This episode of 'apropos' is a live interview with artist Marcin Dudek, recorded on a bus ride to the opening of his exhibition AKUMULATORY at IKOB, moderated by Brenda Guesnet (Curator, IKOB, Eupen) and Zuzanna Rachowska (Assistant Curator, Extra City Kunsthal, Antwerp).

In his work, Marcin Dudek (*1979, Kraków, PL) weaves together memories of his youth as part of the Polish generation that came of age after the dissolution of the Eastern bloc with a critique of society’s dependence on spectacle, power, and aggression. Working across installation, performance, sculpture, and painting, he uses found and salvaged materials, slicing and welding them together in an anti-readymade approach.

The bus trip brought a group of Marcin's friends and fans from Brussels to the artist's concurrent solo exhibition "The Group" at Extra City Kunsthal in Antwerp and then onwards to IKOB. In his talk, Marcin opened up about memories of other crazy bus rides during his time as a hooligan in Poland, connections between fanaticism and religion, feeling trapped between two worlds and the power of art to make a direct impact on people's lives.

AKUMULATORY is on view at IKOB from 19.09. to 26.11.2023.

Marcin Dudek studied at the University of Art Mozarteum, Salzburg, AT and Central Saint Martins, London, UK graduating in 2005 and 2007 respectively. Recent solo exhibitions include NEOPLAN, Edel Assanti, London, UK (2023); “THE GROUP, Kunsthal Extra City, Antwerp, BE (2023); ULTRASKRAINA, Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles, Paris, FR (2021); SLASH & BURN II, Harlan Levey Projects, Brussels, BE (2021); THE CROWD MAN, MWW Wrocław Contemporary Museum, Wroclaw, PL (2019); and THE LURE OF THE ARENA, MNAC National Museum of Contemporary Art, Bucharest, RO (2019). Selected group exhibitions include ART OF THE TERRACES, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, UK (2022); COLLAPSING, TEA Tenerife Espacio de las Artes, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, ES (2022); 8th Biennial of Painting, Museum Deinze and Museum Roger Ravel, Deinze, BE (2022); FUCK YOU, Kunstenhuis Haralbeke, BE (2021); DOPPELGANGER, Entreprendre & KANAL-Centre Pompidou, Brussels, BE (2021); PSYCHIC WOUNDS: ON ART & TRAUMA, The Warehouse, Dallas, US (2020); and “GIOCHI SENZA FRONTIERE, Palazzo Mazzarino, Manifesta12, Palermo, IT (2018). Dudek’s work is included in international collections including MWW Wroclaw Contemporary Museum, Wroclaw, PL and National Museum of Contemporary Art, Bucharest, RO. Dudek lives and works in Brussels.

All tracks are from the album Pornografia by Defekt Muzgó.

Special thanks to Olivia Perce (Studio Marcin Dudek), Harlan Levey Projects and Extra City Kunsthal.

Image: Exhibition view, Marcin Dudek, Baryzc, 2023 © IKOB - Museum of Contemporary Art, Photo: Lola Pertsowsky