Let’s imagine an amazing creature who is waiting for a delayed bus in deadly freeze, and to warm her up is graving a map of Poland in snow… It seems that only this bus can give us a clue about this scene, that it didn’t take place in a patriotic fever during some of the national uprisings but last, well, perhaps one before last winter. We can be even more impressed when we learn that the cycle of Icelandic film posters – the artist’s baccalaureate – is the fruit of her true love for Iceland. The organisers of the film screenings, e.g. in the Kosmos cinema in Katowice, should really kick themselves hard. Isn’t it a shame to use over and over again banal photos, let it be, of sheep, when you can have such posters and such a layout? This seems to be a more general problem, so let’s go back to our own goats…
Considering patriotic topics, Anna is equally good as for instance, Grzegorz Myćka. Her version of the Polish national emblem is at least equally convincing. She is also great in creating optimistic moods. “A day without a fag” can bring hope to each addict. How comforting she is to women awaiting a phone call. I suddenly remembered an aphorism: Art should be like an old telephone. Strong in its form and loud. Clear. And now I only deliberate if this is a telephone on Monika Starowicz’s desk. Perhaps this one is slightly different…
Anyway I love the way Anna writes her scrawl. And letters. How she is able to catch the attention and force to read, not interfering with the information, enforce the impression of isles on the ocean by means of slightly pumped up “O”. I cannot believe that it is about The Fortunate Isles, quite ridiculously excluded from the rest of the world. We seem to know this slough so well. It is striking that in almost all the cases the artist went deep into the matter of films, and in a very intelligent way; instead of shocking with alterity, she plays with our eternal yearnings and gives us various clues for identification. Anna Pałosz seems to be one of those who are never interested in choosing the easier path. Everyone will also notice a characteristic coarse, black-humour feature of her works. Liking for paradoxes and irony rather than boyish jokes. You don’t even need a special poster to prove it.
This debut belongs to these best debuts in Satyrykon history which most deserve the distinction. It is worth stressing as it is a formidable debut, and while viewing the exhibition it is easy to overlook the fact. Nevertheless, we are able to observe “the birth of a language”. We can see basic elements tested in various juxtapositions – perhaps they will find their way to a poster. Adhering to rules rather than breaking them in a gimmicky way. She adheres to her own rules, or to rules slightly modified by her.
And against all appearances, here comes the greatest praise. Even if I get a bit irritated (perhaps it should be this way) with her vision of a Chinese dragon or a Polish Mother, I bow in front of the accuracy of the message. Because there were so many images of Eastern gods with many arms, none of them resembled a spider in a web so much.
Her “technical” inspirations are not surprising either. Precision seems to be on the top of the artist’s priority list. The coherence of her whole work may even desensitise to many attempts she has made and numerous solutions she has found. We quickly realise however, that any single stain or blur has been left accidentally. Anna confirms – working over details is a sort of mania in her case. In contrast to her self-critical estimation, a very good-looking and a healthy one. And at the same time so promising!
bz