Comic. Urban Myths – MOCAK, Cracow | Art by Joanna Karpowicz

MOCAK, Museum of Contemporary Art in Cracow stands out on the background of more traditional, local art institutions. Maybe that’s why they dare to put comic works on their walls. “Comic. Urban Myths”, a group exhibition of five artists started on 17th of February, 2012 and finished on 49th of April, 2012. The works of Malgorzata Jabłońska, Agnieszka Piksa, Kuba Woynarowski, Mariusz Tarkawian and mine were presented in MOCAK’s Beta Gallery.

Here is how Monika Kozioł, the curator of the exhibition, speaks about the project: Urban myths are stories circulated by the Internet and other media as well as spread within social groups. They provoke strong emotional responses and inspire the passing on of the stories which thus become a hybrid gossip and acquire a life of their own . It isn’t always the case that urban myths are pure fiction. Some of the events in these stories really did happen or contain a grain of truth. The works shown at the exhibition are somehow related to the phenomenon of urban myths – the artists create brand new myths or transform existing ones. Urban myths describe disturbing and incredible events, which stem from common fears, and some of them are cautionary tales. All the works employ the technique of the comic strip, with its characteristic strong narrative quality. The main goal of the exhibition is to present various techniques which can be employed to create a comic strip (drawing, painting or installation) as well as to highlight the significance of the comics genre as an art discipline.

Once again, the curator, Monika Kozioł, this time about my pictures: We shall not find the most popular myths in the painitings by Joanna Karpowicz. The artist is interested in creating her own mythology. These include oneiric scenes from the nightlife of the metropolis or visions of a futuristic town, where the No. 15 tram soars the sky, serving people and animals on equal terms. In showing possible scenarios for the future, the artist tries to appease the fear of the unknown. Most of the paintings consist of three frames and are a part of longer story.