MANIPULATIONS

Manipulations - On Economies of Deceit explores the issue of manipulation, illusion and even falsification - all understood as artistic strategies. Strategies of illusion and simulation are perceived as ethically immoral when employed in public life though they are part of daily practice, be it in business or politics. When used in art, however, do manipulation and illusion always deserve to be seen as unfair tactics? The exhibition presents artists' collective and individual behavior/games as well as various artistic strategies. Both prove to be tools for producing illusion and reception systems and motors for driving said systems. Works on view incorporate collapse and desperate attempts at reconstruction, defeats and successes in attempts at creating something trustworthy, convoluted fictions and the fabrication of deeply masked tricks. Artists invited to participate in the exhibition employ surreptitious strategies under which manipulation proves a means of scaring off and experimenting with commonly accepted bases of reality. In art, manipulation proves to be a tool for negotiating reality, a terrain of conscious deceptions by artists.

Christian Tomaszewski, Catherine Sullivan and Zbigniew Libera reveal the omnipresence of political spectacle and cultural mise-en-scene, while Bart Stolle, Jan Simon and Markus Schinwald recycle tradition and cultural heritage. Johan Grimonprez, Benny Nemerovsky Ramsay and Joanna Malinowska play a deceptive game of stereotypes, empty political messages and media slogans in their works, Jorge Pardo's and Julian Rosefeldt's games, on the other hand, prove spatial, seductive and saturated with an atmosphere of wonder. Michał Budny explores being enslaved in a trap of references to art history, the irresistible desire to test reality and the resulting intoxication with phantasmagoria, whereas Hubert Czerepok employs fairy tale tactics and illusory games outright. Finally, Pascal Grandmaison and Runa Islam present clear and accurate perception as experiments in careful observation and precise identification of felt emotions. Collectively, the exhibition constitutes a panorama of artistic maneuvers and navigations replete with bent trajectories ranging from seduction to manipulation, a boggy terrain of deliberate deceit, seen as the sole means of approaching creativity defined as "the delineation of a path between things impossible..."

MANIPULATIONS - ON ECONOMIES OF DECEIT Michał Budny, Hubert Czerepok, Foksal Gallery Foundation, Zbigniew Libera, Joanna Malinowska, Jan Simon, Christian Tomaszewski, (Poland); Pascal Grandmaison, Benny Nemerofsky Ramsay (Canada); Johan Grimonprez, Bart Stolle (Belgium); Runa Islam (Great Britain); Jorge Pardo, Catherine Sullivan (USA); Julian Rosefeld (Germany); Markus Schinwald (Austria) Special guest participant: Jarosław Fliciński

GALLERY 2 Exhibition opening: 19.03, 6.00 p.m. on view thru 13.05 Curator: Adam Budak

MANIPULATIONS
ON ECONOMIES OF DECEIT
Kurator: Adam Budak

Künstler: Michal Budny, Hubert Czerepok, Zbigniew Libera, Joanna Malinowska, Janek Simon, Christian Tomaszewski, Pascal Grandmaison, Benny Nemerofsky Ramsay, Johan Grimonprez, Bart Stolle, Runa Islam, Jorge Pardo, Catherine Sullivan, Julian Rosefeldt, Markus Schinwald, Jaroslaw Flicinski