Artist
Kacper Szalecki
Kacper Szalecki is a cultural animator and visual artist focused on photography, installation, and performance. He studies New Media and Digital Culture at the University of Łódź.
He debuted as a photographer in 2016 at Krakow Photomonth with the “Olympia’s Diary” project. From 2017 to 2019, he was part of art collective Fashion House Limanka, whose works were presented as individual exhibitions in the Museum of Art in Łódź and Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art in Warsaw. He currently works at the Museum of Art in Łódź, where he is curating the “Save as a draft” program of Instagram art residencies.
Potopia
Potopia project is probably the combination of the words Poland and utopia. The project was initiated by the research on the Polish emblem in 2015 and is continued individually till this day. It relates to the topics concerning the representations of Polish identity and its alternative versions. Since 2019, he is simultaneously developing the quasi-scientific field of Eagle studies along with prof. T.Majewski, which focuses on the cultural representations of this heraldic animal. Within 5 years, the project was embodied in individual works that make up a coherent vision of a pink and yellow Poland. The artist, while realizing his goals, discovers himself (Self-portrait 2016), plays with local authorities - but only in 80% (2018). He collaborates with other artists, among others Tomasz Armada, Jakub Dylewski, Alex Freiheit, Sasa Lubińska, Aga Murak, Hanka Podraza, Judyta Zariczniak. He includes his family members in his actions (The Military Man 2017), recreates national artifacts and orders (Order of the Yellow Eagle 2018), consistently expanding the Potopian imaginarium.