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jacek ludwig scarso

Greater London
Jacek Ludwig Scarso (PhD) is an internationally exhibited artist, curator and academic, whose work stretches theatrical experiences across live performance, public art, video and installation
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BIOGRAPHY

Jacek Ludwig Scarso (PhD) is an internationally exhibited artist, curator and academic, whose work stretches theatrical experiences across live performance, public art, video, photography and installation.

Born in Rome of Polish, British and Italian origins, he lives and works in London. Jacek’s creative process stems from his background in performance and vocal studies: since graduating from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, he has combined his performance work as Artistic Director of award-winning  Elastic Theatre, receiving funding grants from Wellcome Trust, ACE and Jerwood, with his independent profile as interdisciplinary artist. His projects, investigating intersections between practices of theatricality and contemporary art, have been exhibited worldwide. These include projects and commissions at Tate Modern, York Art Gallery, MACRO Museo di Arte Contemporanea (Rome), the Science Museum, GV Art Gallery and InTRANSIT (London), Fotofever at Carrousel du Louvre, Pave D’Orsay and Cutlog (Paris), BAW and The Living Theater (New York),  MIA (Milan), Galleria Civica Cavour (Padua), Palazzo Ca’ Zanardi and Galleria ArteSpazioTempo (Venice), Weissraum Gallery (Kyoto, Japan), CICA Museum (Gyeonggi-do, South Korea), Tai Kwun (Hong Kong), Photo Docks (Lyon), Vkunst (Frankfurt) and Kunstwerk Carlshütte (Budelsdorf) where his video-works are included in the Nord Art Collection.

Jacek is Reader in Art and Performance at the School of Art Architecture and Design (AAD, London Metropolitan University), where he completed his PhD in Artistic Research and where he holds the honorary title of University Teaching Fellow. At the AAD, he directs the new MA Public Art & Performance, in association with Tate Exchange and is Deputy Director of CREATURE (Research Centre for Creative Arts, Cultures and Engagement).

Jacek is Senior Curator at Fondazione Marta Czok (Rome/Venice). He is an Associate Artist of Anise Gallery. He is also a Trustee of The Line – London’s first dedicated Public Art Walk, Senior Advisor on Public Space for City Space Architecture, and Research Associate at the Public Space Museum, Bologna. He was recently invited for a Research Fellowship at RMIT University, Melbourne.

STATEMENT

My work is a playful depiction of human fragility. My performance background has instilled in me a fascination for the composition of bodies in time and space: dramatic and visceral, these bodies are parts of complex stories told in stark minimal settings. I thrive on theatricality. I seek outlandish performative actions, twisted plotlines, tragicomic characters, absurd themes and an unmitigated voyeurism from the point of view of the spectator. I also thrive in ambiguity - hybrid ideas from often contrasting fields, like science, religion, sexuality and art itself. Theatricality and ambiguity are present in all my work and drive my creative process, stretched across the mediums of live performance, written word, voice, photography, video, and installation. 

 

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