Feature: The Big Picture - Exhibition - Jakub Julian Ziółkowski: In Utero at Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art until July 29
Published: 7 July, 2011
PARASOL unit foundation for contemporary art is currently exhibiting the work of Polish artist Jakub Julian Ziółkowski, whose paintings are a wild hallucinatory journey into his strange and often frightening universe. Skeletons battle soldiers in murky swamps; towers of eyeballs goggle cartoonishly; flesh peels wetly off bare bones.
Influenced by the folk tales and the often dark history of his native country, and by contemporary culture, Ziółkowski’s references are wide-reaching: from the Ancient Greeks to André Masson to Frank Zappa.
Ziółkowski’s measured and often delicate command of his medium belies his sinister subject matter. His paintings resonate with an unnerving atmosphere which speaks profoundly of the darker side of human nature.
Jakub Julian Ziółkowski was born in Zamosc, Poland, in 1980 and lives and works in Zamosc and Crakow. This solo exhibition, the artist’s first in a public institution in the UK, is generously supported by Polish Cultural Institute.
• Jakub Julian Ziółkowski: In Utero is at Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art, 14 Wharf Road, N1, until July 29. Open Monday by appointment, Tuesday-Saturday 10am-6pm, Sunday 12-5pm. Admission free. 0207 490 7373, www.parasol-unit.org / info@parasol-unit.org
Event
• On Thursday 14 July, a special evening of contemporary dance choreographed by Jose Campos, founder of the dance collective Do Not Dance UK, is being held in response to the exhibition. Jose’s work is poetic and straightforward by emphasising the mundane as extraordinary.
He is interested in how people subconsciously adapt to accommodate physical limitations.
7pm, tickets £5/£3 concessions, events@parasol-unit.org to book