Wieslaw Michalak - Mala Gallery

Mala Gallery
8, Zamkowy Sq., Warsaw (Old Town)
January 3 - 20, 2005
Opening: Tuesday, Jan 3rd, 6 PM
Finissage : Tuesday, Jan 20th, 6 PM

Wiesław Michalak - Digital investigations

Wiesław Michalak, from series "Digital investigations", chromogenic print 30"x40"
exhibition at Mala Gallery in Warsaw, Poland, January 2006.

THE CYCLE titled 'Digital Investigations' investigates the relationship between traditional reverse photographic process and digital imaging. In some way, the nature of this relationship is a suitable metaphor for expressing a difference between an image and a narrative built from it. All details have been minimized in order to emphasize significant content and meaning. The composition intentionally conceals any external point of reference. Thus, scale, object, or distance are difficult but not impossible to read. In this way a point has been reached where form becomes nearly abstract but not quite. Digitally manipulated images were used as a light source and another layer of information. Such combination of ways of creating images - analogue and digital - often produces unexpected results. It is difficult, or all but impossible, to determine with any certainty where digital imaging ends and analogue photography starts and vice versa.

Digital imaging or “technical images” are only the latest installment in a long tradition of human attempts to arrest entropy – the inevitable process of decay. We do not merely produce information, we attempt to preserve it and pass onto further generations. To act against nature is a fundamental property of human spirit – the very essence and, perhaps, purpose of broadly defined culture. At this point in time, pages of a book illuminated by a digital image are as far from nature as we can get.

Wiesław Michalak

Wiesław Michalak, from series "Digital investigations", chromogenic print 30"x40"
exhibition at Mala Gallery in Warsaw, Poland, January 2006.

Wiesław Michalak, from series "Digital investigations", chromogenic print 30"x40"
exhibition at Mala Gallery in Warsaw, Poland, January 2006.

DIGITAL photography has already established its presence in the world of advertisments, newspapers and books and in other areas of our reality. It is also true about art.

Growing availability and possibility of easy recording of images raises questions concerning the essence of widening of our perception and the widened influence of the image on our awareness. Will the more precise methods of recording result in change of perception of scenes being recorded? Are we - having more advanced instruments, in this case still and movie cameras - obtaining unknown and not perceived up to now fragments of the picture that categorically change our relation to the recorded reality? We already know well how far we can go with digital manipulation of the image, how to record the image on a verge of credibility or even generate a new, virtual reality.

A year ago Marek Czarnecki in his project “Media War” somewhat tired of being constantly forced to learn possibilities of new media, presented his vision of victory of classic photography.

Wiesław Michalak in his exhibition tries in a way to mix and confront the two techniques in order to achieve, as he is claiming, unexpected results. It is interesting attempt to show where “analogue photography” ends and “digital imaging” begins. This border line may be hard to define.

Marek Grygiel
Warszawa, December 15th, 2005

Wiesław Michalak, from series "Digital investigations", chromogenic print 30"x40"
exhibition at Mala Gallery in Warsaw, Poland, January 2006.

Wiesław Michalak
Born in Łodz in 1955. In 1981 he has emigrated to France, later to Canada, Australia and UK. Since 1994 he lives and works in Toronto. In Lodz, he studied Earth Sciences, Philosophy and Aesthetics under supervision of Prof. Tadeusz Pawłowski. He has completed his studies in France and Canada, then studied image arts and graduated with a Ph.D in digital image processing. Since 1989 he has lectured at Universities in Australia, UK, and Canada. Currently he is a Professor at Ryerson University in Toronto and where he supervises masters students in documentary media and photography. He participated in numerous group and individual exhibitions in Canada, USA, Germany, and Poland. He has authored many texts on image processing, globalization, and photography.

The author and the gallery gratefully acknowledge the support for this exhibition from the School of Image Arts at the Ryerson University in Toronto and from FF Gallery in Lodz.

Wiesław Michalak, from series "Digital investigations", chromogenic print 30"x40"
exhibition at Mala Gallery in Warsaw, Poland, January 2006.

Zobacz też:

The exhibition of W. Michalak is the 355th exhibition presented during 28 years of existence of the Mała Gallery. This exhibition ends activity of the Gallery. We'd like to thank all who cooperated with the Gallery during these years and benevolently accompanied its activity. We hope that the work of the Mala Gallery will have its lasting place in history of photographic art.

Marek Grygiel, Krzysztof Wojciechowski, Zbigniew Chmielewski

All artists and friends of Mala are invited for Finissage of the exhibition (and the Gallery itself) on January 20th, 6 PM.

Opening of Wiesław Michalak's exhibition at Mala Gallery in Warsaw, Poland, January 3rd, 2006. Photo by Wiktor Nowotka.

Spis treści