| SMS (Szczecin – Melbourne – Szczecin) is an international art exhibition presented by the City of Szczecin, capital of the West Pomeranian province in Poland.
The SMS exhibition includes a selection of works by a group of ten artists from two ‘peripheries’, two geographically distant but otherwise connected ‘localities’.
Of this group, five artists: Przemysław Cerebież-Tarabicki, Danuta D±browska, Jarosław Eysymont, Waldemar Wojciechowski and Wojciech Zieliński are based in Szczecin, and five: Andrzej Janczewski, Longin Sarnecki, Adam Simmons, Gosia Włodarczak and Jarek Wójcik are based in Melbourne.
However they all are bound by one place, a city in Poland, where they were either born, have lived, or worked.
The exhibition will take place at the Guildford Lane Gallery in Melbourne, from October 14 to November 1, 2009.
It will be opened by His Excellency Mr. Andrzej Jaroszyński, Ambassador of the Republic of Poland in Canberra, on Thursday October 15, 2009, at 6pm.
Download the Media Release (PDF)
Download the e-invitation (PDF)
Image: Tower of Babel (2), Adam Simmons, Metal music box, bamboo, paper, 20 x 21 x 28cm, 2009 |
The message
The abbreviation for Short Message Service (SMS) has become synonymous with the message itself, the act of sending a message implies that communication is being established and maintained.
Thus, the concept of the SMS (Szczecin – Melbourne – Szczecin) project oscillates around communication, dialogue and exchange. This exhibition is a way of prompting and engaging in conversation with artists coming from diverse areas of art practice and an audience with differing levels of interest and commitment to art.
The idea of SMS is to recognise the potential of visual language (or languages) created in very specific geographical locations.
Imaginary tales, personal iconography, marks and symbols or sounds create unique constellations of thoughts, feelings and personal experiences.
These intimate worlds however appear in the context of realities of modern social life, parallel spaces of distant and immediate environment.
Individualism and innovation begin to exist within the cultural boundaries of localities, but the visual dialogue that it provokes draws on a broader, more universal significance.
SMS attempts to explore the interplay between communication and globalization and if the “… concept of “locality” is no longer bound to a specific place… the place as an identity label has not disappeared. What is more, it has acquired a new meaning”. *
The SMS project is a realization of a dream to bring these distant, yet related expressions together, resulting in a diverse and hopefully surprising presentation.
Jarek Wójcik
* Piotr Piotrowski, Toward a Horizontal Art History, paper at CIHA Congress, Melbourne University, January 2008
Exhibition venue
GUILDFORD LANE GALLERY
20 – 24 Guildford Lane
Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia
Tel: + 61 3 9642 0042
Mobile: + 61 (0) 422 442 363
Email: manager@guildfordlanegallery.org
www.guildfordlanegallery.org
Principal sponsor
City of Szczecin, Poland
Patronage
Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Canberra
Media partners
SBS Radio, Kurier Szczecinski
Exhibition concept
Sławomir Szafrański
Exhibition curator
Jarek Wójcik
Participating Artists
Przemysław Cerebież – Tarabicki, Szczecin, Poland
Danuta D±browska, Szczecin, Poland
Jarosław Eysymont, Szczecin, Poland
Waldemar Wojciechowski, Szczecin, Poland
Wojciech Zieliński, Szczecin, Poland
Andrzej Janczewski, Melbourne, Australia
Longin Sarnecki, Melbourne, Australia
Adam Simmons, Melbourne, Australia
Gosia Włodarczak, Melbourne, Australia
Jarek Wójcik, Melbourne, Australia
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