Flipery is a new series of small oil paintings - portraits of regulars from Cobra's past, whose wild stories have permanently fused with the place. The whirlwind of time has swept many of these characters with it, leaving only shadows in their wake; their colors seep through the grain of the wooden panels, like acid rain from Dudek's memory.
Flipery alludes to the video game arcade that existed there before Cobra, as well as to the series of transformations and diverse identities that followed: from gaming to boozing, from a working-class pub to a (temporary) center for contemporary art, from the wild 1990s to the digitally drunk 20s which many of Cobra's regulars and patrons no longer live to see. How many places like Cobra existed? How many survive to this day?
To create these works and realize his youthful dream, Dudek returned to the housing block where he grew up. He transformed the basement into a makeshift studio and spent stuffy weeks there, preparing for a long-awaited solo exhibition. He returns home to Café Cobra, trying to re-create a space for old friends who now seem to have no place left. Somewhere on the outskirts of the city, a toothless, forgotten creature begins to stir.
FLIPERY opens on Saturday 26 April from 20:00.
Exhibition opens on Sunday 27.04 from 11:00 - 18:00.
Curated by Krzysztof Dudek
You can find more information here.
