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LOOKING
FOR AURA Ewa Wróbel in her works refers to human, his
nature, emotions and behavior from the very beginning. It is human and world
created by him, what becomes a matter of subject and base for artistic activity
of Wróbel. It is not realistic human world itself, what she is interested in,
but its philosophies and psychological aspects, products of different origin,
transformations, interactions... 'My aim is to take notice of some processes in
surrounding world. [...] So far my concern has been people and their condition
in contemporary world'. January's exhibition in nova is a review of
recent creative achievements of the artist, inspired by the thought of Walter
Benjamin, German philosopher and theorist of culture, a groundbreaker in
analyzing the mass aspect of culture. Ewa Wróbel raises Benjamin's question of
meaning and influence of work of art, so called 'aura'. The statement that works
of art, considered as classic, affect public mostly on a religious basis, is no
longer valid nowadays. Artworks, reproduced on a mass scale, have lost their
'aura', have been stripped from exclusiveness, what in consequence, according to
Benjamin, leads to the liberation of humanity. Artist tries to find an answer for a question:
'What happens to this aura, does it vanish without the original artifact? Does
it matter at all?' She starts from entitling the exhibition: 'Looking for
aura...', then proceeds to attempts of proving in practice legitimacy (or its
lack) of Benjamin's theory. On
gallery walls she hangs six oil pictures clashing them with different forms of
reproduction (CD records, prints, slide show, memory game). Will it stimulate
any reaction in a viewer, any thought? Does bigger aura come from original work
or its transformations? ... 'In this matter I do not want to simply say YES or
NO. I just provoke to ponder over the issue how work of art affects The original paintings included in the
exposition concern the issue of 'aura' itself. According to artist's explanation
this word brings various connotations for her: 'blow of wind is: a mood, an
atmosphere surrounding a person or a thing. Aura is immaterial colors and shapes
surrounding people and objects'. For this reason on canvases are shown people
close to the artist. Their portraits or rather drafts of their faces, reveal
miscellaneous emotional states, different 'auras'. Artist's comment. The exhibition is going to be about painting,
distribution, digitalization, looking for 'aura', which might be lost in
reproduced works. The term comes from Walter Benjamin's essay: 'The Work of Art
in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction'. According to Benjamin artworks lose
their 'aura', and what is interesting, he finds the process positive, while I am
not so sure... In postmodern age our contact with art has changed distinctly. We
can visit Louvre, while wearing pajamas and on the computer screen observe, with
a zoom, pores on Mona Lisa's face. Art is more accessible, reproduced in million
samples. Is it good or is it wrong? I do not know... I meditate on aura, which
emanate from original work. Could we find it in reproduction? Is it essential?
What happened to, what happens to painting? Does mass distributing of art
generate profit or lost? How does this ancient medium function in 21st century? galeria nova
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paintings
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