- Martynka Wawrzyniak
-
Martynka Wawrzyniak (born 1979) is a New York City-based editor, photographer, model and performance artist. Born in Poland, she moved to New Zealand at the age of eight, and as of 1998[update] lived in the East Village while working as an editor at Rizzoli.[1] She is married to underground filmmaker and photographer Richard Kern.[1] She cofounded Issue magazine, which she also edited from 1999 to 2004.[2][3] In 2006, she was selected by as one of 30 emerging photographers to watch by Photo District News, a photographers' trade magazine.[3] Her work has been published in New York magazine, Purple, Fast Company and The New Yorker, among others.[4][3]
Her appearance on a New York Magazine cover in which she was shot strolling naked down Park Avenue in daylight inspired the headline "New York Splits Over Sexy Cover" from The New York Post.[5][2]
I find the petty, competitive female nature very challenging. This is the first time that I have had a close working relationship with a group of women ... I wanted to challenge the whole idea of the beauty shot. It’s interesting to see someone destroy their face with something that is supposed to beautify you. But it’s also about being bare—we just let go of all insecurities.
“”Wawrzyniak on 4 Sale, November 2010.[6]In November 2010, she contributed to "4 Sale", a collaboration of four female artists exploring conceptions of eroticism using themselves as the subjects.[7] Wawrzyniak's contribution was a photo series of the four artists naked except for a camera, and a video of the four applying lipstick first conventionally to their lips and then in deranged fashion to the rest of their faces.[7] In a review of the show, Artinfo described Wawrzyniak as owing "an allegiance both to the vamping of pinup girls and straightforward commercial portraiture", and praised the project as a "serious, well-crafted, yet approachable work that isn't afraid to handle sexuality with a mix of humor, drama, and the occasional dash of mysticism".[7] W magazine commented that Wawrzyniak "explores femininity with both brutality and warmth".[6]
Exhibitions
Wawrzyniak's work has appeared in exhibitions, both collective and solo, since 2003.[8]
Solo
- 2009
- Kids, Envoy Enterprises, New York, NY
- Ketchup, Envoy Enterprises, New York, NY
Group
- 2011
- Commercial Break, curated by Neville Wakefield presented by The Garage Center for Contemporary Culture, at the 54th Venice Biennale, Italy
- 4 Sale, Galeria Ego, Poznan, Poland
- 4 Sale, 25 Kadr Gallery, Moscow
- 2010
- Arcadian Night, curated by Kalika Farmer and Andrea Hill, Sheffield, MA
- Voyeur, South Beach Miami
- 4 Sale, Collaboration between Aneta Bartos, Elle Muliarchyk, Yana Toyber and Martynka Wawrzyniak, curated by Anne Huntington, New York
- Secrets, Space 15 Twenty, Los Angeles
- Salad Days, The Journal Gallery, New York
- Single Lady, curated by Jenny Salomon, Kate Gilmore and Candice Madey, New York
- PYT (Pretty Young Thing), curated by Anne Huntington and Diana Campbell, New York
- 4x4: Four Figurative Photographers, Paul Kopeikin Gallery, Los Angeles
- 2008
- All in the Family, Screening curated by Laura Parnes, Sarah Meltzer Gallery, New York
- 2006
- PDN’S 30, Photo Plus Expo, New York
- A Portrait of Fashion, Pochron Studios, New York
- Tim Barber: Tiny Vices, Spencer Brownstone Gallery, New York
- 2005
- Dt (Double Take) Show, ANP, The Netherlands.
- 2003
- Beyond Compare — Women Photographers on Beauty, Dove / Ogilvy and Mather, Internationally Traveling Exhibition.
Footnotes
- ^ a b Misheff, Johnny (May 31, 2011). "Visiting Artists | Martynka Wawrzyniak". The New York Times Magazine. The New York Times Company. http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/31/visiting-artists-martynka-wawrzyniak/#more-161815. Retrieved June 11, 2011.
- ^ a b Wadler, Joyce (June 24, 2004). "BOLDFACE NAMES". The New York Times (The New York Times Company). http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/24/nyregion/boldface-names-080411.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm. Retrieved June 11, 2011.
- ^ a b c "Martynka Wawrzyniak – Kids". Photoicon. http://www.photoicon.com/news/359. Retrieved June 11, 2011.
- ^ "A High Point". Fast Company. December 1, 2008. http://www.fastcompany.com/asset/a-high-point5. Retrieved June 11, 2011.
- ^ Kelly, Keith J. (June 21, 2004). "New York Splits Over Sexy Cover". The New York Post.
- ^ a b Martynka Wawrzyniak. November 2010. http://www.wmagazine.com/artdesign/2010/11/female_photographers_s02. Retrieved June 11, 2011.
- ^ a b c Indrisek, Scott (November 24, 2010). "The Erotic Mirror: Four Female Photographers Turn Their Naked Eyes on Themselves". Artinfo. http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/36423/the-erotic-mirror-four-female-photographers-turn-their-naked-eyes-on-themselves/. Retrieved June 11, 2011.
- ^ "Martynka Wawrzyniak Biography" (pdf). Martynka.com. http://www.martynka.com/biography.html. Retrieved June 11, 2011.
External links
- martynka.com
- Martynka Wawrzyniak at Vimeo, featuring several instances of her video exhibitions
- Interview at Artist Advocacy
Categories:- 1979 births
- Living people
- People from New York City
- Photographers from New York
- Performance artists
- Polish people
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
