Art Center Sarasota Presents
“RACE”
A Performance Piece by Wojtek Sawa and Mirek Chudy
October 5, 3 p.m. Art Center Sarasota
(Sarasota, FL) Art Center Sarasota presents RACE, a collaborative piece by Wojtek Sawa and Mirek Chudy, Monday, October 5, 3 p.m., at Art Center Sarasota, 707 N. Tamiami Trail, in Sarasota. Incorporating Chudys painting and Sawas performance, this interactive creation is the third installment of Sawa’s liveFORM series. It is free and open to the public. Guests are invited to arrive early due to limited seating.
Although Sawa and Chudy are both visual artists and performance artists, Sawa describes himself as a collaborator and credits Chudy as the pieces true author. According to Sawa, RACE, suggests a way to melt barriers with the art of playful reinvention. He adds that viewers will participate by altering and giving new meaning to Chudys large-scale painting proclaiming the single word Race.
How?
“Well hand out paint-filled supersoakers to the viewers,” explains Sawa. They will transform the painting and its meaning through their actions. In the end, the original painting will be changed beyond recognition, and a new painting will be created.
As Sawa describes it, the rigid letters of the painting will melt together with the black, brown, yellow and white blasts from the Supersoakers. Viewers can draw their own conclusion, he says. He adds that RACE is meant to be fun. Its not a heavy sermon.
Both artists share a similar philosophy. We both believe that art hovers between the serious and the playful, says Sawa. We think that the juxtaposition between the two can provide a more meaningful and dramatically potent context. He explains that viewer participation always brings in an element of the unknown.
Sawa, a Sarasota-based artist specializing in installations and performance art, was born in Poland and emigrated to the United States as a child. He has presented performance works at various public venues throughout Europe and the U.S.
Miami-based artist Mirek Chudy was born in Poland and attended the prestigious Wroclaw Academy of Art. After graduating, he moved to Greece and then Toronto before settling in Miami. The artist says he is drawn to installations that are “minimal in nature and are a commentary on modern reality.” He also loves interior design and has designed interiors for night clubs, spas and retail spaces.
About Art Center Sarasota
Art Center Sarasota was the first arts and cultural institution in Sarasota. It was founded in 1926 as the Sarasota Art Association by Marcia Rader, the art supervisor for the Sarasota County schools district. In the early years, the group met monthly and sponsored exhibits in rented facilities. The Association was incorporated as a not-for-profit organization in 1943 and has been in its current location in the Sarasota Bayfront Cultural District since 1949. Art Center Sarasota is now a membership-based organization that offers curated and juried exhibitions, adult and youth education programs, outreach initiatives for underserved youth, and culturally related public programming. Art Center Sarasotas mission is to inspire individual creative expression, nurture artistic talent and provide the community with accessible and diverse visual art opportunities.
Art Center Sarasota
707 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL 34236
Phone: 941-365-2032 § Fax: 941-366-0585
Gallery Hours:
Free admission
10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Saturday
Closed Sunday
