Solo show at Hawk + Hive: Ephemeral Monuments

November 4, 2023  - January 28, 2024

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Hawk + Hive is delighted to announce Ephemeral Monuments, a retrospective comprised of 3 bodies of work from Magda Biernat's year-long study of the American continents across 17 countries, from the Antarctic to the Arctic Circle.

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Adrift: 

A project that uses a visual language as a means of polar comparison. By pairing photographs of Antarctic icebergs and empty Iñupiat Eskimo hunting cabins, it offers a restrained commentary on the parallel effects of global climate change at opposite ends of the Earth.

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Towards the Reborn Sun:

Chullpas are ancient Aymara funeral towers originally built for nobles and their families. They are found across the Altiplano in Peru and Bolivia. All of the chullpas have small openings facing east, towards the rising sun. Corpses in each tomb were typically placed in a fetal position along with some of their belongings, including clothing and jewelry.

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The Edge of Knowing:

The culmination of a year-long journey from Antarctica to the Arctic; a journey undertaken with the goal of understanding the places that from the vantage point of the United States, are often simply thought of as being beyond “America.” A collection of photographs that try to redefine the American conceit of an idealistic, utopian dream as a pan-American vision that is shared across the furthest extremes of the continents. Too often political borders represent the limits of curiosity and imagination. The Edge of Knowing takes us beyond the boundaries that traditionally define national identity. The results are an exploration of places both foreign and familiar. All share the unique physical characteristics that shape the landscape of the Americas, and the rich indigenous imprint of the pre-Columbian world.

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Originally from Poland and currently based in NYC and the Catskills, Magda Biernat is a contemporary art photographer whose work deals with the concepts of home, belonging, in-betweenness and cultural identity. She received her MFA in New Media from Transart Institute in Berlin and New York. Her photographs have been published in the New Yorker, the New York Times, National Geographic, Interior Design, Wallpaper, Metropolis, Dwell and Afar. Her work has been exhibited in Poland, Belgium, France, Canada, Nigeria, The Philippines, Taiwan, Japan and the United States. She is a recipient of awards such as 2021 Film Photo Award, the Center 2016 Director's Choice Award, LensCulture 2015 Emerging Talents Award, TMC/Kodak Grant, Lucie Foundation Awards and Magenta Foundation Flash Forward. 

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Catalogue Essay & Artist Statement Here

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Full Adrift Series Here