Agata Ingarden at Odyssey

Artist: Agata Ingarden

Exhibition title: The Creators

Venue: Odyssey, Cologne, Germany

Date: November 17, 2023 – February 24, 2024

Photography: ©AR / all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and Odyssey, Cologne

In this exhibition, Agata Ingarden (1994) interprets the archetype
“The Creator(s)”, according to C.G. Jung one of the twelve archetypes
anchored in the collective subconscious, derived from Homer’s epic
poem “The Odyssey”. 

The two wooden torsos behind the windows appear like stencils or even sarcophagi. Mushroom-like shapes can be recognized on the surfaces. In the natural sciences,fungal cultures are regarded as perfect forms of communication and life due to their mycelial structures, in which networked cultures develop, grow, build and maintain interdependencies transforming dead matter to life again. The two part wooden mold of a rescue dummy represents a model for a Self. A self growing interdependently with others. 

In Ingarden’s narrative these wooden molds are an actual portal to The Dream House World, a simulation-like parallel reality, inhabited by a group of characters called Butterfly People that undergo a transformative process of developing their identities within a complex system. Their presence is embodied by the sculptures in the space – shoes frozen in a silent dance of creation and desire – an object’s desire to become alive. 

Works have been produced with support of Lafayette Anticipations, Paris.

Agata Ingarden was born 1994 in Poland. She lives and works in Paris. She studied at Beaux-Arts, Paris, France and Cooper Union, Brooklyn, USA.

Agata works with multiple media including installation, sculpture and video. Her practice is driven by material research as well as investigations in post-humanities, science fiction and mythical narratives.

Selected exhibitions: Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France / CAPC museum, Bordeaux, France (curated exhibition by Cédric Fauq) / The Radicants: “Climate Change”, curated by Nicolas Bourriaud, Palazzo Bollani, Venice, Italy / Nassauischer Kunstverein Wiesbaden, Germany / Künstlerhaus Vienna, Austria / Silesian Museum Katowice, Poland / Pinchuck Art Center, Kiev, Ukrania (Future Generation Art Price, winner of the “Special Prize”) / Komi Biennale, Art Encounters, Timisoara, Romania, curated by Kasia Redzisz and Mihnea Mircan / Museum Unter Tage, Bochum, Germany / Centre D´Art Contemporain D´Intérèt National, Saint Nazaire, France /  East Contemporary, Milan, Italy / Kraupa Tuskany Zeidler, Berlin, Germany / Piktogram, Warsaw, Poland / Soft Opening, London, UK / Sans Titre, Paris, France / Berthold Pott, Cologne, Germany / Exo Exo, Paris, France / High Art, Paris, France

She participated in the following residencies: Fondation Fiminco, Paris, France (2021-22), Cité internationale des arts, Paris, France (2021),  A l´oeuvre, Lafayette Anticipations, Paris, France (2020), La Totale, Les studios Orta, France (2020), Villa Belleville, Paris, France (2018), Leo XIII Gastatelier, Tilburg, The Netherlands (2018).

Agata Ingarden, The Creators, 2023, exhibition view, Odyssey, Cologne, photo: ©AR

Agata Ingarden, The Creators, 2023, exhibition view, Odyssey, Cologne, photo: ©AR

Agata Ingarden, Dummy Mold side A, 2021, multiple wood types CNC-ed and hand carved, Size: ca. 110 x 50 25 cm, photo: ©AR

Agata Ingarden, The Creators, 2023, exhibition view, Odyssey, Cologne, photo: ©AR

Agata Ingarden, Dummy Mold side A, 2021, multiple wood types CNC-ed and hand carved, Size: ca. 110 x 50 25 cm, photo: ©AR

Agata Ingarden, The Creators, 2023, exhibition view, Odyssey, Cologne, photo: ©AR

Agata Ingarden, The Creators, 2023, exhibition view, Odyssey, Cologne, photo: ©AR

Agata Ingarden, The Creators, 2023, exhibition view, Odyssey, Cologne, photo: ©AR

Agata Ingarden, The Creators, 2023, exhibition view, Odyssey, Cologne, photo: ©AR

Agata Ingarden, The Creators, 2023, exhibition view, Odyssey, Cologne, photo: ©AR

Agata Ingarden, The Creators, 2023, exhibition view, Odyssey, Cologne, photo: ©AR

Agata Ingarden, Melt Meat 1, 2023, shoes of the Butterfly People characters biking shoe, wax, wood, lacquer, photo: ©AR

Agata Ingarden, Melt Meat 1, 2023, shoes of the Butterfly People characters biking shoe, wax, wood, lacquer, photo: ©AR

Agata Ingarden, Make your own luck, 2023, biking shoe, high heel, bronze, tape, copper wire, 42 x 27 x 20 cm, photo: ©AR

Agata Ingarden, Make your own luck, 2023, biking shoe, high heel, bronze, tape, copper wire, 42 x 27 x 20 cm, photo: ©AR

Agata Ingarden, Make your own luck, 2023, biking shoe, high heel, bronze, tape, copper wire, 42 x 27 x 20 cm, photo: ©AR

Agata Ingarden, Make your own luck, 2023, biking shoe, high heel, bronze, tape, copper wire, 42 x 27 x 20 cm, photo: ©AR

Agata Ingarden, Make your own luck, 2023, biking shoe, high heel, bronze, tape, copper wire, 42 x 27 x 20 cm, photo: ©AR

Agata Ingarden, Fly Away 1, 2021-2023, shoes of the Butterfly People characters- biking shoe, high heel, wings, mushroom fabric, metal, staples, photo: ©AR

Agata Ingarden, Fly Away 1, 2021-2023, shoes of the Butterfly People characters- biking shoe, high heel, wings, mushroom fabric, metal, staples, photo: ©AR

Agata Ingarden, Dummy Mold side A, 2021, multiple wood types CNC-ed and hand carved, Size: ca. 110 x 50 25 cm, photo: ©AR

Agata Ingarden, The Creators, 2023, exhibition view, Odyssey, Cologne, photo: ©AR

Agata Ingarden, The Creators, 2023, exhibition view, Odyssey, Cologne, photo: ©AR

Agata Ingarden, Fly Away 1, 2021-2023, shoes of the Butterfly People characters- biking shoe, high heel, wings, mushroom fabric, metal, staples, photo: ©AR

Agata Ingarden, Dummy Mold side A, 2021, multiple wood types CNC-ed and hand carved, Size: ca. 110 x 50 25 cm, photo: ©AR

Agata Ingarden, Dummy Mold side A, 2021, multiple wood types CNC-ed and hand carved, Size: ca. 110 x 50 25 cm, photo: ©AR

Agata Ingarden, The Creators, 2023, exhibition view, Odyssey, Cologne, photo: ©AR

Agata Ingarden, The Creators, 2023, exhibition view, Odyssey, Cologne, photo: ©AR

Agata Ingarden, The Creators, 2023, exhibition view, Odyssey, Cologne, photo: ©AR

Agata Ingarden, The Creators, 2023, exhibition view, Odyssey, Cologne, photo: ©AR

Agata Ingarden, The Creators, 2023, exhibition view, Odyssey, Cologne, photo: ©AR

Agata Ingarden, The Creators, 2023, exhibition view, Odyssey, Cologne, photo: ©AR