Przemek Pyszczek (b. 1985, Poland) has been living and working in Berlin since 2010. His sculptures, paintings and installations deal thematically and formally with the utopian aspects of Polish architecture in the post-communist era.
Following his family’s emigration from Poland to Canada during his childhood and his later studies in the field of architecture in Winnipeg, Pyszczek laid the focus of his artistic work on the phenomenon of mass-produced residential blocks, in particular on the “embellishment” of their façades and building structures, which also extend into the surrounding environment and, with this, into interconnected, urban systems.
His interest in the deconstruction of these “systems” is founded, on the one hand, in formal analyses and, on the other hand, in autobiographical aspects. With his works, the artist makes references to colours, forms, specific visual features, ornaments, graphic structures and material situations, which he recombines, condenses and overlaps to create new relationships and contexts.
In the current exhibition, “Building Systems”, Pyszczek presents relief-like pictures, which have a sculptural appeal. The works are comprised of two levels, which lend them a certain plasticity: a dibond panel, onto which for the most part fragmented geometric forms have been painted, and a superimposed ornamentation comprised of steel tubing, which, from a distance, almost appears like a drawing. Whereas the images on the dibond panels are derived from the painted façade of an apartment complex in Poland, the steel constructions refer to decorative attachments to the structure, such as balconies and gratings.
Pyszczek’s steel sculptures are based on jungle gyms and other constructions found on children’s playgrounds, which the artist finds in urban environments and re-constructs. Altered dimensions, deletions, realignments, deformations or abrasions provide hints of the interventions and alterations to the structures, which, at first glance, appear unchanged.
The artist thus creates an exhibition situation, which – depending on the position and perspective of the viewer – opens new contexts and points of reference between the altogether seven works on view: through overlapping and juxtaposition, fragmented image details of architectural constructions are transformed into new – rational and irrational – visual connections and associations.
CV PRZEMEK PYSZCZEK
Born 1985 in Bialystok, Poland. Lives and works in Berlin, DE.
Education:
2007 – Bachelor of Environmental Design (Architecture)
University of Manitoba (Winnipeg, CA)
Exhibitions:
2015:
Group exhibition – curated by Bill Arning and Rick Herron
Spritmuseum – Stockholm, SE (forthcoming)
Large Panel Housing (solo)
Mihai Nicodim Gallery – Los Angeles, US (forthcoming)
Group exhibition – curated by Alice Russoti
Ronchini Gallery, London, UK (forthcoming)
The Intangibles – curated by Matt Olson (online project)
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, US (forthcoming)
Building Systems (solo)
Berthold Pott – Cologne, DE
Group exhibition – curated by Saskia Neuman
Belenius/Nordenhake – Stockholm, SE (forthcoming)
Group exhibition
Other Projects – Berlin, DE
Group exhibition
Office Baroque (forthcoming)
Duo exhibition
Przemek Pyszczek and Donna Huanca, Peres Projects, Berlin (July/August)
2014
Alexandru Niculescu, Przemek Pyszczek, Isabel Yellin
Galeria Nicodim – Bucharest, RO
Of Nurture and Nomads – curated by Hili Perlson
The Adventures Of – Berlin, DE
Dizzyland – curated by Christopher Winter
Kino International Kunst – Berlin, DE
2013
Come, All Ye Faithful – curated by Carson Chan
Florian Christopher – Zürich, CH
Corporalitas
Open Forum – Berlin, DE (solo)
I don’t know it’s an illusion I don’t care – curated by Gerardo Contreras
Vamiali’s – Athens, GR
Bibliography:
J.J. Kegan McFadden, „Some Men Play (With Language): Thinking Translation and the Recent Work of Przemek Pyszczek“, Blackflash, 2015 (print)
Clifford Goodwill, „The Craft: A Conversation with Przemek Pyszczek“, Inhabit, 2014
A.J. Kiyoizumi, „Przemek Pyszczek“, Berlin Art Link, 2014
