a publik is pleased to present "racing heart", a solo exhibition of new works by anna panek:
i am not at ease.
my heart takes part in a race.
the race for life, happiness and safety.
thoughts about war, ecological disaster, everyday difficult choices make me feel distracted, tense. they trigger strong emotions, emotions which our heartbeat has to cope with.
every new day means experiencing: smell, touch, temperature, sound, words and sights. all of this sensory input has its own rhythm, flowing with or disrupting my pulse. to find balance, i try to rebalance my heartbeat, to picture it. to translate it to colour, shape, brush movement, sensuality of paint, softness of fabric.
half a circle becomes an element of construction - wave, bow, curve, ovalness. the shape describes reality, gives meaning, builds and constitutes an object. for me, it is also the shape of a breast. i draw hedges with breasts, trees made of breasts - in search for calming repetition. both plants and women are turned into geometry, described by a geometric curve. using repetitive elements, searching for rhythms, becomes my way of catching my breath and finding my balance. a way to distance myself from my own experience.
text by anna panek
anna panek (*1977) lives and works in warsaw, poland. she received her
education in both painting and architecture. her works have been exhibited, among others, at the center for contemporary art ujazdowski castle in warsaw, zachęta national gallery of art in warsaw, the national museum in gdańsk, and the museum of modern art in warsaw. anna panek teaches at the academy of fine arts, warsaw. she is represented by lokal_30 gallery in poland.
the exhibition is supported by the polish ministry of culture and national heritage and the adam mickiewicz institute (https://iam.pl).