Contemporary Art Gallery in Łomża, Poland had the privilege of hosting the extraordinary exhibition “Existing Landscape” by the immensely talented Beata Szczecińska, widely known by her artistic alias Cityabyss. Taking place from 14th to 30th June 2023, this captivating display of visual art and design truly immersed visitors in a thought-provoking exploration of the contemporary human experience.
www.muzeum.lomza.pl
www.cityabyss.com
www.instagram.com/cityabyss
Graduating from the esteemed Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow, Beata Szczecińska delves into the intricate topics of individual identity within a world brimming with supersaturation, instability, and volatility. Through her creative process, she masterfully employs fragment, montage, and image manipulation, seamlessly juxtaposing the remnants of the past with the uncertainties of the present, instigating a reflection on absence and disappearance. This fusion of formal solutions, symbolization of content, and image processing not only ensures the legibility of forms but also integrates autonomous abstraction and narrative formality.
As a testament to her prodigious talent, Szczecińska is the recipient of the prestigious artistic creation scholarship from the Marshal of the Podlaskie Voivodeship for 2023. Her accolades further include the coveted Gold Medal in the “Illustration” category at the esteemed GOSEE AWARDS in Berlin in 2019. She has also been honoured with an Art Scholarship and Ello’s Creative Excellence Awards in Los Angeles in 2017.
Szczecińska’s works have graced various prominent exhibitions across the globe, with notable showcases at renowned institutions such as the Oscar Niemeyer Museum in Brazil, Palais de Tokyo in Paris, and the Contemporary Art Gallery in Katowice, among numerous others. Her creations have been published in esteemed publishing houses like Die Gestalten Verlag, Maomao, Anova, and RotoVision. Notably, her artistry has garnered the attention of respected international publications including Elle, Computer Arts, IdN, and Varoom.
Moreover, Szczecińska’s design acumen extends beyond her visual artistry. She has crafted an exclusive series of abstract compositions for esteemed establishments such as the Puro Hotel in Poznan and the Kinsterna Hotel in Greece. She has also made her mark through captivating murals at prominent locations including the Polish State Railways, Lodz Fabryczna Station, and Bank BGK at the Warsaw Main Metro Station and Varso Place Complex. In fact, her endeavours for Bank BGK were commissioned as part of the bank’s 95th-anniversary celebrations.
The centrepiece of the “Existing Landscape” exhibition is a snapshot frozen in time—a portrait of the ever-evolving contemporary landscape. The variable, unstable, and unpredictable nature of reality takes centre stage as Szczecińska sought to capture the ephemeral essence of the present moment. Through a meticulous combination of manually and digitally manipulated fragments of photographs and drawings, she constructs a metaphorical representation of alienation in a world increasingly connected yet growing further apart. Reduction, repetition, disappearance, and fragmentation intertwine, evoking concepts of volatility and transience.
The exhibition at the Contemporary Art Gallery in Łomża was enriched by a carefully curated selection of works from Szczecińska’s previous three series, as well as press illustrations and advertisements she has masterfully created over the years. Truly, “Existing Landscape” was a testament to the artist’s artistic maturity, technical prowess, and profound ability to provoke insightful contemplation.
As the recipient of the Scholarship of the Marshal of the Podlaskie Voivodeship in the field of artistic creativity for 2023, Beata Szczecińska’s “Existing Landscape” exhibition leaves an indelible mark on the contemporary art scene. The ethereal landscapes and profound commentary on liquid modernity reverberate within the minds of those fortunate enough to experience this masterful collection firsthand.
To learn more about Beata Szczecińska’s captivating works, visit her website cityabyss.com or follow her on Instagram @cityabyss.
For more information about upcoming exhibitions at Contemporary Art Gallery in Łomża, Poland, kindly visit the gallery’s official website: muzeum.lomza.pl
