Kris Bartosova
BA (Hons) Fine Art and Curating
My practise is a tool I use to combine curatorial ideas around space and belonging, philosophical and psychological theories around work ethics and how art is manufactured and consumed. Work is crucial theme for me, as an artist but first and foremost as an immigrant. I use traditional processes and techniques made obsolete though mass production and consumption such as screen-printing, bookbinding and letterpress. By adopting these techniques, I explore the value of labour and how work can be seen through an emotional and psychological lens. The end results range from text-based works such as posters, books and publications, prints and poetry which put into question the limits of interaction and the ways in which audiences can experience art.
Artistic influences include Lucy Lippard and ‘Six Years: The dematerialization of the art object from 1966 to 1972..’, Jenny Holzer, Martin Creed as well as the exhibitions and events occurring around Manchester. The various invigilation and volunteer work I have conducted with major Manchester- based art institutions such as HOME, The Whitworth Gallery, The Portico Library and CFCCA, also feeds into my work into my practise and the free labour exploitation around volunteering in cultural institutions.
As a Slovakian- born immigrant working in the conservative UK, it is difficult to separate politics and living and belonging in this country. The post- Socialist ideals and remnants which seeped into my childhood also bleed into the work I make as well as the work ethic I have adopted.
