At the PAC in Milan the solo exhibition of Polish artist Artur Żmijewski: When Fear Eats the Soul

Until June 12, 2022, PAC - Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea in Milan presents Quando la paura mangia l’anima, the first Italian solo exhibition of Artur Å»mijewski, among the most radical artists on the Polish scene. Curated by Diego Sileo, the exhibition showcases a selection of historical and recent works, including three new works conceived specifically for this project and produced by PAC, such as the new film inspired by neurologist Vincenzo Neri’s scientific cinema and the photographic series Refugees/Cardboards, a long black-and-white photographic mural from which emerge human figures with the appearance of refugees, men and women surrounded by darkness and desolation. The reference is to the many refugees at the Polish-Belarusian border during the summer and fall of 2021, but which becomes even more relevant today given the conflict in Ukraine.

His work is intended to reflect on the socio-political issues of our present and frequently analyze the mechanisms of power and oppression within the existing social order; theinstinctive human inclination to evil is also made clearly visible. Å»mijewski’s projects investigate the relationship between extreme emotions and their physical expressions, address theinterruption of the human body and cognitive functioning in complex cases such as illness or disability, and also analyze the mechanisms of memory and collective trauma.

Through symbolization, the artist establishes a complex system of representation in which fear is developed in terms of social control. When fear becomes the master of our lives, one can be tempted by overwhelming mechanisms or one can accept the yoke of submission; or one can play both roles simultaneously, or one can try to understand when fear devours our soul. As Rainer Werner Fassbinder explains in his 1974 film, to which the title of the exhibition is meant to pay homage, fear eats the soul is an expression used by Arabs and North Africans to describe their condition as immigrants. Fear of a foreign and hostile environment, fear of not being able to see loved ones again, fear of loneliness, fear of death, fear of poverty, fear of being forgotten, fear of racism. In PAC’s exhibition project, fear is also that of illness, mental disorders and disability, fear of not being accepted, understood, fear of what we do not know and what frightens us.

For info: pacmilano.it

Hours: Tuesday through Sunday 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.; Thursday 10 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Closed Mondays.

Image: Artur Żmijewski, When Fear Eats the Soul (exhibition setup at PAC Milan, 2022). Photo by Nico Covre, Volcano Agency.

At the PAC in Milan the solo exhibition of Polish artist Artur Żmijewski: When Fear Eats the Soul

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