Julie Hrnčířová – Being Discarded, Being Banished

The classical theory of modes prescribes that the artist adapts their style to their subject, their means to their goals, and not the other way around. Looking at Julie Hrnčířová’s two major projects, Everyday Sculptures (2017–present) and Invisible Workers (2020–2021), we are left with the impression that the artist is adept at this. The first one is a collection of photographs of unintentional “sculptures”, randomly gleaned from the streets as she travels. They are deliberately of poor quality, taken with a film camera or a smartphone, often up close and with flash. We are reminded of Richard Wentworth or Gabriel Orozco but also of Fischli & Weiss and Erwin Wurm. Indeed, the mimetic installations that the artist creates give this project a playful and humorous twist. In contrast to this apparent lightness, the portraits of Polish labourers settled in Norway impose their seriousness. These images, this time staged with the models, play with the composition and light, often warm, to give the workers the recognition and dignity that their host country seems to deny them. However, views of apartments are attached to these portraits, which are once again taken up close and with flash, to show the precariousness of living conditions. This allows us to look at Everyday Sculptures with new eyes to see that these involuntary sculptures are themselves an expression of great vulnerability. Several of them show damaged or even destroyed objects, at best repaired in a hurry with the means at hand, at worst abandoned. And as we turn one last time to the portraits of the immigrant workers, we think that being discarded or even banished are the two dark sides of the economic and social reality of developed countries. Finally, we can conclude that a rule, such as the one about modes, is only useful when it is broken.

Text: Étienne Hatt

Image captions

1 | Julie Hrnčířová, Urban Poetism, výstava, Fotografiens Hus in Oslo, 2022
2 | Julie Hrnčířová, Everyday Sculptures: The Cut Tree, 2019 – ongoing
3 | Julie Hrnčířová, Everyday Sculptures: The Tape Package, 2019 – ongoing
4 | Julie Hrnčířová, Everyday Sculptures: The Fast Car, 2019 – ongoing
5 | Julie Hrnčířová, Everyday Sculptures: The Blue Monster, 2019 – ongoing
6–8 | Julie Hrnčířová, Invisible Workers, 2021