Jan MoZdZyNski at miLoSC gallery
TEXT BY BETH MCKENZIE
I Just Dropped in to See What Condition My Condition Was In, installation view. Courtesy of the artist and miłość.
This past Easter weekend, I took a trip with my family to see some childhood friends. It was a small affair brimming with nostalgia - and alcohol - and while, as always, I treasured spending time with people who had known me since I could crawl, I also felt a tinge of sadness. Between talking about future plans and shared memories, a knot formed in the pit of my stomach almost akin to the feeling of grief: a grief for my childhood, for the person I was all those years ago, and for the person I had hoped to become.
Jan Możdżyński, What a wonderful feeling just to know that you are near (2025), oil on canvas. Courtesy of the artist and miłość.
Whilst this may all seem a tad sentimental, it feels apt in conveying the poignancy of Jan Możdżyński’s latest solo exhibition at miłość gallery. In a visually-arresting yet thoroughly touching show, the Warsaw based artist sensitively - and at times tentatively - explores the paradox of a future imagined in childhood against the tangible weight of adult reality. Taking its title from the psychedelic musings of Kenny Rogers, I Just Dropped in to See What Condition My Condition Was In dances on the edge of the absurd and the intimate, channeling Albert Camus's philosophy to find meaning in the face of meaninglessness.
Jan Możdżyński, I pushed my soul in a deep dark hole and then I followed it in (2025), oil on canvas. Courtesy of the artist and miłość.
Możdżyński, known for his escapist worlds populated by hybrid characters, turns a reflective lens inward this time, portraying himself for the first time alongside his ever-present companions: cats, a turtle, and the city. The canvases, steeped in surreal architectural backdrops, echo themes of isolation and connection in equal measure. In one standout piece, I pushed my soul in a deep dark hole and then I followed it in, Możdżyński’s vivid pink and green palette - both go-to colours for the artist - feels almost irreverent against the heavy themes of existentialist grief. Yet, it is precisely this juxtaposition between the childlike aesthetic wonder and the profound questioning of one’s place in the world that gives the work its emotional resonance.
Jan Możdżyński, The man in me will hide sometimes to keep from being seen (2025), ceramic glazed. Courtesy of the artist and miłość.
The ceramics, modular forms that evoke children’s play blocks, bring an element of interactivity to the show. These magnetised, glazed pieces take their shape from the paintings and can be rearranged, encouraging viewers to become collaborators, reconfiguring parts of the imagined cityscape. This playful invitation mirrors Możdżyński’s confrontation with his younger self, reminding us that imagination is not a static force but one constantly rebuilt.
Jan Możdżyński, I tripped on a cloud and fell eight miles high (2025), oil on canvas. Courtesy of the artist and miłość.
The exhibition’s greatest strength lies in its layering of sentiment and symbolism. The recurring motif of cats, for instance, becomes a poignant surrogate for the children Możdżyński has chosen not to bring into the world. These feline figures loom large in the compositions, often fused with celestial imagery or urban skylines that embody the tension between nurturing and letting go. The artist’s pain over losing a future that a past version of you imagined is palpable yet never maudlin, softened by his references to popular culture and nostalgic media. Even the works’ titles - taken from the lyrics of artists from Bob Dylan to Jethro Tull - steep the show in the sensory world of the sentimental.
Jan Możdżyński, I’m a tiger when I want love and I’m a snake if we disagree (2025), oil on canvas. Courtesy of the artist and miłość.
The show also marks a visual evolution for Możdżyński. While his earlier works revelled in the fantastical, here he integrates realism with architecture, grounding his imagined worlds in the tactile. The urban landscapes, constructed with care, feel lived-in yet alien, perhaps a nod to his identity as a queer artist navigating spaces that oscillate between belonging and estrangement. The self-portrait I’m a tiger when I want love and I’m a snake if we disagree, also features the Jetsons-like cityscape, a setting which adds a certain tension to Możdżyński’s imposing form, likely arising from the artist’s admitted hesitation in depicting himself in a less than favourable light.
I Just Dropped in to See What Condition My Condition Was In, installation view. Courtesy of the artist and miłość.
In essence, this show found me at the perfect time. I Just Dropped in to See What Condition My Condition Was In grapples with questions of identity, loss, and resilience through the lens of Możdżyński’s neon-tinged world. Bittersweet in tone - as seems to be a running theme for miłość gallery - it’s a vision where grief becomes playful and absurdity becomes cathartic, a reminder that while we may never reconcile the futures we imagined as children with the realities we inhabit, we can still find beauty in the sadness of that fact. Możdżyński does not purport to give an answer to the meaning of life; if anything this body of work is a stopgap, a checkpoint in a much longer journey that I look forward to seeing unravel. And as I sit at the table with the friends I’ve known for years, I too find comfort in the fact that my life is given meaning simply by the passing of time.