German artist Dana Widawski uses ceramics as ready-made objects in her works, creating unpredictable combinations. She breaks down the boundaries between art and craft, high art and low art, and 'dares' to include in art the things that art fears most.
FATMA BATUKAN BELGE
POSITIONS Art Fair, within the scope of Berlin Art Week, held between 13-17 September this year, was organized in the hangars of the old Tempelhof Airport. It was a nice surprise to encounter the works of German artist Dana Widawski at the stand of Art Mûr gallery based in Montreal, Canada.
Dana Widawski is not a ceramicist; she is an artist who studied textile design and completed her master's degree on art in context. Se uses ceramics as ready-made objects in her works, creating unpredictable combinations. She breaks down the boundaries between art and craft, high art and low art, and 'dares' to include in art the things that art fears most.
Kitsch, defined by philosopher Theodor Adorno as "a parody of aesthetic experience and catharsis", is a tool used to break down these boundaries for Widawski. Se takes “this poison mixed with art, which lurks in art to come to the fore at every opportunity” and turns it into an antidote.
Dana Widawski’s ceramic works are divided into two groups. One group consists of her works with underglaze pattern decorations applied to wall tiles or plates. The second group includes her works in which she makes interventions on mass-produced products such as porcelain figurines or tableware.
The artist uses her ironic and critical language not only on ceramics; also reflected on canvas, paper and even building facades. Some of Widawski's works, whose has participated in various group exhibitions and opened personal exhibitions to date, are on the walls of some public buildings in Bavaria.
