ARRAY — Martyna Szczęsna

February 17th, 2022—March 23rd, 2022 | Press release
OPENING RECEPTION Thursday, February 17th, 6—8pm

Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 2 PM — 6 PM. Admission is free. Viewing is by appointment only.

*please see below for our COVID policies regarding exhibitions and talks

ARRAYBWTEST002, 2022

Penumbra Foundation is pleased to present Array, a solo exhibition by artist Martyna Szczesna. 

Szczesna's work examines utopian constructs using both the formal and intangible qualities of photography and site. In Array, her ongoing series of life-sized photograms, Szczesna maps chance urban ecologies created in the interplay between the artificial illumination of L.E.D. streetlights and the projected shadows of trees reorganized according to the logic of the light source's cellular, technological structure. 

The imagery is graphic and fragmented with acidic, vibrant color schemes, heightening the viewer's awareness that they are no longer in familiar territory but rather in an intensely perceptual and psychological space, resplendently alive with the awe and terror of the sublime.

Just as the light patterns deconstruct their shadow hostages, Szscesna breaks apart her images, reconfiguring them into mural-sized constructions that reflect her memory of the fragmented landscape and identity of the places she recorded. 

ARRAYBW009 (Graphic), 2022

About the artist
Martyna Szczesna’s work investigates the heterotopic as a site of dissonance and resilience. Focusing on the mutability of the image and reiterating it through a variety of media she pairs the photographic with unconventional armature. This precarious method of assembly, its vulnerability, serves to further amplify phenomenological effects of fugitive color and surface. The result: bifurcation or meiosis, depending on who you ask.

Born in Olsztyn, Poland, Szczesna immigrated to the United States with her family in the early nineties. She is a graduate of the Cooper Union for the Arts and Sciences and holds an MFA in Photography from the University of California, Los Angeles. Her work has been supported by residencies at Penumbra Foundation, Yucca Valley Material Lab, Franconia Sculpture Park, Bullseye Glass, AZ West as well as the AIM program at the Bronx Museum. 

Select exhibitions include: If Rittenhouse--, Callicoon Fine Arts, Portrait of a Landscape, Museo Sivori, Buenos Aires; The Third Bronx Biennial, Bronx Museum, NY; and Flat Touch, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY.


https://www.martynaszcz.com/

Images © Martyna Szczesna

  • Kindly review and follow NY State COVID policies:

    *All visitors age 12 and up are required to be fully vaccinated.

    *All visitors age 2 and up are required to be masked for the duration of their visit.

    Upon making your appointment or reservation, please send proof of COVID vaccination for all visitors included in your reservation to: lisa@penumbrafoundation.org

    *Accepted proof of vaccination: a photograph of your vaccination card or screen capture of your Excelsior Pass.

    *Your last vaccination date must be within 6 months of your exhibition appointment.

    Those who fail to present proof of vaccination in advance of their visit will not be permitted to enter.

    Thank you for your understanding and for keeping Penumbra Foundation safe for all visitors and staff. Please email lisa@penumbrafoundation.org with any questions or concerns

About Penumbra Project Gallery
The 300 square-foot Project Gallery offers emerging and mid-career artists a place to present new work. The exhibitions are developed in conjunction with Penumbra’s editorial or educational programming.  


About Penumbra Foundation
Penumbra Foundation is a non-profit organization that brings together the Art and Science of Photography through education, research, outreach, public and residency programs. Its goal is to be a comprehensive resource for photographers at any level, artists, students, professionals, historians, researchers, conservators and curators.  Penumbra specializes in advancing the use of historic and alternative photographic technologies for contemporary image-making.