In her book Open Collection, Art historian Izabela Kopania wrote: “The photographs from the A Very High Level of Self-awareness series can be acknowledged as a manifestation of the tendency towards ironic commentary that pervades contemporary Polish art. The work of the Magisters group is thus in line with the output of artists who wield caricature and absurdity as the primary tools for interpretation, such as Józef Robakowski or the Azorro group, to name but two.”
Works from this series “can be treated as a voluminous metaphor to be extrapolated to the country’s socio-political realities and economic situation, which condition the future outlook of many people, especially the youth. Joblessness, a lack of a place of their own, and a sense of instability are problems that currently touch many university graduates. The heads ensconced in turtlenecks should not, however, be interpreted as being “buried in the sand,” as flight or as a fear of the struggle for the future. It is rather a symptom of conscious apathy, of accepting the existing reality and, what’s more, of being convinced that the situation in which we find ourselves is a permanent one. Resorting to absurdity and immersing oneself in nonsense is therefore, in a way, a defence mechanism – the only sensible demeanour in such dismal circumstances.”
The photographic series A Very High Level of Self-awareness was created in 2000, at a time when both artists were still living in Poznań and actively engaged in local artistic life, working primarily with the ON Gallery.
O artystce
The Magisters collective, active between 2000 and 2002, was formed by two Polish artists, Zbigniew Rogalski and Hubert Czerepok, who graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznań in 1999. The group’s name refers to the Master of Arts degree they received around that time. They expressed themselves through photography, video, and painting. The Magisters’ work revolved around humour, the absurd and the grotesque, as well as orchestrating unusual situations.
Magisters made their debut at the Scene 2000 exhibition at the Centre for Contemporary Art in Warsaw, where a series of over 400 photographs entitled Journey to the End of Boredom (2000) was shown. The Magisters are one of the more important artistic groups in Poznań’s art history, along with others including Koło Klipsa, Penerstwo, and Wunderteam.
Hubert Czerepok, born in 1973 in Słubice, is a visual artist and lecturer at the Academy of Art in Szczecin, where he runs the Studio of Experimental Film. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznań (currently known as the UAP), where in 1999 he defended his diploma in the atelier of Prof. Izabella Gustowska and Prof. Jan Berdyszak. He also completed postgraduate studies at the School of Fine Arts (Antwerp) and the Jan van Eyck Academie (Maastricht). Between 1998 and 2001, together with Slawomir Sobczak, he ran the ON Gallery in Poznań. In 2000-2002, he was active with Zbigniew Rogalski in the duo Magisters. In 2001, he was awarded the Young Art Medal by the editors of Głos Wielkopolski. He has presented his works at numerous solo exhibitions, for example at: Labirynt Gallery in Lublin, Arsenal Gallery in Białystok, Art Stations Foundation in Poznań, La Criee Centre d’Art Contemporain in Rennes, Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art in Warsaw, Skala Gallery in Poznań, as well as in group exhibitions, including the 19th Biennale of Sydney, the International Quadrennial of Sculpture in Riga, and at the Museum of Art in Łódź, the MOCAK Museum of Contemporary Art in Kraków, and the Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art in Warsaw.
Zbigniew Rogalski, born in 1974 in Dąbrowa Białostocka, is a visual artist, painter, and author of photographic projects, and installations. In 1999, he completed his diploma at the Faculty of Painting of the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznań in Jerzy Kałucki’s studio. In 2015, he defended his PhD at the Department of Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk, and in 2020 he received his habilitation at the Pedagogical University of the National Education Commission in Kraków. Between 2000-2002, together with Hubert Czerepok, he was an active member of the Magisters duo. During that time, he created photographs and videos. He is the winner of the Eugeniusz Geppert Competition (2001). Currently, Rogalski focuses on painting and runs a painting studio at the Faculty of Painting and New Media at the Academy of Art in Szczecin.
