Stroboskop (Warsaw, PL) and DĄĄB (Brooklyn, NY) are excited to present POWER POSE, a 50-minute video anthology that draws inspiration from Stroboskop’s first two exhibitions of the 2019 season, ‘Objects of Worship’ by Jan Możdżyński and ‘Trojan Horse’ by Leann Herlihy.
The notion of ‘power posing’ was first formally introduced in 2010 by a team of American social psychologists who claimed that by positioning the body in a specific way (think superhero: Wonder Woman) you create the illusion of power. This idea has been touted to American women ad nauseam, entangling stereotypes of gender, power, sexuality and patriarchy and condensing it to the maxim: fake it ‘til you make it.
POWER POSE brings together artists living and working across the globe (Poland, Germany, Australia, the United States), making work that engages ideas about emotional and political boundaries, and the flexibility and subversion of contemporary ideologies. Like Jan Możdżyński’s paintings in ‘Objects of Worship’ many of these videos are speculative exercises, exploring the possibility of creating monuments to queer or othered bodies and communities, monuments that commemorate joy, sexual pleasure, etc. Others echo a visual language floating between sport, traditional dress and S&M, a similar strategy employed by Warsaw-based Irish artist Leann Herlihy in her upcoming exhibition ‘Trojan Horse’. Herlihy often explores the tools and systems of subjugation and oppression of female bodies through time, this exhibition is focusing most directly on the history of equestrianism and its relationship to contemporary gymnastics. These themes play out through performance, sculpture, and photography.
POWER POSE is a conversation about power, queering, monuments, boundaries as well as gender and the (non)binary. It is a collaboration between two artist-run spaces, bridging distinct conversations on contemporary, universal themes.
Katie Zazenski, Stroboskop Art and Space Martyna Szczęsna, DĄĄB
You can view the full program as a permanent exhibition on YouTube
Featured Artists:
00:12-03:22 The Motel Sisters “That’s Fantastic” (2006)
03:29-07:36 Bella Ćwir “Cute” (2018)
07:42-09:53 Pixy Liao “Walking in my Shoes” (2013)
10:03-16:37 Mutant Salon “Excorsices” (2016)
16:43-17:58 Tommy Kha “Atlas” (2013-present)
18:07-19:19 Jakub Gliński “Your Mom is a Nice Lady” (2014)
19:25-20:48 Audra Wist “Bombshell” (2014)
20:54-22:52 Mahsa Biglow “In-Between Boundaries” (2016)
22:58-26:35 Jakub Gliński “Celebration of Decay” (2019)
26:42-36:29 Mikołaj Sobczak+Hyein Han “Choo-Choo” (2017)
36:37-39:51 Tommy Kha “Awkward Film Series” (2018)
40:02-48:00 Catherine Cramer “A Boxed Rebellion” (2019)
48:08-52:54 Bella Ćwir “Drogie Ciuchy” (2017)
The exhibition was screened on Sunday, April 28 at DĄĄB and on Tuesday, April 30,2019 at Karrot Kawiarnia in Warsaw. The Warsaw screening was followed by a conversation with Léann Herlihy and Jan Możdżyński.
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