Dominika Bednarsky – Bitten by a Love Bug

68projects is pleased to present the works of Dominika Bednarsky and Paris Giachoustidis in the duo exhibition Bitten by a love bug. The exhibition challenges mainstream portrayals of men and women by confronting stereotypes, limitations, and ideals imposed on contested gender images in society.

Both artists employ processes of appropriation. While Giachoustidis references vintage postcards and advertisements for his source imagery, Bednarsky draws from online search results related to her chosen topics. Humor functions as a critical tool against mass media, consumer culture, and gender stereotypes.

Bednarsky presents a series of glazed sculptural ceramics shaped like traditional bouquets, composed of objects such as fish, bacon, hunting trophies, sausages, chickens, and other grill-party-worthy items. These forms often recall genitalia mixed with flowers. Each bouquet appears to suggest a character or narrative: one might imagine a “hopeful” couple receiving an erotic bouquet of calla lilies wrapped in chicken with rose petals, or a fish whose open mouth evokes a vaginal form resting atop chard with scrotum-like veins.

The glossy surfaces of the works create a grotesque contrast to the expected femininity of traditional floral bouquets. Bednarsky constructs an absurd world in which nature, bodily parts, and animals merge. With a deliberate wink, she pokes fun at society’s clichés while also highlighting the absurdities of consumer culture and profit logic. Tradition holds no ground here—everything can be tweaked, manipulated, and repurposed to appeal to a new kind of buyer.

The works are inspired by a peculiar trend in which so-called “male bouquets” (Männersträuße) are offered online—arrangements of cliché-laden, “typically male” objects. This trend simultaneously masculinizes a once-romantic gesture and confronts viewers with their own assumptions about appropriate gifts across genders. Why exclude men from this tradition? And if included, why must the gesture be contaminated with macho symbolism? Why not simply give men flowers? Taken further, the question arises as to why masculine contexts make us uncomfortable and whether masculinity has lost its relevance altogether.

Paris Giachoustidis, by contrast, disrupts pseudo-realistic imagery of the past by introducing absurd elements. His gaze may be read as male, yet the women he depicts express empowerment and sexual freedom. Female figures no longer retreat shyly into corners; instead, they recline confidently in office chairs, openly engaging with their sexual demons in scenes marked by control and nonchalance.

His works depict female nudes transforming into smiley-face caricatures, or a seemingly perfect middle-class family staring hauntingly at one another as a galaxy casually splits their home in two. The child sitting on the father’s lap subtly disrupts expectations, hinting at unspoken distances within relationships. Mundane scenes from the past collide with contemporary ruptures of the present and future.

Adam and Eve are portrayed as equals, jointly eating not the forbidden fruit but the serpent that sought to deceive Eve. Their touch is gentle and balanced, devoid of dominance or control. Giachoustidis reinforces these disruptions through technique: he derives full color palettes from formerly black-and-white images and inserts singular acrylic-painted elements into compositions rendered in pencil and watercolor. These interventions draw attention to moments of rupture that enable reinterpretation and change. The absurd becomes the new normal.

Dominika Bednarsky (born 1994 in Schweinfurt) lives and works in Frankfurt am Main. She has studied since 2015 at the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Offenbach. Her works have been shown in numerous group exhibitions, including Galerie Anita Beckers (Frankfurt), Nassauischer Kunstverein Wiesbaden, and Opelvillen Rüsselsheim. Her most recent solo exhibition took place in 2021 at Kunstverein Wiesen.

Paris Giachoustidis (born 1990 in Serres, Greece) lives and works in Berlin. He holds BA and MA degrees from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the Weißensee Academy of Art in Berlin. His works have been exhibited at institutions including KWADRAT Berlin, KINDL – Centre for Contemporary Art, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Max Liebermann Haus, and Kunsthalle Feldbach. He received the NEUSTART KULTUR grant in 2020 and the Art Prize Haus am Kleistpark in 2017.