the street is our gallery

The latest installation by Crystal Wagner in the city of Lodz is colourful and exaggerated. Created under the UNIQA art projects flag. C.Wagner explains his aim: “Hyperbolic is a wild exterior growth that wraps around the art nouveau façade of a 100 year old building in Lodz, Poland. I am interested in the dialog between architecture and organic forms and structures found in nature. It is a hybrid born of the modern and exotic landscapes that investigates through juxtaposition and context our relationship with our cultivated spaces/structures and our relationship with the natural world”.

Michał Bieżyński, Art Director of UNIQA Art Łódź project, explains:

“American artist Crystal Wagner, independently if she’s working in the closed gallery’s interiors or in the public space, she’s creating large-scale art installations. Her work is a typical “site-specific” stuff, something that is designed and prepared from the beginning directly for one, particular place. Wagner is taking over the space – while she’s working in the galleries, she’s transforming it’s interiors into unreal, multicolor “worlds” like from the outer spaces. Her outside realizations are creating the impression of “devouring” different elements of architecture and street infrastructure. Wagner is usually using the everyday textile and synthetic materials to create her amorphous, organic structures. For the main fundaments of Lodz’s installation she used very thin, metal, “chicken wire” and together with the students of Lodz’s Academy of Fine Arts, she wrapped them with very light, UV proof and waterproof “Ripstop” material, that normally is used for the professional production of kites. The main aim of Wagner’s work is no to wrap around the building like for example the Bulgarian artists Christo. Her Lodz’s installation has a site specific character, so Wagner is adjusting her work to the architectonical and compositional structures of the building. I’m really glad that we’ve found the perfect location for that installation – directly on Piotrkowska street (the city center of Lodz) with the great exposition for the citizens. The “art nouveau” style and grey color of the façade, seems to be perfect background for the very colorful and abstractive Crystal’s piece of art. The exposition of the installation is planned for at least 3 months, till the mid December”.

Check out how this project was created:

Project: UNIQA Art Łódź
Address: ul. Piotrkowska 29, Lodz
Artist: Crystal Wagner
Title: “Hyperbolic”
Curator: Michał Bieżyński @lodzmurals
Main Sponsor: UNIQA
Organizer: Łódzkie Centrum Wydarzeń
Technical Partner: RIWAL Poland
Photos: Maciej Stempij

This project is supported by: