Banker

Oktawian Jurczykowski’s photograph treats of male domination. The work makes a loose reference to the period when the venue housed a bank. In Poland it was a time when married women were not allowed to have their separate property or a bank account. “In my work I emphasise the absurd contrast between women’s lack of rights to their own money in marriage and male complexes – the superiority complex juxtaposed with the small penis complex. In the photograph, both pockets in the banker’s trousers bulge. One usually keeps money there. Apart from the pockets, also the banker’s zipper bulges. I leave it to the viewer to interpret this bulge – it could be erection, hinting at sexual arousal due to the fact of having money, or this place could have been stuffed to compensate for a small penis. Here, the banker symbolises a man with sexist views rather than the bank as an institution.”

 

photo: Małgorzata Kujda