Provoked by Yves Klein’s Anthropometry, Paul Kolazinski’s paintings are a raw exploration of the human body and its capacity for both creativity and pain. The genesis of these works began when the artist reached his current weight of approximately six hundred pounds. He meticulously covers his body in International Klein Blue paint, a color closely associated with Yves Klein himself, and transfers the paint directly onto canvas using press painting techniques. Alongside these powerful paintings, Kolazinski’s portrait drawings impart the depth and courage of his vulnerability.
Kolazinski’s paintings bring up simple unconsidered questions: Is all art a manifestation or transference of the body. Is art an armor to hide behind or a substitute avatar of the artist? Klein explored these questions to some degree in his own work, but whereas he made reference to the optimal health of the body in Judo or the beauty of the body painting by female models, Kolazinski interrogates his own shame and the shame of the art industry. While Klein explores the high end world of alchemy and money, Kolazinski explores the low end world of trauma and poverty.
Join us for an unflinching look at the ways in which past processes shape the present self.
Starting at 12pm on Saturday, April 22nd, LIBERTINE will host a public observation of the artist in the process of crafting these large-scale paintings. Following will be an opening reception held from 6-9pm.
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