ZOFIA KULIK
IDIOMS OF THE SOC-AGES
1990

Postmasters Gallery presents IDIOMS OF THE SOC-AGES, an exhibition of photo based collage works by ZOFIA KULIK will be on view at Postmasters Gallery, 80 Greene Street, New York, from May 24 through June 16, 1990. This will be the artist's first solo show in New York.

SOC-AGES is the neologism implying a synthesis of the Middle Ages and Social-Realism (the art style developed to glorify the communist ideology).

In the works shown here Kulik combines spiritually charged gothic and oriental iconography with symbols and motifs of social-realism and of the art of the Third Reich.

An ascetic male model is photographed in ritualized poses characteristic of gods, leaders, saints, and heroes. His naked body becomes an ornamental element when the images are multiplied and made into orderly symmetrical patterns. Often large scale, these mosaics of a vulnerable, manipulated human figure mixed with accessories of power such as monuments, medals, flags, wreaths, carpets, etc., present a man dominated by an imposed order. These allegories of individual subordination to transcendental or totalitarian authority reveal the profound contradictions of the last forty years of Polish history where deeply rooted religion beliefs coexisted with an aggressively secular socio-political system.

For more information contact Magdalena Sawon at 212 941-5711.
Postmasters Gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday, 11 - 6 pm.