En face. En trois quart. En pied. Nuptial, collective or self-portraits, showing the model in diverse ways, under various circumstances and with different techniques, are among the oldest types of representational art and a rich source of information about our ancestors – how they lived over the centuries, what interested them and even what diseases plagued them.
Commissioning a famous artist to do a portrait used to be an indicator of status, a visible sign of belonging to a given social class and a means of ensuring immortality. We know famous depictions of rulers, scholars and members of the elite, but also more intimate portraits immortalising people from the artist’s environment – other artists, friends or family members.
In 2020, during the pandemic, Kasia Kmita started a project called Portrait Studio. It was based on the idea that anyone could send her their photo, which Kmita used to make a cut-out portrait and then published on a specially created profile on Instagram.
Today, when the pandemic restrictions are slowly being lifted, the artist can use more traditional methods of working live with a model. The lack of a virtual distance or barrier in the form of a screen glass allows her to get a better look at the model, understand their character and personality.
The project Portrait Studio 2022 will be carried out with the involvement of the residents of Wrocław.
In the Concordia Design Wrocław building on Słodowa Island, a public portrait studio will be arranged for a period of two months, during which Kasia Kmita will create visitors’ portraits. They will include both well-known figures who have rendered great services for the culture of Wrocław, as well as people who applied to participate in the project.
Kasia Kmita often portrays members of her environment: artists, curators, journalists, but also people she meets by chance. Like the old masters of painting, she focuses not only on showing the physical likeness of a given person, but also on capturing their character and the social context in which they function. Kmita presents her models with accompanying attributes, paying special attention to the details of their outfit or manner of being. What emerges as a result is not just the model’s portrait, but a depiction of the times in which they live, the customs and trends that they follow.
The works created as a result of the project Portrait Studio will make up a collective representation of today’s inhabitants of Wrocław, which will reflect the character of the city and its residents. We hope that it will provide our descendants with valuable information about life in Wrocław in the 2020s.
VENUE: Concordia Design Wrocław, Poland
ORGANISER: Krupa Gallery
CURATOR: Anna Stec
ABOUT THE ARTIST:
Kasia Kmita (b. 1972) studied at the Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Art and Design in Wrocław. In 1996 she received a diploma in painting.
In her practice Kmita primarily uses a meticulously refined form of traditional papercutting. Her works often contain insights about the latest trends, lifestyles and everyday life in the city, including relatively new urban traditions that have already taken root in our culture. She carefully observes changes in society, analyses the desires and mechanisms governing human behaviour. By combining elements of Polish folklore with pop culture symbols, Kasia Kmita’s work create a colourful portrait of contemporary times.
She lives and works in Wrocław.
