Joanna Piotrowska: unseeing eyes, restless bodies | Institute of Contemporary Art
By Ava Dettling for Musée Magazine
August 12, 2024
Joanna Piotrowska’s unseeing eyes, restless bodies invites the viewer to uncover a hidden intimacy and truth within themselves through a series of anonymous figures expertly and mysteriously pictured by Piotrowska. The exhibit resides at the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania, delighting and mesmerizing viewers from July 13 until December 1. Through 26 photographs, one video, and an adeptly designed exhibition space, Piotrowska explores the performance of relationships — both the good and the bad. Whether evoking intimacy, violence, tension, or control, Piotrowska dissects with no hesitation the reality and complexity of everyday interaction.
This solo exhibition marks Piotrowska’s first in the United States, although it includes works from both past and present. The Polish artist is based in London, but her work spans geographical boundaries through its relatability and exploration of the human condition. Her photographs are not just still images, but performances unto themselves: the performance of romance, of family, of friends, and of strangers — it is the performance of life. While she examines the harsh realities of these dynamics, including hierarchies of power, anxieties, and conventions, she also handles them with care and affection, unveiling to us what not many can see: the complexity of the everyday.
Many of the figures depicted in the exhibition are obscured in some way. Some are not even in frame. Hands and bodies assume the place of their owners in a synecdochical performance. Faces are only partially revealed, sometimes even suppressed by an encroaching figure. Here is where the heartbeat of Piotrowska’s work lies.