NEW YORK, NY.- GR gallery opened the first solo exhibition of Magda Kirk with the gallery and in the U.S. after various collaborations in the past years. Titled “CLOSER”, this show will present a series with an intense focus on the artist’s characters self discovering - experimenting with layers of visual obstruction she manages to go deeper into her protagonists psyche - and understanding how their body as a vessel moves through the world. This presentation will introduce to the public ten large size artworks on canvas and a wall painting; the exhibition design and installation will include several wall decorations, executed by the artist, that will frame and elevate the works to a higher degree. This new body of work, exemplarily executed with the artist airbrush signature technique, offers a fresh twist on Magda’s traditional vision, showing this partially formed, beheaded nude and buff bodies covered in tattoos, enhanced with fluorescent, blurry, cotton candy-like nuances, engaged in empowering yet ironic activities.

Dubbed 'CLOSER', this new series will adjust the global composition of Magda's works imposing a stronger focus on details and part of the bodies, rather than the full figures, and on the different kind of relation that occurs in between her characters. A special attention is also dedicated to the viewer and to how the work evolves and changes according the angle and the distance it is observed from. The configuration starts to slowly fade away when moving closer to the work, the details magically blend together and eventually seems like that what we were looking at disappeared, generating an uncommonly balanced abstract artwork.

Magda Kirk graduated cum laude from the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk, Poland in 2015. During her graduation, her work stood out in academic circles, receiving many positive reviews. Shortly after graduating, Magdalena decided to leave academic style, matter and concepts behind: the traditional outlook and style hindered her development. Kirklewska has taken the time to reinvent herself both personally and artistically through extensive travels throughout Europe. During these travels, her ideas about art, expression and the world around her became increasingly clear.

Like the anonymous torsos of classical antiquity, Kirklewska shows her subjects without heads or recognizable individual features: in fact, they are anonymous portraits. An attempt has been made to capture the character through a different way of communication than the often well-readable facial expression. The artist does not want to be too literal in her presentation, so that a beautiful boundary between real and unreal remains. Her painting revolves around the theme of body image. She creates subjective impressions of ordinary, contemporary people who struggle with their identity, self-esteem, and self-expression. “I often get surprised by bodies. I think it’s a weird experience to have a body”, Kirk said about her work. In the past few years she extensively exhibited in solo and group shows all around Asia, Europe and U.S.

GR gallery
Magda Kirk: 'CLOSER'
August 4th, 2023 - August 26th, 2023