Curatorial Notes

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In 2025, Marta Czok passed away at the height of her artistic production. Her creative output remained tireless, oscillating between dystopian visions of an increasingly fragile world and vivid depictions of everyday life.

This tension – between the ordinary and the consequential, the domestic and the global – stands as one of the defining characteristics of Czok’s artistic legacy. Her view of the world embraced both a deep appreciation for the mundane and a restless, often turbulent engagement with current affairs. Yet, rather than dividing her work into the “light” and the “serious,” a tragicomic sensibility permeates her entire oeuvre.

Czok’s figures are never one-dimensional. Children at play possess the same psychological depth as adults, often revealing an even greater emotional complexity through the apparent simplicity of their gaze. By contrast, figures of power are frequently rendered as caricatures, exposed in their inadequacy and their often pitiful hunger for control.

Presented in conjunction with the 61st Biennale dell’Arte di Venezia, this exhibition offers a playful yet deliberately ambiguous reflection on Czok’s imagination. A selection of paintings and drawings guides the viewer through a sequence of contrasting scenes and narratives – hallmarks of her richly layered visual language. The exhibition is accompanied by a short film by Carlotta Domenici de Luca, commissioned shortly after Czok’s passing, which offers an intimate glimpse into the artist’s studio, preserved exactly as she left it.

The notion of Memory is invoked here as both homage and provocation. While we remember an extraordinary artist, we are also reminded of her own persistent call: to engage with the past, to scrutinise the present in all its complexity, and to imagine – and strive towards – a better future.
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