DEAD MILITARY EXPO 2024 - a solo exhibition of Michał Czech

Opening: Thursday, 14 March 2024, 5 p.m.
Open until: Friday, 26 April 2024

ArtBrut Gallery
& Studio for Socio-Cultural Inclusion
46A Ruska Street, Wrocław

Exibition Artistic Mentor: Jarosław Słomski
Producer: Agnieszka Chojnacka

Michał Czech is a young, very intriguing artist from Wrocław, who has been associated with ArtBrut Gallery & Studio for two years. The artist has participated in a collective exhibition organised by the ArtBrut Gallery & Studio in 2023 entitled BEYOND TABOO X. BODY & SOUL.

Michał Czech is first and foremost a sculptor who uses play dough - a specific but widely used material - to create intricate objects full of fine detail. He can use this material in an unusual and rare way.

DEAD MILITARY EXPO 2024 is the artist's first solo exhibition, featuring a selection of works from previous projects as well as artworks prepared specifically for the exhibition. The title of the exhibition alludes to military fairs held around the world, where cutting-edge military technologies are showcased.

CURATORIAL TEXT / Jarosław Słomski

The DEAD MILITARY EXPO 2024 exhibition consists of more than 30 military-themed spatial works, full of horror, decay and sinister motifs. The artist is fascinated by militaria or rather their deconstruction. His sculptures depict more or less deconstructed military equipment - from rifles, tanks, self-propelled howitzers, and aeroplanes, to sunken battleships and man-animal monsters.

Michał Czech sculpts with play dough, which is usually the material used in preliminary sculptural work. It is used to create small, sketch models, is used for impressions in medal-making work, and seals plaster moulds. Available in any art supply shop and theoretically easy to work with, it mostly plays a secondary and auxiliary role. However, Czech treats it as a construction and final material. From it, he creates intricate sculptures full of detail of varying sizes and colours.

The exhibition takes the form of a dead militaria fair, featuring complex death machines, tools and perpetrators of crime. Czech's sculptures evoke gloomy associations, full of mud and rust. Although they are saturated with war, they convey a peaceful message - to use play dough in the arms industry instead of steel.