Ivo Nikić
Whatever happened, happened
On the dawn of January 30th, 2013 a fire broke out in a tenement building on 80 Targowa Street in Warsaw. The fire completely destroyed the old building; the ceilings and floors collapsed, charred walls was all that remained. Fortunately, no one suffered any injuries in this fire. No one actually lived in the tenement building on Targowa Street. However, it was were the independent Remus Theatre dwelled, along with more than 20 artistic studios. Among them stood the Ivo Nikić’s workshop.
A few weeks before the fire, I spoke with Ivo about the exhibition in the Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art. He showed me a series of new paintings, which were still being worked on. It is precisely those works that we planned to present in the Castle.
The paintings that Ivo shows resemble those destroyed in the fire. Paintings, which he no longer possesses, which no one has seen before except for a handful of friends, which never left the studio. These paintings were impossible to view – impossible to predict. Ivo Nikić’s practice was never based on developing a recognizable "style." On the contrary, each of the artist's projects became an opportunity to try something new, explore unknown territory. In a way, Ivo starts all over again every time. The last series of his works is no exception; these paintings do not resemble those known from the past.
The exhibition we are presenting, corresponds to the exhibition that never came to be in early 2013. It is as though nothing happened. And yet, whatever happened, happened.
Stach Szabłowski
