Agnes Janich

Agnes Janich, née: Agnieszka Jeziorska, Maison Europeene de la Photographie in Paris, Kunsthalle Exnergasse in Vienna and the Auschwitz Jewish Center in Oświęcim affiliated with the Museum of Jewish Heritage, New York. She took part in Art Edition Fair in Seoul Arts Center, Hangaram Art Museum. She is based in Geneva, Switzerland. She began her education in the Republic of South Africa. Also, the fact that she was raised in a traditional family of Polish and likely assimilated Jewish descent

Janich's formal education in art history started in the 1st Private High School in Bednarska Street, Warsaw, Poland (2000-2003). She continued her studies at the University of Warsaw (2003-2004),

Career Janich's works reveal her two major interests: one is Holocaust-based themes. Another are: love, sex and emotional entanglement, often seen from a perspective of social norms or cultural restrictions.

In the second phase the major interests distinguishable in Janich's art include searching through emotions, intimacy and sexual relations in search of what can be called 'the root of tension' between two individuals tangled in a relationship, often of a social or cultural origin. It constitutes the first part of the War Trilogy made by Janich over a period of three years: Man to Man (2009), Bits and Pieces (2010), and Cleanliness is Goodliness (2012), addressing the subject of preserving memory and violence. The work was first presented in 2009 during the ninth Sharjah Biennial in the United Arab Emirates, where it was well received and commented as a disturbing project "where viewers were led through a maze of darkened passages to rooms that dead-ended with videos of relentlessly barking dogs restrained in prison-like cages". Its main theme is brutal violence and an attempt at dehumanization done to individuals. with anxiety, which was fully intentional, as the piece was inspired by the Auschwitz doghouse. This perspective provides this work not only with its historical references, but may also suggest drawing attention to the suffering of dogs in shelters as well as to individual pain. Zachęta Narodowa Galeria Sztuki, Warsaw, Poland (2009–2010) and in Galerie Walter Keller, Zürich, Switzerland (2013).

I Hate My Body When You're Gone (2009) It is a series of videos and photographs of the artist herself, exploring the theme of gender differences and identity exploration seen through violence and perverse pleasure. The artist's own interpretation of the reason to picture such violence and autoagression is that "(...) it might somehow be an aftermath of the works (…) on the concentration camps which were far more political and also dealing with violence. So it's a getting rid of the violence and coming back to life".

However, as seen in other Janich's works, the reference to WWII appears obvious here as well, as she compares concentration camp violence to relationship violence. Her piece is a controversy, as are her opinions and commentaries:

One of the critics commented the interrelation between acts of violence and innocence of Janich's naked body in the following way: "Her body becomes an absolute, a sacrifice, an offering. An all-encompassing declaration of: I will do everything, give everything, just to get closeness in return." Each photograph has a description made by the artist in red ink. In order to retrieve them, Janich has searched through the archives of Auschwitz, Mauthausen-Gusen, Majdanek, Bergen Belsen and Ravensbrück, read memoirs and talked to the Survivors in person. They refer to social norms and clichés regulating lives of a couple. In this piece the author's idea was to describe variety of emotions and mutual expectations of the partners. As in previous works Janich provided a kind of commentary to the captured scenes in form of short, hand-written sentences in red ink. This piece depicts various forms of rivalry between two women "one focused on self-fulfilment and the other on serving others." I-doll-atry (2006) With Our Eyes Closed (2008-2015) See (2016) Warsaw, Poland (solo) 2007 Crossing Boundaries, ASEF Conference, Singapore 2007 Divine?, Central European House of Photography, Bratislava, Slovakia (solo) 2007 Divine?, Villa Straeuli, Winterthur, Switzerland (solo) 2007 Something Jewish, Swiss National Museum, Zurich, Switzerland 2008 Lightning The Night, Galerie Wyschür Weierthal, Winterthur, Switzerland (solo) 2008 Mentor Show, Visual Arts Gallery, New York, NY, US 2008 Reality Show, Fenstersprung Program, Bern, Switzerland 2009 All Creatures Great and Small, Zachęta National Gallery of Art, Neuchâtel, Switzerland 2016 The Way to You, Bondi Beach & the Waverley Arts Council with support of the Sky Foundation, Sydney, Australia (solo) 2016 Maison orpheline / Home Forlorn, Galerie C, Neuchâtel (solo) 2019 See / Sky High, Łaźnia Centre for Contemporary Art, Gdańsk, Poland (solo)

Becoming A Mother, exhibition catalog, Ed. Ana Vilenica, Belgrade, Serbia (2012)