Ewa Wes
Ewa Wes (formerly Ewa Wesołowska)
Born in 1982 in Cracow, Poland
Ewa Wes’s art practice is grounded in a deep interest in time perception and cognitive science, with a particular focus on their impact on memory formation and recall. Her work examines the intricate relationship between awareness of perceptual mechanisms and the durability of memories. By capturing ephemeral phenomena invisible to the naked eye unfolding in ultra-short timeframes and juxtaposing them with enduring, process-oriented objects Ewa Wes creates dialogue between the temporary and the permanent.
Ewa Wes focuses on designing experiences that engage the viewer in both temporal and spatial dimensions. In her installations, she employs light as a medium to generate afterimages or subtly manipulates its intensity to shape the perception of the environment. Her works demand active participation: a momentary pause, the adjustment of one’s vision to changing conditions, movement between objects, or following certain paths and taking deliberate steps along the way. Ewa Wes’s artistic practice stem from a desire to visualize time and to highlight the inherent limitation of capturing only a fragment of its entirety.
In her doctoral dissertation (Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow, 2022, as Ewa Wesolowska), she explored the relationship between art and science, analyzing ways of representing time and space in art before and after the publication of the theory of relativity.
Wes draws inspiration from the Japanese concept of MA, which defines the space in between as a crucial element of experience. She intertwines this with the notion of liminality – a transitional state between the known and the unknown – crafting installations that heighten awareness of fleeting moments and the thresholds of perception.
Collaborations
WES & HEID – Critical Narratives and Transformations of Public Spaces
Ewa Wes collaborates with Marla Heid as part of the WES & HEID project, which was born at OPI – Of Public Interest Research Lab at the Royal Institute of Art (KKH) in Stockholm. OPI Lab aimed to inspire social change by integrating art and artistic projects into public spaces, while engaging with their social, political, and historical contexts. WES & HEID joint artistic practice focuses on the critical analysis and transformation of public spaces by presenting narratives that offer alternatives to the current context. Through their work, Wes and Heid unveil the hidden aspects of social, political, and cultural environments, creating new ways of experiencing and interacting with public spaces, while encouraging deeper engagement and a fresh perspective on these shared environments.
#NODOS
Wes experience includes collaboration with #Nodos, a publication, platform, and meeting point where artists, scientists, and writers share experiences and reflections on the relevance and possibilities of interaction between different disciplines. This collaboration resulted in publications in 2017 and 2019:
- #Nodos. Lienzos y matraces, red. Gustavo Ariel Schwartz, Víctor Bermúdez (Next Door Publishers, 2017)
Next Door Publishers. Intellect Books - #Nodes: Entangling Sciences and Humanities, red. Gustavo Ariel Schwartz, Víctor Bermúdez (Intellect, 2019)
Chicago Press JSTOR digital library of academic journals books and primary sources
- #Nodos. Lienzos y matraces, red. Gustavo Ariel Schwartz, Víctor Bermúdez (Next Door Publishers, 2017)
Academic
2012 – 2022 PhD
Arts and Conservation of Works of Art
Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts, Cracow, Poland
2020-2021 Post Master
Of Public Interest
Department for Research and Further Education in Architecture and Fine Art
Royal Academy of Fine Arts (KKH), Stockholm
2002-2007 MFA
Faculty of Sculpture
Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts, Cracow
Selected shows
Solo
2022 2021, Otwarta Pracownia, Cracow, Poland
2021 Blühende Öde – Urban identities in transition, Am Flutgraben 3, Berlin, Germany
2020 online show, ARE Holland, Enschede, Netherlands,
(at the initiative of TransCultural Exchange)
2020 online show, Concordia Gallery, Enschede, Netherlands,
(at the initiative of TransCultural Exchange)
2017 It’s just a Matter of Time, Espace Kugler, Geneva, Switzerland
2016 ~ , Concordia Gallery, Enschede, Netherlands
2015 O=O, Center of Polish Sculpture, Oronsko, Poland
2012 Open Sculpture, Artemis Gallery, Cracow, Poland
2010 In a crowd, Contemporary Art Center Solvay, Cracow, Poland
Group
2024 Konfrontacje w trójwymiarze, Pałac Potockich, Cracow, Poland
2022 Inbetween, Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology, Cracow, Poland
2020 – 2022 Hello World – a cycle of online exhibitions by Transcultural exchange:
2022 Scollay Square Gallery, Boston City Hall, Boston, USA
2022 facade of Massachusetts College of Art and Design, MassArt, Boston, USA
2020 group presentation, facade of Sarajevo’s History Museum
of Bosnia and Herzegovina
2020 New Members of the Association of Polish Artists and Designers (ZPAP),
Pryzmat Gallery, Cracow
2019 Feu Sacré – 5th Biennial of Kugler Artists, Usine Kugler, Geneva, Switzerland
2018 The Future of This Land, Akiyoshidai International Art Village, Yamaguchi, Japan
2017 Made in Neumünster – 30 Jahre Künstlerhaus,
Papierfabrik Neumünster, Neumünster, Germany
2016 Lights Out!, Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, USA
2015 Lena Buhrmann and Ewa Wesołowska, Künstlerhaus Stadttöpferei Neumünster, Germany
2015 Cinema Art Culture ROJAL, Roja, Latvia
2015 Forecast Forum, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin
2014 Rock Paper Scissors, Route du Nord Light Festival,
Roodkapje Gallery, Rotterdam, Netherlands
2013 Ephemeros, Cellar Gallery, Cracow, Poland
2013 DordtYart 2013, DordtYart, Dordrecht, Netherlands
2012 Observations, Museum of Czestochowa, Czestochowa, Poland
2011 ArtSesja Festival, Cracow, Poland
2009 Warsaw39 – This is important for what you can die,
Historical Museum of Warsaw, Poland
2009 Nude, Gallery of the Association of Polish Artists and Designers
(ZPAP Łódź), Lodz, Poland
2007 Best of Cracow Academy of Fine Art, Palace of Art, Cracow, Poland
2004 Road to Freedom, European Solidarity Centre, Gdansk, Poland
Works in Public space
2022 Liminality, Oawa Mountain, Kamiyama, Tokushima, Japan
2021 WES & HEID collaboration,Blühende Öde – Urban identities in transition
(series of temporary interventions), Neukölln, Berlin, Germany
2018 Did Just Happened (temporary intervention),
Akiyoshidai International Art Village, Yamaguchi, Japan
2015 Suspension, Roja, Latvia
2011 Follow the Yellow Brick Road, NCK Nowa Huta Cultural Centre, Cracow, Poland
2010 Notes on the Water (temporary installation), Adam Mickiewicz Park, Gdansk, Poland
Awards
2015 Polish Culture Around the World Grant, Adam Mickiewicz Institute, Warsaw, Poland
2011 Creative Scholarship of the City of Cracow, Poland
2008 Diploma from the Cracow Society of Fine Arts Friends (TPSP Krakow),
Palace of Art, Cracow, Poland
2006 Scholarship of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Warsaw, Poland
Residencies
2022 KAIR, Kamiyama, Japan
2018 Akiyoshidai International Art Village, Yamaguchi, Japan
2017 The Wapping Project, Berlin
2017 Trelex Artist residency, Trelex, Switzerland
2016 Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA, USA
2016 ARE Holland, Enschede, Netherlands
2016 Stiftung Künstlerdorf Schöppingen fellowship, Germany
2015 Künstlerhaus Stadttöpferei Neumünster, Neumünster, Germany
2015 Atelier Austmarka, Norway
2013 CAMAC Centre d’art Marnay Art Centre, Marnay-sur-Seine, France
2013 DordtYart, Dordrecht, Netherlands
2011 Clews Center for the Arts, Chateau de la Napoule, France
Publications
Heid, Marla. Blühende Öde – Urban Identities in Transition (exhibition catalog). Berlin: Kunstbüro Hohmann und Heid, 2021. [included in as Ewa Wesolowska]
Schwartz, Gustavo Ariel, and Víctor Bermúdez, eds. #Nodes: Entangling Sciences and Humanities. Translated by Allan Owen. Mestizajes Programme. Bristol Chicago: intellect, 2019. [contributor as Ewa Wesolowska]
Chicago Press JSTOR digital library of academic journals books and primary sources
Akiyoshidai International Art Village – The 20th Anniversary Report Book. Yamaguchi, Japan: Akiyoshidai International Art Village, 2019. [included in as Ewa Wesolowska]
online pdf
Rovetta, Flavia, “Ewa Wesolowska.” (interview), Made In Mind Magazine, Portraits, no. 12 (Spring-Summer 2018).
Made In Mind (online version)
The Future of This Land, TRANS_ 2017–2018 (exhibition catalog). Yamaguchi, Japan: Akiyoshidai International Art Village, 2018. [included in as Ewa Wesolowska]
Schwartz, Gustavo Ariel, and Víctor Bermúdez, eds. #Nodos. 1.a edición. Lienzos y matraces. Pamplona: Next Door Publishers, 2017. [contributor as Ewa Wesolowska]
Next Door Publishers Intellect Books
Ceramic Artist in Residence 2015. Neumünster, Germany: Künstlerhaus Stadttöpferei Neumünster, 2016. [included in as Ewa Wesolowska]
Batko, Anna. “Open Your Eyes, I Can’t See You: On Ewa Wesołowska’s Exhibition O=O, [org: Otwórz oczy, bo Cię nie widzę, o wystawie Ewy Wesołowskiej].” (exhibition review) Polish Sculpture Center quarterly magazine [Kwartalnik Rzeźby OROŃSKO], no. nr 1-2 (2015). [included in as Ewa Wesolowska]
Księgarnia CRP Orońsko online eng version Pdf pl+eng
Open Up The Sculpture [Otworzyć Rzeźbę] – Ewa Wesołowska (exhibition catalog). Cracow, Poland: Galeria Artemis, 2012.