Ian Moon
Julian Jakub Ziółkowski and Hyon Gyon
Dancing Man / Possession
Julian Jakub Ziółkowski
Installation: sculpture, 3'16" video
The works come from the exhibition Holy Nothing, organised in 2018 at the Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art. The exhibition about spiritual transformation and artistic encounter was the first manifestation of the creative relationship between Jakub Julian Ziółkowski and Korean artist Hyon Gyon.
Ziółkowski's art, situated on the border between reality, fiction, normativity and madness, meets the work of Hyon Gyon, situated close to the foundations of Korean shamanism and directly referring to the transcendental, universal energy.
When Hyon Gyon appeared in the artist's life, Ziółkowski disappeared and Ian Moon came into being.
“Ian Moon – the man from the stars. "Moon" – a citizen of the galaxy, from the moon. "Ian" or "I am", I exist. But there is also Polish "Jan", the name of my great-grandfather who gave his life for my grandfather Julian. So "I am", "Jan", but also "yin and yang". Half-joking, half serious.”
Introducing the persona of Ian Moon, the artist creates himself anew as a metaphorical universe full of references to figures and objects of worship. He plays with the adopted convention and, by multiplying his own person, draws attention to the numerous perspectives of artistic expression.
Ian Moon – sculptural self-portrait of Ziółkowski, a representation of his spiritual transformation, an alter ego of the artist. The figure is sitting cross-legged, wearing ritual robes of a Vietnamese medium, a leather jacket with studs and safety pins, and chains on the neck. On red silk there are characteristic round badges, pins and patches – popcultural and subcultural symbols: peace signs, swastikas, Rastafarian colours, symbols of radioactivity and yin-yang, hallucinogenic mushrooms, as well as military decorations of his grandfather, Jakub Ziółkowski, reminiscent of votive objects.
Dancing Man / Possession
The video installation depicts the artist in the traditional costume of a Len Dong shaman, who enters into a trance accompanied by loud shamanic music. It refers to the most archaic forms of the magical-religious phenomenon of "transformation", to the state of elevated spirituality.