Curatorial Notes

 

The works of Marta Czok have always intrigued the public in their ability to portray social scenes ranging from simple everyday life to the most complex global problems: migration, war and class struggles.

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In 2020, the Marta Czok Foundation was born with the intention of promoting the study and dissemination of this work. With a Permanent Collection in the historic centre of Castel Gandolfo (Rome) and a Project Space in Venice, the Foundation's programme integrates a retrospective look at the artist's works, from the early eighties to the present day, with artistic collaborations on a national and international level, through which the work can generate new ideas for dialogue and new opportunities for experimentation.

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The concept of 'archive' is fundamental in this mission. Creating an artist's archive is not only about preserving their works for the future, but also about exploring the life path that gave rise to these works, linking them together in various thematic itineraries. Each work is a standing document, but also part of a compendium of memories made, in this case, of images and narratives that intertwine with one another, as if they were branches of a tree – itself a symbol that we frequently find in Marta Czok's works.

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For Palazzo Mathis in Bra, this concept becomes the stimulus for a retrospective exhibition that looks at the artist's overall work, highlighting particular moments through a selection of four themes: AURUM (gold representations), CIVITAS (scenes of social life), VENUS (female representations),  URBS (cityscapes). According to these themes, paintings that span decades of work are explored, extrapolating new connections between them and marking their relevance in relation to the present.

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Archivum continues the 2024 programme of Fondazione Marta Czok, after the opening of the De Innocentia cycle  at the Palazzo di Vicolo Valdina at the Chamber of Deputies and the Urbe cycle for the Palazzo Montecitorio of the Parliament. The exhibition complements EX_PATRIA in Venice on the occasion of the Sixtieth Art Biennale, with the patronage of the Polish Embassy.