↳ Exhibitions

Self-fulfilling Prophecy at Piktogram

December 29, 2018

Artists: Daniela & Linda Dostálková, Krystian Truth Czaplicki, Zuza Golińska, Lindsay Lawson, Damon Sfetsios, Anna Uddenberg

Exhibition title: Self-fulfilling Prophecy

Venue: Piktogram, Warsaw, Poland

Date: September 21 – October 27, 2018

Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and Piktogram, Warsaw

Writing curatorial notes for exhibitions is an essential task for any commercial gallery as they often serve as the first introduction to the show for the public, collectors, and most importantly, press. Exhibition notes can have a major effect on whether people visit, review, and ultimately buy from exhibitions. An exhibition note should be alluring. That is its primary purpose, so it should be written with this in mind. Nonetheless, galleries sometimes approach the exhibition note as an afterthought or secondary element of a show, which results in a missed opportunity to address an audience and shape their opinions, feelings, and expectations for a gallery and its programming.

The exhibition note shouldn’t be written as an academic essay. This style is alienating in this kind of text and often doesn’t even impress the scholarly set, as it devolves into jargon. One should avoid obscure, “creative” forms of writing like poems, stream-of-consciousness rants, quotes from works of fiction, or terse elliptical statements. The exhibition note should be precise and describe what works will be on view, what they will look like, and how they fit into the artists’ previous practice, as well as those of their peers.

* based on Alex Bacon’s text for Artsy

Self-fulfilling Prophecy, 2018, Piktogram, Warsaw, PL, exhibition view

Daniela & Linda Dostálková, We Are Still the Same and You Are Always More, 2018, sheets of stamps, 100 x 73 cm

Anna Uddenberg, Finger VI, 2018, acrylic resin on fiberglass, spray filler, acrylic paint, UV nail gel, 108 x 18 x 18 cm

Self-fulfilling Prophecy, 2018, Piktogram, Warsaw, PL, exhibition view

Lindsay Lawson, The Weeper, 2018, glazed ceramic, metal, 195 x 80 x 85 cm, detail

Self-fulfilling Prophecy, 2018, Piktogram, Warsaw, PL, exhibition view

Self-fulfilling Prophecy, 2018, Piktogram, Warsaw, PL, works by Zuza Golińska, installation view

Lindsay Lawson, Pundit, 2018, glazed ceramic, metal stand, 134 x 28 x 26 cm, detail

Self-fulfilling Prophecy, 2018, Piktogram, Warsaw, PL, works by Damon Sfetsios, installation view

Self-fulfilling Prophecy, 2018, Piktogram, Warsaw, PL, exhibition view

Self-fulfilling Prophecy, 2018, Piktogram, Warsaw, PL, works by Lindsay Lawson, installation view

Lindsay Lawson, Nope, 2017, glazed ceramic, 100 x 41 x 70 cm

Self-fulfilling Prophecy, 2018, Piktogram, Warsaw, PL, works by Lindsay Lawson, installation view

Self-fulfilling Prophecy, 2018, Piktogram, Warsaw, PL, exhibition view

Zuza Golińska, Piercer series, 2018, installation view

Self-fulfilling Prophecy, 2018, Piktogram, Warsaw, PL, exhibition view

Daniela & Linda Dostálková, Quality: Flexibility, 2016, HD video, 3’25”, voice-over by Nora Turato

Daniela & Linda Dostálková, Acid Rain and The Labours of Hercules: Capture Slay Obtain Steel, 2017, HD video installation, sound, 5’04’’, mixed media (sealing wax, canvas, rope)