Studium rozpadu, studium rozkwitu (en. Study of decay, study of flourish)
Solo presentation of Krzyś Bykowski 
Curated by Iza Roko
2025

On the ruins of a crumbling urban order, life begins to bloom.
Immersed in the rush of daily life, we move with our goals in mind, rarely noticing the spaces in between. Pavements, tunnels and the facades of buildings remain on the margins of our awareness. The liminal nature of these places means that once incorporated into the city’s structure, they are often left to themselves for a long time. Within the throbbing urban tissue, they become silent, monumental witnesses to collective everyday life. Forgotten, they gradually fall into decay, losing their utilitarian function. Yet as they collapse, life begins to break through the cracks. Algae settle in gutters, microorganisms streak across facades and strip away plaster, weeds sprout between paving stones, and tree roots tear through asphalt.

Humans constantly strive to dominate the world, bending space solely to their own needs. As a result, the city appears as a synthetic construct in perpetual tension with nature. Yet non-human organisms, through their omnipresence and emergence from the shadows, prove their biological resilience and persistence. Their color, shape and texture tell an alternative story of the city, one in which the human is no longer the main character but merely one of many actors. In this scenario, the human presence is episodic at best, for non-human bodies were here before us and will remain long after we are gone.

Krzyś Bykowski’s artistic practice centers on capturing and observing the coexistence with other organisms in the urban landscape, where the synthetic creations of humans merge with the organic. The artist explores how these bodies manifest around us, creating images and objects inspired by microbial blooms on building facades or abstract lichen-like growths on bricks and rooftops. He uses natural dyes such as infusions of alder cones, hazel bark and mushrooms, applied by pouring and brushing onto materials. He seeks to grant agency to the mixtures and materials themselves, guiding them only slightly. His compositions rely on organic yet highly ornamental shapes that subtly emerge from the background through delicate color gradients. This method gives the dyed materials a resemblance to patterns found in the urban landscape.

Bykowski’s three-dimensional objects further explore the entanglement of anthropocentric constructs with non-human bodies through formal experimentation. To create these structures, the artist uses found clothing, which he sews and stretches into peculiar shapes. These are dyed with natural pigments, again emphasizing the dialogue between the synthetic and the organic.

In his work, the fabric of clothing, like skin, tightens in some areas and slackens in others. Tent-like structures model their “tissue,” forming protrusions, indentations and openings that resemble mouths. The objects come alive. The biology and genetics of their bodies are unfamiliar, evoking unease and discomfort. Monumental beings, frozen yet alive, watch us from the corners of rooms, lurk half-asleep in basements or stand directly before us.

Krzyś Bykowski offers a reflection on urban decay, presenting an affirmative and hopeful vision of another kind of life in bloom.