BWA Contemporary Art Gallery in Katowice

The bilingual catalogue of the project authored by Magdalena Machno includes reproductions of artworks photographed by Barbara Kubska, as well as texts written by artists and curator Marta Lisok for the exhibition ‘Milk Teeth’.The following artists were invited to participate — Łukasz Jastrubczak, Daria Malicka, Erwina Ziomkowska, Bartosz Kokosiński, Szymon Kobylarz, Michał Gayer, Monika Szwed, Tomasza Baran, Michał Smandek, Dominik Ritszel, Natalia Bażowska. Each of them created work especially for the event, with the exhibition title as a motto in mind.

Dreams about teeth falling out are considered to be a bad omen. Supposedly, they indicate a change, a loss, an illness or a disaster about to come. Yet, there is nothing unnatural about teeth falling out, especially the milk ones, which first become loose when pushed around with the tongue, then hang by thin threads, and finally can easily be pulled out with one swift motion. It is an inevitable course of events, even if you look after your teeth, avoid sweets and brush them often enough. Although they lack the charm of animal fangs, and their size is not as impressive as an adult's teeth, you can still keep them as a precious treasure, albeit a bit disgusting — an old, worn-out part of yourself. They are small, decayed, and inconspicuous-looking, quite unlike the world surrounding a milk-toothed child, which seems to be so much more vivid, expansive and dangerous. Untroubled childish boredom can accommodate careful observation and deep analysis, possibly for the last time ever. Hypersensitivity.

Unlike in Western European countries, Polish children, when they lose their first teeth, are not visited by a good tooth fairy. Nobody leaves a small gift under their pillow in return for this ambiguous trophy. There is no one who can help them go through this process, which is only the beginning of further changes in their bodies. So they have to go through this rite of passage alone. Milk teeth fall out, leaving behind dark, unsightly holes, which will not disappear for a few months.

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