EVENT DESCRIPTION
Double Q is pleased to present Reflections on Being, a group exhibition that reflects on a person’s identity that is a blurred construction of the internal and the external world. Each of the eight artists brings a different perspective on the idea of self-image, creating a richly layered view on the topic: Zsófia Antalka, Ewa Czwartos, David Farcaș, Shuang Jiang, Elena Rivera-Montanes, Rita Süveges, Ivana Vozelj and Karolina Żądło.
Since ancient civilizations, humans have explored this tension which became a blueprint in our understanding of a person’s existence. This duality is present everywhere: from the separation of body and soul, mind and body, as well as reason and emotion. In Greek philosophy, Plato was among the first to explore this according to whom the soul was free from the body being immortal. In Chinese philosophy, this duality is referred to as yin and yang, where opposite forces are seen as dependent on each other, and it is a dynamic balance that humans aim to achieve.
The artists present in this exhibition have mastered the challenge and evolved through it, inviting visitors to reflect on their own stories through their works. They reveal their world through the paintings and sculptures present at the show, while keeping something for themselves that remains hidden. What they reveal functions as thought-provoking door-openers to the audience, and what they kept hidden awaits personal interpretation.
ABOUT THE ARTIST / ORGANISER
Zsófia Antalka, a Hungarian artist based in Budapest, is known for her fragile curtain-like works where the surface itself in various shapes becomes the canvas.Ewa Czwartos, a Polish artist based in Kraków, revisits Old Masters’ works in a contemporary manner to reflect on feminist concepts that are often in contrast with their originals.
David Farcaș lives and works in Baia Mare, Romania. He is known for his figurative paintings that deny temporality. He revisits modernists pictorial languages to question contemporary life where rural and urban activities are at the centre point.
Shuang Jiang, a Chinese-born, London-based artist, uses abstract forms, lines, and sharp edges to capture the shifting states of life within chaos. The inner tensions of life generate a force that keeps all things in constant motion and transformation. The works reflect on the subtle connections between the individual and all living things.
British artist Elena Rivera-Montanes draws inspiration from photographs taken by the artist herself. Her work The Day Passed Me By, Like The Rolling Fields (2025) depicts a window in a room which seems to be an outlook from a moving train. The viewer is confused by the impossibility of a moving landscape seen from a static room.
Rita Süveges is a Hungarian artist whose paintings are visual explorations of the human civilization presence on Earth. In her paintings, the aesthetics of industrial materials reveal an interplay between raw and processed materials. The artist questions social paradigms and traditions by forcing the visitor to recognize the importance of overlooked materials that are often at the base of everyday life.
Ivana Vozelj - a Slovenian-born, London-based artist - evokes the tension between presence and absence. Her introspective narratives feature recurring subjects and settings, serving as extensions of her subconscious.
Polish artist Karolina Żądło’s painting, The Pomegranate Flower (2025), presents the invisible bonds that connect people: a shared fate and subtle emotions. It reflects on one’s identity, intimacy, and the way we perceive one another in the realm of inner experiences. The work highlights the influence we have on one another in experiencing the world.
