Filipka Rutkowska creates performative assemblages, where body, costumes and objects form ephemeral personas that challenge the rigid understanding of identity. Frequently referring to female characters that have lost their charm and influence, she combines motifs from popular culture with experiences of gender fluidity. Informed by her training in choreography, theater, cinema, and nightlife, each work becomes a part of the multidisciplinary practice that aims to strengthen the non-binary perspective. Her performances often include installations consisting of works on paper and non-art objects that originate from private rituals and enter the sphere of art as a repository of queer knowledge.
The exhibition at the Ongoing Art Center is focused on reassembling the idea of femininity with the language of queer expression. Objects commonly attributed to women, such as high heels, shopping bags or tights, are transformed into signs of subversion. The performance contrasts subtleness of gestures with emotional voice recordings of the main female character from the Polish movie ‘Immoral History’ (1990) that tells a story of an actress who faces a series of professional and personal failures caused by her charismatic personality, defying men’s expectations to be ‘lyrical’. Such a confrontation of softness and drama reflects the nature of many emancipatory actions that often rely on a combination of resilience and vulnerability. 

Special thanks to Hanayo Nakajima and her dog [Kibi], whose photos and prints are presented as part of the installation.

Event

December 9th (sat) 19:00 Start
performance and party
Admission: 1000 yen (with light catering＋one drink)

December 10th (sun) 17:00 Start
lecture on contemporary queer art in Poland
Admission: 1000 yen (with one drink)





The exhibition is supported by the Polish Institute in Tokyo, Adam Mickiewicz Institute and the Cultural Department of the City Council of Katowice.