Exhibition of Alicja Gruca's works – Think Flamingo
The exhibition in the Baltic Sea Cultural Centre is the outcome of a nearly quarter of a century of painting and stage design experience.
Costume, object and sound are the components of a unique art event. It is not necessary to recognise all references to the artist's own works and selected happenings from the world of art included in Ala Gruca's art pieces to get the message she wants to convey. Her admiration of the perversity of beauty, perfectly executed correlation between the costume and the character in each of the exhibits makes them whole, gives them a human dimension, unique but intimate. Her rebellious sense of humour, with punk and camp undertones, is one of the distinctive features of her art. Those on closer terms with Ala know that her uncompromising expression, not only artistic, is always based on total honesty. For those uninitiated it may sound like naivety, but they could not be more wrong. Gruca can fight tooth and nail for unrestricted artistic expression. She dresses her stage characters, TV celebrities or children going to a Halloween party with the same attention to detail. For her, the costume and the person, or object, constitute a whole. Gruca's characters are trans-cultural, equally applauded and admired on a truck at the Berlin Love Parade, a vast outdoor stage of Arcos da Lapa in Rio de Janeiro, or Europa Stage at Shanghai World Expo.
She received a distinction for her pastel drawings of Sopot, an award of the Marshal of the Pomeranian Voivodeship for her costumes for the performance of Life is s Dream, as well as the Sopot Muse and Pomeranian Art Award. Mother of Ziemowit , Klementyna and Sfinks – Alicja Gruca
About the Artist:
Alicja Gruca – Florczak– painter, stage designer, creator of installations and art objects, hundreds of unique costumes and a series of 7 intricate chasubles for St. John's Church in Gdańsk. A member of “Sphinx Trans-Species Theatre”. Author of a series of “Sopot Pastel Paintings” prizewinner at Biennial Pastel Competition in Nowy Sącz.
Initiator and curator of a series of exhibitions titled “Museum of Curiosities”: “Museum of Curiosities” Vol 1,2,3 in Sfinks Foundation Gallery in Sopot, “Museum of Curiosities” Vol.4 – St. John's Centre in Gdańsk, and “Museum of Curiosities” Vol.5 in Sopot former Berger's villa – 2013. Her works have been presented in the USA, Brazil, China, Germany, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland. Together with Robert Florczak, she created, rebuilt and ran Sfinks in Sopot, a club and gallery known of national and international renown. Sfinks – art space and venue of numerous exhibitions, art balls and performances. They have received many awards for their club and art activities, such as: Gdańs Voivode Award for an Outstanding Art Event, Pomeranian Griffin from the Marshal of the Pomeranian Voivodeship.
Author of costumes and puppets for performances in theatres of Gdynia, Gdańsk, Lublin, Warsaw, Grudziądz and Kalisz. The performances have received multiple awards, e.g.: Shakespeare's “Midsummer Night's Dream” – Audience Award – Grudziądz 2001
Full biographical entry for download (pdf)
EXHIBITION PREVIEW: 5 November, 6 p.m., free admission
EXHIBITION OPEN from 7 January 2015, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
“Temple of All Arts” directed by Robert Florczak; costumes and make-up by Alicja Gruca – Gdańsk, St. John's Centre 2011.
