Don’t fear the shadows - ART AGENDA NOVA, Lesser Poland, Kraków

Shadow is a phenomenon that combines two seemingly opposing emotions – anxiety and curiosity. It has potential to hide, obscure phenomena and things, while simultaneously revealing their second nature. Perhaps more tragicomic, perhaps rough and grotesque, and yet equally true. Shadow is an inseparable element of light, a symbol of what is hidden, elusive, and yet present. The more intense the light, the more distinct the shadow. Only the combination of two potentially distant elements is the path to fullness, in which both components are treated equally – they are recognized and understood.

The starting point for working on the idea of the exhibition is a quote from Oscar Wilde: “Don’t be afraid of shadows, they only mean that light shines somewhere”. Their obvious perspicacity makes them the basis for considerations that are an immanent element of the exhibition, reflected on the canvases and in objects located in the space made available to viewers.

The exhibition presented in the Art Agenda Nova space is an invitation to discover by intensifying curiosity and searching for essential and important elements in places that are often invisible to the viewer, perhaps embarrassing, filled with sadness, or, more broadly speaking, uncomfortable. Reaching into oneself, getting to know the darkness, taming the darkness present in every being. The works of the artists presented at the exhibition enter into a dialogue with each other and with the audience, showing the phenomenon of shadow in a very broad way: from film references, reflections referring to ecology and archeology, human, intimate and „dark” sensuality, to anxious considerations and meditations on the well-known and clear symbolism connecting the recipient with the past. „Don’t be afraid of the shadows” is an attempt to combine an emotional journey with references to the reality surrounding us. Somewhere on the border. In between.

The Exhibition is part of the main programme of Cracow Art Week KRAKERS 2025: Sometimes I feel I am dreaming
Artists: Krzysztof Gil, Magdalena Lazar, Edyta Olszewska, Patrycja Piętka, Łukasz Stokłosa, Łukasz Surowiec, Jakub Woynarowski, Michał Zawada
Curator: Katarzyna Mierzwińska