Inside Job / Ula Luciń ska & Michał Knychaus

Whispers from the Cracked Horizon

Indistinct whispering gradually merges into background noise. Only familiar references, shapes, colours and materials remain, activating memories, ambiguous emotions and flashbacks of nostalgia for situations yet to be experienced. An inexplicable feeling of fragmentary déjà vu culminates in tantalizing frustration from the inability to decode the seen. Reflections of metallic objects, razor-sharp delineations, machine-cut curves, technologization of artistic procedures and identifiable de-humanizing of processes graciously contrast with visual traces of bodily remains, organic shapes or fragments of fragile materials. It’s on the tip of our tongue, but still lost in oblivion. There’s no endorphin rush on the horizon.

The intimate exposition Whispers from the Cracked Horizon in the Šopa Gallery in Košice offers a mysteriously toned illusion of post-industrial ruins in an unknown country. Hostile metallic objects, sharp edges, sterile polished areas or an omnipresent monochromatic grey are placed in intentional contrast with organic structures, leather, textiles, expressive and decorative forms or discreet lights.

The Polish artistic duo Inside Job (Ula Luciń ska and Michał Knychaus) create imaginative scenes and complex environments communicating a post-apocalyptic vision of an alternative reality. Wrapping objects and special installations into time capsules, they combine a speculative idea about a distant past with a vision of a fictitious future. Fusion of formal styling, material diversity and visual abstraction is typical for their original programme. Inside Job work with fragments of found objects, synthetizing them with elements influenced by technological processes and industrial production. Cold metal materials are combined with hand-coloured textile or recycled leather. They use their own database of procedures, materials and ornaments in their artwork, collaging, layering or interchanging them in imaginative installations.

Inside Job is a duo of artists – Ula Luciń ska (b. 1992, Poland) and Michał Knychaus (b. 1987, Poland). They both live and work in Poznań, after graduating from the University of Arts in Poznań and study trips to Athens and Naples. Together they have participated in residencies in Bergen (NO), Vilnius (LT), Prague (CZ), Biel/Bienne (CH), Nicosia (CY) and Burgdorf (CH). They were shortlisted in various competitions, e.g. the Allergo Prize, 2020, Poznań City Award for Emerging Artists, 2020 and Artagon IV, Paris, 2018. Currently they head a studio for visiting artists at the University of Arts in Poznań.

The exhibition project is supported using public funding by Slovak Arts Council.
Slovak Arts Council is the main partner of the project.
The project is also financially supported by City Košice.