Museum Visit at Zachęta: Mixed Feelings I Didn't Ask For

Some afternoons ask nothing of you except that you show up and look. This was one of them. I spent it at Zachęta, moving slowly from room to room and letting the art set the pace.

Two exhibitions pulled me in.

Adolescence

There is something brave about building a whole show around that in-between age, the one we all somehow survived and few of us want to revisit. It caught the awkwardness and the intensity of it at once, that feeling of being half-formed and wide open at the same time. I stood with it longer than I expected to.

Krzysztof Gil, Nobody Wants You Here

The title alone stops you before you have seen a single work. It is confrontational in the best way, one of those phrases that follows you around the room and keeps asking questions. Gil's work is quiet and sharp at the same time, and it stayed with me on the way home.

Leaving a little hungry

Honest? I left wanting more. Both shows were exciting and genuinely thought-provoking, but there was simply too little to really sink into. I kept waiting for the next room, the next layer, something more to sit with, and then I was already at the exit.

That is not really a complaint. Maybe it is the opposite. A visit that leaves you hungry is a visit that did something right. It just did it in miniature, and I would happily have stayed twice as long.

So, worth going? Yes. Go slowly, read everything, and do not rush the two exhibitions, because they end sooner than you would like. I came out with my head full of thoughts, which is more than a lot of afternoons give you. I just also came out wanting a second helping. 🎨