Piotr Sakowski, b. 1983
He uses various media in his practice. His projects combine the tradition of conceptual art, minimalistic ephemeral actions and a reflection on postproduction. His works were presented at, among other places, Otwarta Pracownia (Cracow); Austrian Culture Forum (Warsaw); Galeria Foksal (Warsaw); Galeria Leto (Warsaw); Galeria XX1 (Warsaw); the Zachęta National Gallery of Art (Warsaw); during the Photomonth in Cracow; at Galeria Aspekt (Fine Arts Academy, Warsaw); at the Bęc Zmiana Foundation (Warsaw).
In his practice, Piotr Sakowski aims at maximum simplification of the traditional ways of presenting art – all he does is show the captions accompanying his works, which are in fact absent in the gallery. Sakowski’s subtle interference with the exhibition space, in the spirit of the conceptual art tradition, emphasises the potential of a word which is capable of creating energy and space with the entire build-up of emotions and impressions emerging at the artist/artwork/recipient meeting point. By excluding the intermediation of a tangible object with physical properties, Sakowski’s actions force the viewer to ponder the mechanisms of the reception of contemporary art and how to evaluate it. To what extent is art nowadays based on the recipients’ imagination and their ability of abstract thinking? How far can the artist go in limiting the formal means of expression and freeing the artwork from sensual materialisation? Piotr Sakowski’s work stimulates a number of questions regarding the notions of presence, visibility or peripherality, as well as referring to the broadly understood limits: of space, imagination, the human mind, and consequently – to the limits of contemporary art.
