cleveland, a program designed to give visiting artists the time and opportunity to create new work and interact with the Northeast Ohio community. Focusing on feminist issues, Markiewicz’s work has been shown extensively in Poland as well as in the UK, Italy, Germany, Finland, Belgium, and Canada. This is her first visit to the United States.

The project is realized with major support from the Ohio Arts Council, which funds international residencies through a grant from the US Department of Education; it is realized in cooperation with the Polish Cultural Institute in New York and A-I-R at the Centre for Contemporary Art “Ujazdowski Castle”, Warsaw, Poland, as part of the POLAND-U.S. ARTISTS-IN-RESIDENCE EXCHANGE PROGRAM.