Cut at the Level of the Sky

action and drawing
as a part of an exhibition “Plac Małachowskiego 3”
curator: Magdalena Komornicka
Zachęta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, 28 June 2018

Katarzyna Krakowiak’s work consists of a performative drawing — a recording of an eight-hour operation on the façade of the Zachęta building. It was created as a result of gradual, methodical cleaning, washing of the walls of the gallery and revealing the architecture. The material was the dust accumulated on the façade, while water was the tool. The drawing, left exposed to dirty air during the exhibition, will gain and lose successive layers deposited and washed away by atmospheric factors.

The gesture, activity and movement itself, as well as the further life of the drawing, were important in the artist’s action, inspired by the history of Zachęta as a cultural institution and the architectural changes of the building.

The drawing is visible on the base of the façade from Królewska Street, as well as on the façade of Zachęta.