Gawęda & Kulbokaité's 'Spit and Image 2' at Swiss Art Awards 2026

During the Swiss Art Awards 2026 exhibition in Basel, artists Dorota Gawęda and Eglé Kulbokaité showcased an installation focused on their film 'Spit and Image 2' (2025). This 4K single-channel video, which plays in a 15-minute loop, features a lone figure moving through a foggy cityscape, always viewed from behind. It draws on the Romantic Rückenfigur motif and Magritte's 'La Reproduction Interdite', delving into themes of reflection, alienation, and the flow of modern imagery. The film includes found footage related to climate anxiety and atmospheric events. The installation, set within a glass structure, further explores these mediation themes and features 'Placeholder' (right hand rubber glove I, II, and III, 2026), patinated bronze sculptures, and 'Mirror Mirror' (2025), which disperses two chiral carvone scents created with 432 Perfumes in Beijing. Gawęda and Kulbokaité, born in 1986 and 1987 in Lublin, Poland, and Kaunas, Lithuania, respectively, currently reside in Basel. The event occurred on June 17, 2026, in Basel, Switzerland.