MOLOCH View of the exhibition

Curatorial text

Piotr Kolanko “Moloch”

The yard sale is over. Yard sales are reputed to be an event that integrates neighbors, thanks to which unnecessary items gain a new life. The antipodes of garage sales in the field of trade are fairs. Piotr Kolanko has just returned from one of them.

Piotr Kolanko’s activities seem incompatible with each other. He can be a visual artist, a contractor for corporate orders and a participant in night bombing. In the first quarter of 2024, Piotr Kolanko is implementing an exhibition triptych in Krakow – a totem pole with many faces. “Objects in mirror are closer than they appear” at Galeria Olympia is an extension of “All my hairy thoughts”, curated by Weronika Plińska at Galeria Podbrzezie.

The space of the Olympia Gallery becomes a trade fair stand located in a toilet cover in graffiti. For the needs of the exhibition, the “Moloch” brand is established; although its existence is temporary, it is equipped with all the necessary attributes of a new brand – from the logo to a trade fair stand with a counter, a lightbox banner and a cocktail table for conversations with customers. The ephemerality of the “Moloch” brand is no different from the transience of stands at real fairs. Taking part in these several-day-long trade events, the artist observed the tons of waste they generated. He came up with the idea of reusing them creatively by reversing the demolition process. “Moloch” materializes from the ashes of consumption festivals.

“Moloch” only pretends to greatness; it is in fact a shell that will fall apart at any moment, but is it for sure?. Piotr Kolanko’s installation is on all the things that we do not want to take and throw away immediately after use. The “Moloch” brand sets up a stand in a toilet – a place where we leave our waste and do not take anything from it.

“Objects in mirror are closer than they appear” may be considered a slogan whose high frequency of occurrence has taken away the original meaning of the warning. The phrase loses its usefulness, slowly becoming a synonym for travel. “Moloch” clearly reminds that “Objects in mirror are closer than they appear” is also a disturbing prediction of an approaching danger and accident.

Robert Domżalski

The Snakes

May 14, 2024 No Comments

Technical Specifications:Snake dimensions: 3×3 m, height 1.5 m, weight 40kg all of tougher, oiled steel, profile 4×4.Concrete blocks and bricks symbolize residential construction. The three snake figures represent the most primitive and primal force of unconsciousness. As aptly noted by Juan Eduardo Cirlot, due to its origin, physiognomy, and habits, the snake may correspond to a greater diversity of symbolic concepts directly associated with it. For example, its undulating silhouette symbolizes the force of life, while its intricate movement has become a symbol of unsolved mysteries. The sudden and inexplicable appearances symbolize the untamed forces of unconsciousness that can seize control of human beings. The snake has always been an object of cult and fear, symbolizing invincible and eternal strength and the mysteries of life. The sculpture was created in 2024 and was exhibited in industrial spaces that already had a context of passing, the blending of the new and the old, and the representation of the snake as a guardian of secrets, hidden knowledge, and the proper order of things. This context can be reinstated in gallery spaces by adding bricks and concrete elements to the installation. Embedding the sculpture with symbols of the decay of the old world

The Window

May 4, 2024 No Comments

Piotr Kolano Video It is a private story about the perception of touching and the window. The symbol of the window has a high position in my symbols rating. This video is some kind of autoportrait, not only physical but also profound and transpersonal.

“Structure of reality” Process

April 18, 2024 No Comments

“Structure of Reality” is more a process than a finished work, resulting from the premonitions and intuitions I gathered while creating material on this subject. It’s a separate project I revisit several times a year, observing what changes within it, how it interacts with me, whether new contents emerge, or contexts are built upon. Writing an article about this process has rekindled my interest and provides another occasion to peer into the lion’s maw. Works in this field merge my interests in matter and rock with purely painterly issues such as color and trace. Naturally, as always in the process of creation, an entire symbolic layer emerges, encompassing experiences of war, change, libido, and sexuality. Change The initial brutality of the gesture is filled with sensitivity. In creating this cycle, I operate in a highly intuitive manner that allows me to simultaneously capture both violent and subtle phenomena. I remain interested in movement, penetration, and transformation. The relationships between macro and micro realities, various waves, influences, and currents that in their relentless pursuit of their own goals and interests forge areas unique to themselves. The moment when one entity becomes another fascinates me. Harmony? Scope As a living being, man