Viewing Room

Tuesday, 29 October 2024

Zofia Kulik

Zofia Kulik

Square of the Palaces, 1990
240 x 150 cm
Silver gelatin print

Zofia Kulik started creating large black-and-white photographs after 1987, marking the end of her collaborative work with Przemysław Kwiek (KwieKulik 1971–87). Her photographs are meticulously produced in a darkroom process using multiple exposures of negatives on photo paper, achieved through precisely cut stencils. This technique developed by the artist allows her to compose a single work of many individual images drawn from her extensive archive, which Kulik has been building since the start of her artistic practice.
The work Square of the Palaces thematically refers to the transformation of power in Poland from a communist to a Catholic state. Kulik often uses the motif of the Warsaw Palace of Culture and Science as a symbol of Soviet influence. In this work, she contrasts it with the geometry of the Gothic cathedral. A recurring motif of the male figure comes from the artist’s Archive of Gestures—a collection of about 700 performing poses captured on a black background, drawn from different visual traditions.