KAY WALKOWIAK. THE SHAPE OF ABSENCE
BKKSR, Bangkok (TH)
25.02.2019 – 03.03.2019
Curators:
Nicholas Hudson-Ellis (AU) and Sarinya Manamuti (TH)
Kay Walkowiak is working with different media, ranging from video and photography to spatial installations with objects. He loves to work in different settings and his studio is not limited to one place and city. Most of his inspiration comes from Asian cultures in particular its rich history of art, architecture and philosophy.
In his work, Kay Walkowiak draws on formal languages of Western art and cultural history found in regular iconographic archives and – following a modus operandi involving playful contrasts – relates them to everyday situations in various cultural contexts, particularly in Asia. He thereby exposes divergent spatial and temporal concepts, explores the cultural character of perception and deciphers visual forms as projection surfaces of narratives of Western cultural history and the utopias associated with them.
In his exhibition „The Shape of Absence", Kay Walkowiak approaches the question of how spirits of the past still influence the present and how they manifest themselves in virtual layers of reality. By referring to some of the most influential minimal artists of the 20th century, he opens up a cultural dialogue between past and present. As the compilation of works was created during a residency in Bangkok, BKKSR was chosen for a site-specific presentation.
The exhibition is co-hosted by the Austrian Embassy Bangkok and supported by the Federal State of Austria and the city of Salzburg.
Text: BKKSR, Bangkok 2019
Photos: (c) Studio Kay Walkowiak
In his work, Kay Walkowiak draws on formal languages of Western art and cultural history found in regular iconographic archives and – following a modus operandi involving playful contrasts – relates them to everyday situations in various cultural contexts, particularly in Asia. He thereby exposes divergent spatial and temporal concepts, explores the cultural character of perception and deciphers visual forms as projection surfaces of narratives of Western cultural history and the utopias associated with them.
In his exhibition „The Shape of Absence", Kay Walkowiak approaches the question of how spirits of the past still influence the present and how they manifest themselves in virtual layers of reality. By referring to some of the most influential minimal artists of the 20th century, he opens up a cultural dialogue between past and present. As the compilation of works was created during a residency in Bangkok, BKKSR was chosen for a site-specific presentation.
The exhibition is co-hosted by the Austrian Embassy Bangkok and supported by the Federal State of Austria and the city of Salzburg.
Text: BKKSR, Bangkok 2019
Photos: (c) Studio Kay Walkowiak