Power(less): Power, Powerlessness and Illness in Contemporary Art

The desire for power is the driving force of history, both a constructive driver and a destructive force. In the shadow of authoritarian potentates stand the nameless
multitudes of the powerless, who serve as both the implementers of power games and their audience. The idea to organize an exhibition project that would map how the duality of power and powerlessness is reflected in contemporary art was conceived several years before the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, which have put the topic in a completely new perspective. The pathology of the personalities of the potentates, the absurdity of the functioning of some institutions and the blind obedience of the crowd are now brought into sharp focus. Fear and naming an enemy emerge as effective means in furthering the goals of power. What was considered insane becomes the norm. The sickness of the powerful and the power of the powerless take on new content.

The sharpened optics of artists invited to the Power(less) project and their sometimes almost visionary insight offer an uncompromising view of the present and of history, which, as we know, repeats itself. At the same time, the exhibition asks where normality ends and “illness” begins, and attempts to bridge the categories of art brut and contemporary art.