Collection

Family is one of Marta Deskur’s largest photographic series, offering a view of her relatives, friends and close acquaintances. All figures are shown against a neutral white backdrop, the staged scenes and gestures allowing references to Biblical themes known for example from paintings by Piero della Francesca to be discerned. Christian iconography blends in with private stories, emotional relationships, and social connections. In pictures currently in the Foundation’s collection, the artist shows children as mock bloodthirsty monsters. A gesture of overscaling pictures changes the meaning of a simple children’s game. Blown-up child figures are a suggestion of the dangerous and wild, with innocence substituted for anger and aggression.

Creator of videos and photographs, painter. She studied at the École supérieure d’art d’Aix-en-Provence (ESAAix). She chooses her form and medium depending on the issues explored by a given work. She may use ceramic tiles, publish books, or design websites. Her photographs are distinct in their neutral background, where the artist leaves vital elements of representation only—a human or a figural group. She frequently raises social issues, creates alternative mythologies, manipulates symbols, and occasionally employs Christian iconography. She lives and works in Kraków and Rudnik nad Sanem.