WHO WHAT WHEN WHERE

Downey Brad


Was born in Louisville (Kentucky, USA) in 1980. He studied film at the Pratt Institute in New York (1998-2003) and painting in the studio of Bruce McLean at London’s Slade School of Art (2003-2005). He presently lives in Berlin. In his activities, he combines film, sculpture, painting, and drawing; he is also an author of installations, actions, and discrete and witty interventions in the public space.

Downey presented his creative output at multiple exhibitions held in various parts of the world. The most important ones include: Public Discourse (Publico gallery in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA 2003), American Grafitti (Central Saint Martins In London 2004), Our Work Makes Us Free, organised by the Backjumps Magazine in Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien in Berlin 2005), It`s the Thought That Counts (Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien in Berlin 2007), Fresh Air Smells Funny (Kunsthalle Dominikanerkirche in Osnabruck 2008).

Brad Downey has realised a number of actions in public space. The latest ones include: Traffic Jam for Berlin (Osnabruck 2008), Black-Hole (Berlin 2008), La Somme de L'Oxygéne Dans une Cabine Téléphonique (Paris 2008), Helium Poubelle (Paryż 2008), Just Taking the Building To Its Logical Conclusion (Berlin 2008), Un-Stitching Karl (Berlin 2007). Downey is also involved in theoretical activities: he has delivered lectures at, among others, Oslo Academy of Fine Arts, at the exhibition in Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien in Berlin (2007), in the frames of a study visit at the Pratt Institute in New York (2006), at the Borderlines Film Festival in Hereford (2005) and at the London Institute of Contemporary Art (2004). On his website, he also runs an art blog where, on current bases, he follows interventions and projects in the public space.


www.braddowney.com
The Sleeping Policeman


Out of the blue, in a public space, at Matejki Square, a weird shape appears, neither is it a black velvet knoll, nor an oversized speed bump. A road sign informed about it, or perhaps warned about its presence, already way too obvious. The same one which under normal circumstances informed drivers of the presence of traffic slowing devices located in the streets to ensure safety in the vicinity of residential estates or schools.

A huge speed bump appeared on Mały Rynek is like a Dadaist exclamation mark or like Claes Oldenburg’s pop art sculptures. It was simultaneously a joke, but also an object encouraging a stop in the everyday rush. Maybe even an invitation for a moment of reflexion?

Project curator: Marta Raczek

Pictures: Weronika Szmuc


The Trash Spin

What we find most irritating are objects that look normal, but are nonetheless out of order, or, even worse, that they work, but contrary to our expectations. It is precisely such trash bins that Brad Downey funded for the City of Krakow. In Planty, among the regular trash bins, their false equivalents appeared. Due to the installation of small engines, each item put in the bin caused an opposite reaction in the form of a turn of the bin and spitting out of its contents. Seemingly a schoolboy’s prank, it is of a somewhat Buddhist nature – it teaches patience and focus on the most simple activities.

12 - 22/06/2009

The Sleeping Policeman

12 - 22/06/2009

The Trash Spin

Jana Matejki Square
Planty Park