Slash & Burn presents some of Marcin Dudek’s key creations, focusing on what he refers to as ‘Memory Boxes’ and touching on other elements of practice including collage, performance, sculpture and research.

Marcin Dudek was just 12 years old and living in a concrete housing block outside Krakow, Poland, when the Berlin Wall finally toppled. Poland’s free-fall into capitalism followed as the country reeled from severe shortages, skyrocketing inflation and suddenly-defunct industry. For many, food was scarce. Money, more than hard to come by. A frayed social fabric, lacking civic associations left children vulnerable to new allegiances. Before becoming a teenager, he followed his older brother into the arms of a wild group of football supporters who created havoc in and outside the local stadium. Over time, many from this group moved from the council estate into the prison block as petty crimes escalated into enterprising criminal endeavors. Thanks in part to his sister, Dudek found an alternative path, moving to Salzburg, Austria to attend University of Art Mozarteum. He found work in art galleries, learned German and later moved to London, earning an MFA at Central Saint Martin’s.

Art as methodology for living, coupled with the DIY survivalist strategies of his youth, became tools for transformation as well as dealing with childhood trauma. Shortly after settling in Brussels in 2012, he began to publicly question and explore his past in the seminal exhibition Too Close for Comfort. Marcin Dudek is represented by Haarlen Levy Projects in Brussels.

Shot over three years from 2019 to 2022, Thank You For Playing With Me by Yolanda Y. Liou is an intimate look at two plus-size models, Enam Ewura Adjoa Asiama and Vanessa Russell. Liou first came across Asiama’s Instagram in 2019 and was blown away by her confidence and charisma. It was the type of confidence that Liou struggled to have about her own body due to her upbringing in Taiwan. “Growing up in Taiwan, I was consistently exposed to the relentless beauty standards that prioritised being skinny… This obsession led me to believe that I was never beautiful enough, and consequently, I felt unworthy of love. I constantly sought ways to conform, believing that only then would I be accepted and appreciated.” Liou’s main aim with this photo book is to help people embrace their individuality.

Painter Roland Penrose and photographer Lee Miller’s move to Farleys in Sussex, UK, was not to settle down but to create, entertain, and inspire. In this publication, their son Antony Penrose, recalls the 1950’s with a fascinating insight into his parents’ lives, as they transformed Farleys from a traditional farmhouse into a hub of art. Farleys with unexpected decoration and surreal living had a wealth of 20th century artists visiting the home. The book is designed to reflect the colors and designs from the color on the walls to the textiles of the furnishings. 

UNO was made in collaboration with PLUS-ONE Gallery on the occasion of Kapser De Vos’ exhibition ‘Pushing And Pulling The Center To The Mirror’ at M HKA’s Inbox.

Kasper De Vos (°1988) gained attention with installations and sculptural interventions that referred to consumerism and its associated food culture in a way that was both humorous and sculptural. Often, his sculptures combine found objects or materials with modeled elements. His sculptures and installations seem to stem from a kind of tactile and visual pleasure, a play of formal and substantive associations and a mild form of humor that takes the form of an open, playful, imaginative dance with materials, techniques, things and thoughts. His work evokes stories without being illustrative or pedantic. It is a kind of thinking with shapes, which in turn makes us think and dream. Surprising, inventive, generous, plastic, virtuosic, open and oneiric.

In English and French.

LUCKY / Udachny by Hanne Van Assche documents a small mining town in the far East of Russia called Udachny – a remote region captured in the icy grip of winter throughout most of the year. Few people choose to live here, but those who do are proud citizens. Yakutia is known as the treasury of Russia. It is one of the world’s richest regions in natural resources. According to a Siberian legend, God once spilled a bag of earthly treasures over this part of the country. A thick layer of permafrost covers large reserves of coal, gas, gold and diamonds. Despite the barren climate most of the year, the heart of the people remains warm. The hospitality and optimism of the inhabitants soothes the harsh climate. It is they who turn the scenery of a frozen and isolated world, defined by extraordinary contrasts, into a vibrant and colorful community.

Cherán is a social, political, and anthropological phenomenon without precedent in Mexico. Rebellious Forests gathers together images captured by Pavel Hroch during his travels in the land of the Purépecha in Michoacán, particularly the towns of Cherán, Comachuén, and Cocucho. These photographs show a world confronting global problems such as deforestation, water shortages, and the violence of organized crime while also rebelling against historical changes, driven by a constant desire to endure. The book reflects the Purépecha community’s successful struggle to achieve autonomy and control over their territory after a confrontation that pitted armed locals against illegal loggers and drug traffickers. This resistance led to the expulsion of these invaders and the establishment of Purépecha systems of security and self-government, based on their own cosmology and traditional practices.

Text in Spanish.