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Dorota Jurczak
materace, 2021
Crayon on Lithography in two colors
64,5 x 51 cm
Edition: 1/1
signed, dated
The figures we encounter in the world of Dorota Jurczak are just as enigmatic, if in a different manner. People, creatures and birds appear in these paintings, usually alone. Often represented in striking colours, they stand out against the endless, empty and frequently monochrome background. On rare occasions, furniture and other objects characterise the setting, as is the case in her current lithographies for Provinz. Caryatid-like – or possibly merely lost in thought – an androgynous figure with a pointy nose, round, rouged cheeks and a quiff leans or props itself up against a pile of patterned mattresses that resembles a temple, sometimes towering above the figure, other times offering a roof over its head: protection. It almost seems as if Jurczak’s figures want to remind us of Austrian author Karl Kraus (1874-1936), who said, “Self-reflection is allowed, if the self is beautiful. It becomes a duty if the mirror is good.”