We are delighted to present the exhibition Figuring Desire, Reshaping Monstrosity, a solo show by Øleg&Kaśka (PL). Their first exhibition on the local scene in Bucharest builds on their ever-growing interest in Eastern European mythology and pop culture, exploring the role of fantasy in the current context of socio-economic and environmental crises.
Øleg&Kaśka’s works are grounded in speculative strategies, engendering unexpected connections between pasts and presents, constructing what they call ‘performative sceneries’. In their quasi-scenographies, folk characters such as the sleeping knights of the Giewont Mountain in Poland are unfaithfully represented as increasingly androgynous figures. Alchemy and the king’s court are taken as hierarchical settings in which the inequalities of today may be equally challenged.
In conjunction with the exhibition, there will be two collective reading sessions with Irina Bobei and Maria Persu. More details will follow.
Øleg&Kaśka is a collective superorganism founded in the summer of 2018. They graduated from The University of The Arts in Poznań (Poland) in 2020 (MFA). Øleg&Kaśka create multi-layered installations, working with different mediums such as painting, sculpture, video or fragrance to create immersive environments in which the audience may dwell and reflect. They challenge the classic understanding of the artist as an individual by the figure of the quasi-artist, androgynous Øleg&Kaśka.
Their works have been exhibited at Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw (PL), MoMA, Warsaw (PL), :SKALA Gallery, Poznan (PL), Gdansk City Gallery, Gdansk (PL), Belinskej Model, Prague (CZ), Spread Museum, Entrevaux (FR), Sonneundsolche, Düsseldorf (DE), and others.
Project co-funded by the Administration of the National Cultural Fund. The project does not necessarily represent the position of the Administration of the National Cultural Fund. AFCN is not responsible for the content of the project, nor for the manner in which the results of the project might be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the beneficiary of the grant.
Poster design by Eugen Nelutescu
Photo documentation by Alexandru Paul