mysticism & machines: Ziggy Grudzinskas

Union gallery is pleased to announce Ziggy Grudzinskas’ first exhibition with the gallery, mysticism & machines, curated by William Gustafsson.

Grudzinskas’ paintings examine gestural abstraction through the application of a wide range of contemporary techniques and mediums to blur the lines between the foreground and background organically creating a subtle tension within the work. Although his paintings are premeditated they often become spontaneous and unpredictable as Grudzinskas works.

Installed in the gallery is a site-specific wall drawing produced by Grudzinskas; a natural scribble covering two walls. Since graduating wall drawings have become a feature of his work.

The machine, or Ether Mining Rig, placed in the corner of the gallery is running an algorithm that is interconnected with other machines on the Ethereum network. This peer-to-peer network runs via the Internet connecting machines whose processing power is pooled together with the common goal of mining Ether, the fuel to support the Ethereum network. In the context of the exhibition, the Rig embodies the sum of all its parts interconnecting with a larger network as it works, quietly humming away, to mine Ether.

As we continue to move towards a fully digital reality, the Bamboo stand, situated under the machine, reminds the viewer of the natural world. The aroma, fuelled by the burning of Palo Santo, which fills the space, adds to the tensions between the mechanical and technological and the mystical and natural.

Ziggy Grudzinskas (b. 1982, Australia) graduated from the Royal Academy Schools in 2015 where he won The Royal Academy Schools Hiscox Scholarship Award as well as having a work in the Royal Academy’s Collection. He received his BA from Camberwell College of Arts in 2010.

Ziggy Grudzinskas lives and works in London