Krzyś Bykowski

@krzysbykowski

TENSION | 15.06-19.06.2026

Vernissage 15.06.2026, 18:00-20:0

TENSION revolves around the theme of the city, a subject present in the artist's practice for an extended period. The city functions here as both a source of inspiration and an object of study, with particular attention given to the ecology of urban space and to the city as a site of interspecies coexistence.

Tension emerges as an aspect embedded in the urban tissue at every turn, rooted, in a sense, in the fabric of the contemporary city. This tension is traceable in the relationship between the organic and the synthetic, in the way these categories permeate, interact with, and mutually shape one another. One expression of this tension can be found in the visual traces of decay within the urban landscape – a phenomenon that serves as a significant point of reference for the project. Stains, deposits, mosses, algae, and molds appearing on facades, walls, and roofs point simultaneously to the fragility of human constructions and to the presence of living entities that occupy the space of the city while remaining in the shadow of the human. The condition of tension is also understood as inscribed in the situation of contemporary humans confronting the realities of the twenty-first century – a form of affective state comprising stress, anxiety, or unease, arising from the pace of urban life, economic instability, and housing-related difficulties, as well as, on a broader scale, from geopolitical, humanitarian, and climate crises. This condition finds physiological expression in the human body: neck stiffness, jaw clenching, and various forms of chronic pain.

TENSION seeks to both express and deconstruct this condition. Tension is first inscribed in the structure of the central textile object, whose spatial form depends on a relation of tension between its textile layers. The sculpture is continuously subject to balancing physical forces, resulting in visible tension across the textile surface and a dynamic quality of form. The object and the exhibition as a whole further articulate the tension between the organic and the synthetic – manifest in the relation between organic cotton and a fiberglass skeleton, as well as in the elements constituting the exhibition setting more broadly. A further, decisive dimension is that of affective tension, linked to the visual register of the exhibition and the works on display. The exhibition has been constructed so as to induce, to some degree, a sense of unease, uncertainty, or tension itself. This visual relation, and its capacity to produce impression or emotion, is considered here within the framework of agency beyond the human. Ultimately, the exhibition does not aim to offer a singular vision of the city; rather, through the works presented, it proposes a way of looking at it. The exhibition is situated in an urban garage within a densely built housing estate, where a seemingly organic environment is constructed – one that overgrows and transforms under the influence of external forces. At the center of the exhibition stands an object that functions as a symbolic form of the non-human: an agentive being that, from within the shadows, occupies the space of the city – the space of the human – and reshapes it according to its own needs.

Krzyś Bykowski (born 2000) ‒ visual artist working in natural dyeing techniques, creating paintings and sculptures. A graduate of sociology at the University of Wrocław, since 2024 he has been a master's student in Media Art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. In his practice, he explores the city as a space of interspecies coexistence and the processes of degradation of human creations. He has participated in exhibitions at The Centre of Polish Sculpture in Orońsko, Galeria Promocyjna, Galeria Marszałkowska 18, Galeria Sztuki in Legnica, and Urban Spree in Berlin, among others. He is a recipient of the Scholarship of the

Mazovia Voivodeship (2024/2025) and Laureat of the OP_YOUNG 2025 competition organized by OP ENHEIM in Wrocław. Co-creator of the exhibition initiative galeria niczeje. He lives and works in Warsaw.