Jagoda Bednarsky
SHADOWLAND ET AL

Cover
Editor(s)

Oldenburger Kunstverein

Author(s)

Juliet Kothe, Miriam Bettin

Design

Aoki & Matsumoto / Blila

Size

21 x 28 cm

Cover

Linen hardcover with embossing

Pages

160

Illustrations

109

Language(s)

German, English

ISBN

978-3-96912-165-8

Jagoda Bednarsky’s (b. Złotoryja, Poland, 1988; lives and works in Berlin) paintings are pop-cultural and nostalgic borrowings that she transfers into the grotesque register, with allusions to stereotyped role models between hypermasculinity and matriarchy. Unfurling pastel-colored hillscapes composed of breasts, breast pumps, vulvas, figures from Greek myth, and motifs from flora and fauna, Bednarsky’s Shadowland series interrogates traditional ideas of femininity and motherhood. The depiction of the female breast serves as a metaphor referring to the titular “Shadowland,” where this part of the body is still perceived as a sexualized object rather than as natural. The title, one might note, is borrowed from a culture magazine first published in New York in 1919 in which the artist spotted Art Deco illustrations that became a vital source of inspiration. Despite the dense aggregation of fraught symbols and referential gestures, the sensual, poetic, and richly imaginative works exude a lightness that stems from their translucency and subtle irony.

The comprehensive volume presents Bednarsky’s works from between 2018 and 2023 and a singular conversation with the artist.

Jagoda Bednarsky studied fine arts, first at Kunsthochschule Kassel (2008–2009), then at HfBK Städelschule, Frankfurt am Main, with Michael Krebber and Monika Baer (2009–2014).

Shopping cart0
There are no products in the cart!