Pirelli HangarBicocca
Miroslaw Balka
CROSSOVER/S
“CROSSOVER/S” is the first Italian retrospective by Miroslaw Balka (Warsaw, 1958), one of the leading artists of the last three decades, whose work explores human nature as well as individual and collective memory. Reflecting on the history of Europe and especially of Poland, his birthplace and home, Balka draws on autobiographical elements and episodes to create works that address universal themes in a powerfully evocative way.
Holding the Horizon (2016) by Miroslaw BalkaPirelli HangarBicocca
Common Ground (2013-2016) by Miroslaw BalkaPirelli HangarBicocca
Cruzamento (2007) by Miroslaw BalkaPirelli HangarBicocca
7 x 7 x 1010 (2000) by Miroslaw BalkaPirelli HangarBicocca
Relevant
in his practice is the human figure. Even the titles of his artworks—often
constituted by long arithmetic sequences—are taken after the artist’s height.
In the early 1990s, Balka abandoned anthropomorphic forms to concentrate on
depicting symbolic objects like beds, pedestals and fountains, in works that
allude to the human presence without ever portraying it. These works are
frequently realized with ordinary materials like wood, salt, ashes, soap,
cement and steel.
BlueGasEyes (2017) by Miroslaw BalkaPirelli HangarBicocca
“CROSSOVER/S” (2017) by Miroslaw BalkaPirelli HangarBicocca
250 x 700 x 455, ø 41 x 41 / Zoo / T (2007/2008) by Miroslaw BalkaPirelli HangarBicocca
Soap Corridor (1995) by Miroslaw BalkaPirelli HangarBicocca
The
exhibition at Pirelli HangarBicocca brings together eighteen sculptures,
installations, and videos made during the last twenty years and leads visitors
through an immersive journey full of physical, symbolic, and temporal
intersections, where light and darkness take on a key role and where visitors
are invited to experience the works on show through all their senses.
