In the Robyn Fenty gallery ”!” Olga Kowalska delivers her performance.
She talks to herself from the year 2017 via Skype. In 2017 she had a solo show after being awarded second prize in the Hestia Artistic Journey competition.

Is the second prize a success or rather a failure?
The question that infallibly distresses athletes and anglers has been also asked by the artist. Just as fractions of seconds or milligrams decide the verdict in case of 100 metres sprint or pike angling competitions, there are no possible ways of measuring outcomes in art. Nevertheless, art competitions maintain the sport rule of competence gradation.

In the artworld, the competition discipline is self-presentation. In order to win a participant needs to focus on her own image, at the same time looking at herself through the eyes of the others: the eyes of a jury. Stress, boosted by a silent competition between colleagues, culminates in the honouring of winners: the final confirmation that success is not only a postponed promise. In fact, it is something worse. Success is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Curated by Hubert Gromny

The exhibition is co-organised by the ERGO Hestia Group and the Hestia Artistic Journey Foundation