Kacper Kowalski
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Selected Works
Side Effects, 2012-2016
From sublime, prismatic overhead views of Autumn forests and impressionistic Spring fields in bloom to the alien abstraction of industrial landscapes and their toxic beauty, in Side Effects, Kowalski documents the physical imprint of man from above through powerfully alluring compositions. The boundaries between the artificial patterns of mankind and the organic bloom of nature are often the subject of symmetric framing by the artist, aiming to juxtapose the aesthetically pleasing with the thought-provoking; To seduce the viewer with natural beauty while simultaneously raising questions through the jagged scars, vivid pollution, and prevalent flooding as a result of human overreach.
As a pilot, Kowalski’s work stands out from a wave of new photographers operating drone-mounted cameras from the ground. At 500ft elevation, his connection to the landscape is intimate and his response direct, most of the images captured in the vast countryside of his native Poland.
Over, 2016
Following the success of Side Effects and a period of reflection on what he had witnessed, Kowalski returned to the air and produced the work for OVER by discovering a new way of seeing his familial landscape, in the nebulous, silent solitude of deep winter.
Contrasting the radiant clarity of his previous project, the minimalist scenes from OVER are predominantly monochromatic and ambiguous in scale as a result of the conditions in which the work was produced. Furthermore, where previously preoccupied with the objective, documentary image, in OVER Kowalski seeks to use “the landscape as the medium to show emotions.” Here the artist is not so concerned with the visual record of humanity’s signature, but with expressing moments of emotive impact on the artist himself. A method of creation only possible from his studio in the sky. In this series, we see the visual meditations of an aerial explorer at peace, creating more subjective imagery through an instinctive response to a paradoxically frozen and transitory landscape.
2017 - 2018
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Biography
Biography
Poland , 1977
Kacper Kowalski (b. 1977, Poland) studied architecture at the Technical University of Gdańsk. Following a short career in architecture, Kowalski has devoted the past two decades exclusively to flying and photography earning international praise and accolades including three World Press Photo awards and four Picture of the Year International awards, among others. Sides Effects was first published in 2014 by Leica Gallery Warsaw, following by the self-published OVER in 2017, both of which have won numerous publishing awards. His prints have been exhibited and collected internationally since 2009. Kowalski lives and works in Gdynia, Poland. "When I’m flying, I find the forms, features, shapes, symmetry, compositions, and drama—just as I would draw them in blueprints…I see the ground through the architect’s eyes. I see how humans plan, I see how nature reacts to our actions, I see order and oncoming chaos….I like the little moment when people don’t know exactly what’s in front of them. Sometimes the object in the frame may feel somewhat familiar but it’s not immediately recognizable as a bridge or a field or something they’ve actually seen a thousand times." -Kacper Kowalski
Main Exhibitions:
2020 :
- FRAMED, Atlas Gallery
- Trompe L'oeil Something, Garvey | Simon
2019 :
- Miniatures and More: Holiday Gift Guide, Garvey | Simon
WHITEOUT: A Group Show of Winter Abstractions, Galerie XII, Los Angeles
2018
- Galerie XII Los Angeles, USA
- Anzenberger Gallery, Vienna / Austria.
2017:
- Photo12 Gallery, Paris / France
- Landskrona festival, Landskrona, Sweden,
- International Biennial of Photography, The National Museum of Photography in Colombia
- Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, USA
- Spoleto Festival, Charleston, USA
- Herbst & Winter - Arte Giani - Frankfurt / Niemcy
2016:
- Fade to White - The Curator Gallery / New York, USA
- Side Effects – "Zoom on Poland" / Hillerød Art Society / Hillerød, Denmark
- Side Effects - Muzeum Ziemi Chełmińskiej / Chełmno, Poland
2015
- Above and Beyond - The Curator Gallery - New York City / USA
- Side Effects - Leica Gallerie, Salzburg - Austria
- Side Effects - The Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography - Moscow / Russia
- Side Effects - Arte Giani - Frankfurt / Germany
- Side Effects - Muzeum of Gdynia - Gdynia / Poland
- Warsaw Art Photography Festival 2015 - Warsaw / Poland
2014
- Side Effects - Leica Gallery Warsaw / Poland
- Photoville Festival - New York City / USA
2013
- Polish Patterns – University of Jassach/ Romania
- Materia Prima – Klaipeda / Latvia
- Materia Prima – Munnkerupkus House, Copenhagen / Danemark
- Sea Change, Sexy Peat - Royal Botanics Garden, Edinburgh / ScottlandTHE ARTIST
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Exhibitions
Exhibitions and Fairs
2021 | Regardez danser la neige... | L'Annexe - Galerie XII Paris
2020 | Gathering Blue | Galerie XII Los Angeles
2019 | Whiteout | Galerie XII Los Angeles
2019 | PhotoLA 2019 | The Barker Hangar, Santa Monica
2018 | OVER/Side Effects | Galerie XII Los Angeles
2018 | The Language ofTrees - Group Show | Photo12 Galerie Paris
2018 | MIA 2018 | Milano (Italia)
2017 | OVER | October 25th, 2017 - January 20th, 2018
2017 | Art Elysées 2017 | Stand A135
2017 | Landskrona Fotofestival 2017 | Landskrona, Sweden
2017 | MIA PhotoFair, Milan | THE MALL – PORTA NUOVA VARESINE, MILANO
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Press
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Bibliography
