Gosia Wlodarczak’s explorations into video document and expand her multi-discipline practice. The core of her work is drawing, using surfaces such as walls, floors or even set dinner tables as live environments in which to draw “in the moment”. PSSZ7 (2004–05), Shared Space (2006), and Presence (2005–07) document her drawing performances and, although brief, remain compelling through their use of restrictive framing, letting the viewer see only a small portion of the action.
Tablecloth (2004–05) is more revealing, showing the artist at a dinner party moving from seat to seat while drawing directly on to a prepared tablecloth of canvas. As the diners chat and drink wine, the viewer witnesses the entire performance in a few brief minutes. To & Fro (2006) expands this approach directly into the video itself, the frame shifting back and forth over a series of static images using a basic animation technique to ‘draw’ directly into screen space.
4 Hours (2007) compresses a four-hour drawing performance piece into four minutes, starting with a series of simple drawings of everyday objects — light switches, machine parts — then building layers of lines until the entire screen is a dense and dazzling field of intersecting lines.
Selected solo exhibitions
Between Wander & Settlement, Western Gallery, Western Washington University, Bellingham, 2012, Frost Drawing for the Library, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Between Visit & Migration Fehily Contemporary, Melbourne, 2011, Between Visit & Migration, Australia Council Greene Street Studio, New York, 2010, Shared Space New York, Kentler International Drawing Space, New York, USA,Cinderella II - The Dreamer, South Australian School of Art Gallery, Adelaide, Safety Zone Szczecin, OFFicyna place for art, Sczecin, Poland, 2008, Looking, Boutwell Draper Gallery, Sydney, 2007. Living Edge, Gallery East, Fremantle, Skin of The Wall, Helen Maxwell Gallery, Canberra, Shared Space, Arc One Gallery, Melbourne, 2006. Space Active, PICA, Perth, 2005.
Selected group exhibitions
2011 Singapore Biennale, Singapore, Pathway: Drawing In, On, and Through the Landscape, The Drawing Center and Big Screen Plaza, New York, 2011, Freehand: Recent Australian Drawing, Heide Museum of Art, Melbourne, Contemporary Australian Drawing 1, RMIT Gallery, Melbourne, SMS, National Museum, Szczecin, Multiple Matters - Grafische Konzepte, Künstlerhaus, Vienna, JADA Jacaranda Drawing Award, Grafton Regional Gallery, 2010, 2008, 2004, The Dobell Drawing Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2010, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003,I walk the line: new Australian drawing, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, International Print Triennial, Krakow, Sound Vision 2009, Bellingham Electronic Arts Festival, 2009, Marking Space, COFAspace, Sydney, 2008 National Works on Paper, Morinington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Kontrapunkt: International Performers Festival, Szczecin, 2008, Chance & Necessity, Kentler International Drawing Space, New York, 2007, Fleurieu Peninsula Biennale, South Australia, The Free Press, Röda Sten, Göteborg, Sweden, The Robert Jacks Drawing Prize, Bendigo Art Gallery, Australia (2006 & 2005, 2004, 2002), Fifth Drawing Biennale, Drill Hall Gallery, Canberra, 2004.
Selected publications
Air Conditioned 2011 Singapore Biennale Open Home, Biennale Catalogue, 2011, Gosia Wlodarczak, Studio International, Edinburgh, UK, 2011, Singapore Biennale 2011 — Open House Art Monthly Australia, May 2011, Scene setters The Straits Times, Life!, 8/3/11, Singapore, For you Singapura The Jakarta Post, 26/3/2011, Jakarta, Exploring drawing’s possibilities The Age, 19/01/2011 Melbourne, On drawing: Gosia Wlodarczak’s quest SASA Gallery University of SA, Adelaide, 2008, Drawn from head and heart, The Sydney Morning Herald, 28-29 July, 2007,Artists face the firing squad, The West Australian Weekend, 4 November, 2006. Gallery wall wrapped in Wlodarczak skin The Canberra Times/Times2, 1 October, 2006. Mastering the art of going right up the wall, The Canberra Times/News, September 2, 2006., NOW (Gosia Wlodarczak drawing 1986-2004), a monograph, Dr. David Bromfield, Brown Art, Perth