Kacper Tomaszewski „Because I’m pretty when I cry”

Mixed emotions and contradicting desires – fear mingled with lust, hope tangled with sorrow – they become a starting point for Kacper Tomaszewski’s reflection on tears as catalyst for survival.Tears? Fleeting drops of chaos, which come from depths of us, stream down the face as if they’re a material save of emotions.

opening: 11.07.2025 (Friday), 7 PM
where: Labirynt Gallery 2, Grodzka 3 Street, Lublin
exhibition available from: 10.08.2025 (Tuesday–Sunday, 3 PM – 7PM)
Free entry
curator: Mateusz Włodarek

Jack Katz, author of the books: “How Emotions Work”, believes that crying – even if common – stays shockingly unfathomable. This inspires Tomaszewski, who with his new works looks at how people tame this uncontrollable act. Tears become for him the key to understanding inner conflicts and contrasting emotions on a daily basis.

Gaining inspiration from personal experiences of working through grief, and borrowing the exhibition’s title from a song by Lana Del Rey, the artist views tears as magical streams. Spontaneous and beyond control, they resemble a primordial ritual of nature. Transparent, almost invisible, yet radiant—when juxtaposed with raw steel; cold, hard, unyielding, as used in the latest works—they gain new meaning. They become a symbol of tension and release, delicacy and strength, fragility and resilience. As Lana puts it: “Because I’m pretty when I cry.”

The exhibition features drawings made with black, silver, and purple pencil. Purple, a symbol of magic and spirituality, adds an additional dimension to the tears. The pop culture quotes that appear in the works represent an attempt to tame sorrow and difficult emotions, which are an inseparable part of our experience. Alongside the drawings are steel plates with engravings, functioning like mirrors—they reflect both emotions and return on how we express them in public space. In these works, Tomaszewski asks where privacy ends and the need to share our tears with others begins.

The exhibition also includes an installation built from heavy, organic forms inspired by stones, and cold steel, interwoven into a single structure. It is a fountain of emotion, echoing the words of Ovid: Hades is full of tears.

The exhibition is accompanied by a soundtrack composed by Staś Czekalski.