Rudolf Polanszky

Polanszky sees his treatment of materials that in our economic system are usually seen as cheap, damaged goods from the hardware store as a refinement. His works thus seem like a parody of 'refined' materials, while at the same time the formerly utilitarian materials are now free of use. The artist literally frees them from their previously intended relations of constraint and use. Polanszky thus seeks a value-free resistance to the adaptive. The artist creates assemblages in both a pictorial and a sculptural format that always bear the traces of the past of the materials used. The traces of everyday life, use, and wear and tear always link Polanszky's works to the history of the object-like materials used that he transforms into something new, a 'pseudo-geometric arrangement,' and that reflects the aesthetics of use. In the process, he transforms traces of histories into a new field of association and a new construction of meaning for these apparently artistically worthless materials. The creation of nature remains in the form of its traces, for example the leaves or other natural materials that are seemingly integrated by chance, lending the works a rather coincidental character. They also represent a contrast to the synthetic materials like Plexiglas, Styrofoam, foils, or foam rubber that form the main ingredients of Polanszky's art. Exhibition: Almine Rech, Brussels, Belgium (24.10.-21.12.2019).