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National Museum
Center forContemporary Art
Królikarnia
Museumof ModernArt
Zachęta
Jerozolimskie
Jerozolimskie
Wspólna
Widok
Królewska
Świętokrzyska
Foksal
Wilcza
Oleandrów
E. Plater
Żelazna
Miedziana
Krochmalna
Waszyngtona
Mińska
Grochowska
Solidarności
Solidarności
Armii Ludowej
Wawelska
Batorego
Agrykola
Koszykowa
Marszałkow
ska
Marszałkow
ska
Poznańska
Ujazdow
skie
Francisz-
kańska
Andersa
Zieleniecka
Francuska
Czerniakow
ska
Londyńska
Jana Pawła II
Niepodległości
Puławska
Waryńskiego
Polna
Spacerowa
Now
y Świat
Wybrzeże Kościuszkowskie
Wybrzeże Szczecińskie
Wał M
iędzyszyński
PrOPAGANdA
PrOFILE
rAStEr
LOKAL_30
LE GUErN
BWA
ASyMEtrIAPOLAMAGNE-tyCZNE
PIKtOGrAM
LEtO
ArtON
MONOPOL
StArtEr
StErEO
dAWIdrAdZI-SZEWSKI
M2
LOOKOUt
FOKSAL GALLEry FOUNdAtION
ArChAEOLOGy OFPhOtOGrAPhy FOUNdAtION13 Andersa st
ArtON11 Miedziana st
ASyMEtrIA16 Jakubowska st
BWA WArSZAWA16/3 Jakubowska st
dAWId rAdZISZEWSKI3 Krochmalna st
FOKSAL GALLEry FOUNdAtION1A Górskiego st
KASIA MIChALSKI16 Poznańska st
LE GUErN8 Widok st LEtO25 Mińska stSoho Factory
LOKAL_3029a/12 Wilcza st
LOOKOUt41/22 Puławska st
MONOPOL117 Jerozolimskie st M2
6 Oleandrów st PIKtOGrAM25 Mińska stSoho Factory POLA MAGNEtyCZNE13 Londyńska st PrOFILE6 Franciszkańska st PrOPOGANdA11 Foksal st rAStEr63 Wspólna st StArtEr13 Andersa st StErEO11 Miedziana st
OthEr SIGhtS:
the Centre for Contemporary ArtJazdów 12/2
KrólikarniaPuławska 113a
the Museum of Modern Art in WarsawPańska 3
the National MuseumJerozolimskie 3
the Palace of Science and CulturePlac defilad 1
Zachęta National Gallery of ArtMałachowskiego 3
www.warsawgalleryweekend.pl
ArChAEOLOGy OF PhOtOGrAPhy
FOUNdAtION
KASIA MIChALSKI
A three-day celebrationof contemporary art,more than twenty openingsat Warsaw’s best galleries,many collateral events heldat major Polish art institutions; concerts, performances,and discussions.Join this exceptional eventand feel the spirit of Warsaw’sup-and-coming art scene.
Warsaw Gallery Weekend25th–27th of September 2015
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Archaeology of Photography Foundation
Arton
Asymetria
BWA Warszawa
Czulosc
Dawid Radziszewski
Foksal Gallery Foundation
Kasia Michalski
Le Guern
Leto
lokal_30
Lookout
Monopol
m2
Piktogram
Pola Magnetyczne
Profile
Propaganda
Raster
Starter
Stereo
HESTIA
ARTISTIC
JOURNEY
COMPETITION
FOR ART STUDENTS
IN POLAND
SINCE 2002
www.artystycznapodrozhestii.pl
5Wojciech ZamecznikUntitled, ca 1962
Interview with director Karolina Puchała-rojek and artist Krzysztof Pijarski.
How would you describe your activity?KArOLINA PUChAłA-rOJEK: Above all, we are not a commercial gallery, we're a foundation whose task is to maintain the archives of outstanding deceased photographers such as Zbigniew dłubak, Wojciech Zamecznik, and Zofia Chomętowska.
What does this maintenance entail?KArOLINA: It means processing the contents of the archive, preserving works, digitizing them, and promoting them. We organize exhibitions, release publications, hold workshops, and show the work’s historical legacy within the context of contemporary culture. Alongside the foundation we run a gallery.
You say that you are not a commercialgallery—so you don't sell the works?KArOLINA: We have set principles for sales, which always take place after consultation with the heirs. If, for example, an archive is already processed and we know that we have five prints made from a single negative, then sometimes we sell those prints to private collectors at auctions. We generally do not sell prints when we have only one or two copies, and if we do, it is only to important institutional collections in Poland or abroad.
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Archaeology of Photography Foundation is a grass-roots initiative from the third sector—two specialists perceived a gap, which they decided to fill.
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Zofia Chomętowska at the Art Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences. As such, this is a grass-roots initiative from the third sector—two specialists perceived a gap, which they decided to fill.
A key element of APF's work is the “Living Archives,” an open-ended project that you have been carrying out since the foundation was established in 2008. What does this involve?KArOLINA: that was Karolina Lewandowska's idea. the point was for the artists of the older generation who we are dealing with, who are part of the canon of Polish photography, to become more familiar to a younger audience. the idea is simple: we invite contemporary artists to look through our archives and to interpret them in their own way. this results in exhibitions and publications, and sometimes activities in the public space.
KrZySZtOF: the ladies invited me at the very beginning to do a project about Zbigniew dłubak, whose archives had been transported from France and were located in his old apartment on Puławska Street.
KArOLINA: For four years we held projects with, among others, Piotr Bosacki, Karolina Breguła, Nicolas Grospierre, Szymon rogiński, tomasz Szerszeń, Julia Staniszewska, Basia Sokołowska and Marzena Nowak.
ArChAEOLOGy OF PhOtOGrAPhy FOUNdAtION
13 Andersa stMon, thu, Fri, 10am to 5pmtue, Wed, 11am to 7pmwww.faf.org.pl
ArtIStS
Zofia ChomętowskaMaria ChrząszczowaJanusz BąkowskiZbigniew dłubakMariusz hermanowicztadeusz SumińskiWojciech Zamecznik
dIrECtOrKarolina Puchała-rojek
VICE dIrECtOrMarta Szymańska
KrZySZtOF PIJArSKI: It is important to note that the foundation was created in response to very concrete social needs. Its founders had already worked in state institutions—former president Karolina Lewandowska was a curator of photography at Zachęta and she saw that practically no one in Poland was dealing with archives. Karolina Puchała-rojek, in turn, was working on a Phd devoted to
tadeusz SuminskiWarsaw, ca 1964
9Wojciech BruszewskiGramofon, 1981
Interview with director Marika Kuźmicz and artist Agnieszka Lasota.
Unlike most private galleries you do not sell art. What does Arton do?MArIKA KUźMICZ: We organize exhibitions, but they themselves are not the most important thing. they serve to present the effects of our earlier work, an activity which involved going through a particular archive. We want to recall the work of artists who played a vital role in the 1970s, but who are, for whatever reason, less visible now.
The point is to fill in the margins of art history?AGNIESZKA LASOtA: It’s more about redefining outmoded opinions. Arton’s exhibitions try to show aspects that were marginalized by the official history of art, but which, in the context of the transformations of contemporary culture, are becoming relevant once more.
MArIKA: Apart from the exhibitions, we release publications and produce documentary films about artists. We have also created a digital repository. But above all, we are trying to get the work of our artists into public institutions.
What makes you different from the public institutions?AGNIESZKA: Our work is not all that different.It rather complements it.
MArIKA: We differ as we have unlimited freedom as to what we choose to take on. Moreover, our relationships with our artists, or their heirs, is far more personal.
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ArtON FOUNdAtION
11 Miedziana stWed to Sat, 12pm to 6pmwww.fundacjaarton.pl
ArtIStS
Wojciech Bruszewskihenryk GajewskiOskar hansenZofia and Oskar hansenAndrzej JórczakZdzisław Jurkiewicztomasz KonartAnna Kuteraromuald KuteraPaweł KwiekJolanta MarcollaJózef robakowski Andrzej różyckiJan Świdzińskiryszard WaśkoKrzysztof P. Wojciechowski
dIrECtOrPhd Marika Kuźmicz
AGNIESZKA: these are warm and friendly relationships. they entrust us with their most precious things, with the core of their lives.
Where do you source your funding for the foundation?MArIKA: From grants and donations. Given our statutory activity we can also perform various services, such as digitization. But our work is always accompanied by reflection, what we do has to have a dynamic relationshipto reality.
AGNIESZKA: But that’s not the most important part. the most important thing is that the core of the foundation is Marika, who is not a businesswoman, just a researcher, who is capable of insightfully analyzing the present day. She is not creating a museum focused on history, abstract from the present, but she is interpreting archives for things whose gravity still makes an impact.
How did you come to be working together? What does the work involve?AGNIESZKA: It all began five years ago when I helped Marika put together a significant exhibition on conceptual photography. there were over 200 works and more than fifty artists—we needed to give it visual form. I helped, and then I stuck around.
MArIKA: Later, Agnieszka did one of her own art projects with us and arranged some of our exhibitions. We often visit studios and archives together as well.
AGNIESZKA: We go together to fairs, exhibitions, and conferences. We meet socially. It’s just a kind of friendship.
Paweł KwiekVideo and Breath, 1978
12 13tomek SzerszeńFrom the series Histories of cinema and other stories, 2015
Interview with gallerist rafał Lewandowski and artist tomasz Szerszeń.
How would you describe your activity?rAFAł LEWANdOWSKI: the program at Asymetria Gallery was built around a concept of Zbigniew dłubak’s, based on the idea of the lack of symmetrical ties between reality and its depiction. the relationship between photography and things is defined here as asymmetrical. this means that photography questions the way things exist and our perception of this phenomenon.
You’re talking about an analytical approach to medium.rAFAł: right, but it’s not as simple as that. today photography transcends media as such. It has become the outstanding language of our times. this means that it not only represents reality, but it also co-creates it and comments upon it, and consequently, it communicates a specifically contemporary mode of perception and understanding of the world.
tOMASZ SZErSZEń: that asymmetry can be understood in a wider sense—like the form of the relationship between Asymetria and the gallery circulation. From my perspective—that of an artist and researcher, and rafał’s, my co-worker—this is a special kind of gallery. It resembles a private research center or a laboratory of ideas, and also in part a collector’s office.
The gallery was created over six years ago. How did you come to work together?
tOMASZ: We met much earlier —at Professor Wiesław Juszczak’s Phd seminar at the Art Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences, in which we both participated. We have similar research interests. then came the collaboration as artists. Jakub Śwircz has recently joined us; he focuses on working with younger artists. the foundation also came about, and we are also planning a publishing program.
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today, photography transcends media as such.It has becomethe outstanding language of our times.
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Anna OrłowskaMan in a landscacpe, from the series Leakage, 2011
ASyMEtrIA
16 Jakubowska stWed to Sat, 3pm to 7pmwww.asymetria.eu
ArtIStS
Jerzy LewczyńskiMarek PiaseckiWojciech PlewińskiZofia rydetZygmunt rytkatomasze SzerszeńAnna OrłowskaKrzysztof PijarskiMichał Jelskironit Porat
GALLErIStSJakub Świrczrafał Lewandowski
rAFAł: the idea for a gallery came from talking with Jerzy Lewczyński (1924–2014)—twelve years ago precisely—after meeting together with Karolina Ziębińska-Lewandowska in his studio. this sparked the development of a community. the Archaeology of Photography Foundation, which is purely an academic/research center, was created (2008) in tandem with Asymetria.
tOMASZ: the Asymetria program is remarkably innovative. On the one hand rafał is dedicated to the concepts of dłubak and Lewczyński, for us these are major points of reference. On the other hand, we are consistently seeking out artists of a younger generation such as Anna Orłowska, Krzysztof Pijarski, łukasz trzciński, and Mateusz Choróbski, who are ready to strike up a creative dialogue with this tradition. the same goes for foreign photographers like tommaso Bonaventura or ronit Porat, whose exhibitions have recently been held.
Marek PiaseckiMiniatury, 1950–1960
16 17Iza tarasewiczReverse Logistics, 2015
Interview with gallerists Michał Suchora and Justyna Kowalska.
BWA was established in 2010. What factors influenced your decision to open the gallery?MIChAł SUChOrA: 2010 was a very specific moment. From an international perspective, outsiders—interested art observers—began to acquaint themselves more thoroughly with the Polish scene. Most knew the top artists from Poland, but not about the intricacies of the Polish art world. We recognized this and decided we wanted to be part of the emerging “second wave” of gallerist.
You’ve been located in this house—an original modernist villa from 1927— since you opened. This anchor to the past has exerted itself in a very specific way upon your program. JUStyNA KOWALSKA: It was a nice coincidence that we settled in Functional house. Wherever we realize our projects, whether it’s at the Art Stations Foundation in Poznań, or at other institutions, we follow the same programmatic line. From the beginning we aimed to critically engage with the heritage of what remained after modernism. In Central Europe, it is a very specific form of modernity, one that was used in a very pointed way by government. For us, when we think about our cultural scaffolding it’s modernism—especially here in Warsaw.
And in name?JUStyNA: Going abroad, “BWA” doesn’t ring a bell at all, but everybody in Poland knows what this abbreviation means—it
comes from Biuro Wystaw Artystycznych [Bureau for Artistic Exhibitions]. In the 1950s, the Ministry of Culture in Poland decided to establish a network of local galleries—contemporary galleries—in every major city. they shared this name.
Jakub Woynarowski, an artist you represent, co-authored a work for the Polish Pavilion of the Venice Architectural Biennale that engaged
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art scene too. there, many artists are very politically and socially engaged, which is unlike here, where the chapter of the ‘90s’, so concerned as it was about identity politics, is considered closed. Of course in reality it’s not. It’s still very heavily discussed; it’s still present.
BWA WArSZAWA
Functional house16/3 Jakubowska stWed to Sat, 3pm to 7pmwww.bwawarszawa.pl
ArtIStS
Adam Adach Ewa AxelradNicolas GrospierreAgnieszka KalinowskaLittle WarsawSławomir PawszakKarol radziszewskiJadwiga SawickaKama SokolnickaMałgorzata SzymankiewiczIza tarasewiczJakub WoynarowskiWojtek Ziemilski
GALLErIStStomasz PlataMichał SuchoraJustyna Kowalska
very specifically with this concept. Is this a prerequisite at BWA Warszawa; of the work you show? MIChAł: Originally we were fairly orthodox in our observance of this trope, yet as we’ve developed, so too has the idea. today, after four years, we’re still evolving. Alongside Nicolas Grospierre, who is well known for his interest in modernist architecture, we show Karol radziszewski, an artist passionate about archives and postwar art history. We also work with Małgorzata Szymankiewicz, a talented abstract painter, and Sławomir Pawszak, whose appreciation of abstraction comes from another, alternate field. the Jakub Woynarowski project exhibited at Venice drew attention to the continuing investigation into the cultural heritage of modernism.
And your future plans?Justyna: We’re observing with great interest the development of the Ukrainian art scene. to compare Poland to Ukraine, in political and economical terms, Ukraine is where we were 15–20 years ago—in the
Karol radziszewskiTurquoise Ryszard Cieślak, 2014
Iza tarasewicz Reverse Logistics exhibition view, 2015
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real change. Some joined the artistic mainstream, going down the well-worn path of public institutions and hierarchies of power. Our ideas and postulates, however, have stood the test of time. New artists have come in to replace those non-believers; they’re a bit older, a step further along their artistic path, they’re more consistent and determined.
What are your future plans?Our new artists come from abroad. the plan is now to take what we’ve managed to create so far in Poland and to disseminate it internationally. We intend to create a grass-roots, independent platform for artists working in contemporary photography. We are most focused on the exchange of experiences beyond national borders and cultures. Considering our approach to the role of photography in the contemporary world, we should be where the very latest things are happening.
CZUłOŚĆ
www.czulosc.com
ArtIStS
Nampei AkakiStanisław LegusWeronika ławniczakVova VorotniovJanek Zamoyski
GALLErISt and ArtIStJanek Zamoyski
Interview with gallerist and artist Janek Zamoyski.
What’s Czułość’s story—are you a collective?JANEK ZAMOySKI: Sometimes, we even have trouble defining ourselves (laughs). the collective part is perhaps in our approach to reality. In terms of theart we make, we are a group of different and extreme individuals. Psychologically, we’ve created a photo-gang with an ideological bent.
Let’s start from the beginning; how did Czułość come to be?the gallery was created from an impulse tied purely to friendship. We wanted to fill a niche in the discussion of contemporary photography in Poland. We were flipping the bird to the hierarchy of curators and public art institutions. We had our own solutions and a strong community to support us.
Did you see yourselves in the role of curators?No, not curators at all. Our decision was to let every artist be his or her own curator—to let them make their own exhibitions as they pleased. At the time there was no one we could trust in this respect. People quickly began inviting us to take the role of curators, jurors, and experts.
Czułość came about four years ago. What has changed since then?the personnel has changed. Not everyone continued to think that this punk-rock approach could bring about
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In terms of the art we make, we are a group of different and extreme individuals. Psychologically, we’ve created a photo-gang with an ideological bent.
22 23Weronika ławniczakBorderline (from the series In Cave), 2014
24 25łukasz JastrubczakGhost, exhibition view2013
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Interview with gallerist dawid radziszewski and artist łukasz Jastrubczak.
Have you known each other long?dAWId rAdZISZEWSKI: Since secondary school.We played in the same band, in the rhythm section.
łUKASZ JAStrUBCZAK: We started up a lot of groups…
dAWId: Oh yes (laughs). łukasz played drums,I was on bass. In Kazimierz Odnowiciel [Casimir the restorer], Merry Go round… did you also play withus in Szatan z Siódmej Klasy [Seventh-Grade Satan]?
łUKASZ: Was that the metal band? yes, I did…
dAWId: And in Jednoręki Bandyta [One-armed Bandit]…
How many of those bands were there altogether?łUKASZ: It began with a recital competition at the local library, where we came up with the idea of arranging a poem to music. Unfortunately, after our rendition they told us they didn’t want to see us any more at their events. So we started getting together under various names.
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Pies was an extension of our earlier music experiments. We saw it as a kind of punk place. When we arrived in Poznań it turned out that there was absolutely nothing interesting going on. the small independent galleries were grim, and the City Arsenał Gallery was a total disaster.
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łUKASZ: Pies was an extension of our earlier musicexperiments. We saw it as a kind of punk place.
dAWId: At first it was all guerrilla tactics...
łUKASZ: the best part was our first trip to an art fair.
dAWId: We went to Vienna in 2009 without any idea of what we werein for. łukasz had an old ‘93 Opel Astra, really shitty… that car wasbroken, right?
łUKASZ: the suspension was broken. It couldn’t go faster than 70 km/h.
dAWId: We didn’t sell a thing, and I had to pay for the fair… So we had a sense of total failure.
Today you have a serious business.dAWId: It seems not that much time has passed—just seven years.But in the context of my professional work, that’s a lot of time. We’reboth around thirty. the days are past when we can do what we please.
łUKASZ: For me it’s still so natural, as if we were still playing in a band. We’re just pals, and this is an extension of our friendship, nothing else.
dAWId rAdZISZEWSKIGALLEry
3 Krochmalna sttue to Sat, 1pm to 7pmwww.dawidradziszewski.com
ArtIStS
Sebastian Buczekłukasz JastrubczakKrzysztof Kaczmarektomasz KowalskiPaweł KrukKrzysztof MężykKatarzyna PrzezwańskaAdam rzepeckiMarcin Zarzeka
GALLErIStdawid radziszewski
dAWId: Until we finally won the competition in grade four (laughs).
łUKASZ: But we also went to art shows together. We were at the first exhibition of the Grupa Ładnie, for example, at BWA (2000)—there’s evena photograph.
dAWId: Wojtek Kozłowski [director of the BWA in Zielona Góra] was showing what was important in Poland at the time. When I look back at it today, it seems phenomenal. We were really lucky. If we had grown up in some other town we’d probably be doing something else today.
In your second year of art history studies in Poznań you founded the gallery Pies [Dog] (2005-2011). You showed works by Marcin Maciejowski and Tomasz Mróz, among others. Iza Tarasewicz and Przemek Matecki made their debuts there. Where did the idea come from?dAWId: When we arrived in Poznań it turned out that there was absolutely nothing interesting going on. the small independent galleries were grim, and the City Arsenał Gallery was a total disaster.
łukasz JastrubczakGhost, 2012
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shared with them at the time, was that I defined myself as a person without a steady place. they were asking me about the artist, but I think that a person is just a creature without a steady place, if a place is understood as an address or attachments.
The Foundation began in the old Foksal Gallery, and only in 2001 did it end up at its current address on Górskiego Street.yes, we used to meet there together with Wiesław Borowski. It was a fantastic spot, but more than the place itself, it was working with people who challenged me that was the attraction. I saw they had curious and insightful minds, a clarity of thought that entertained me and drew me toward its light. that was a lure. I saw fine people who were not in competition but who had recognized their passions at a young age.
Doesn’t the artist need to be clever and calculating to achieve success in the art world?that’s a misunderstanding. I have never based my work on any kind of calculations, and my work with others has never had a commercial grounding. What really counts is spiritual development. the real “art world” is made of intricate relations between people who are interested in the same things, yet in a diverse fashion. this is not a market, it is mutual exchange—we’re sharing a wealth.
FOKSAL GALLEry FOUNdAtION
1A Górskiego sttue to Sat, 12pm to 6pmwww.fgf.com.pl
ArtIStS
Paweł AlthamerCezary BodzianowskiPiotr JanasKatarzyna Józefowiczrobert KuśmirowskiEdward KrasińskiAnna MolskaAnna NiesterowiczPaulina OłowskaWilhelm SasnalMonika SosnowskaJakub Julian ZiółkowskiArtur Żmijewski
dIrECtOrAndrzej Przywara
Interview with artist Paweł Althamer.
If you were to make a film about Andrzej Przywara, how would it start?PAWEł ALthAMEr: One of the first shots would show a quiet and attentive man. Andrzej has a great deal of faith in the intellect—reason is one of his guides. What he has told me so far in words are suggestions for making various gestures. But what I take from him—between the lines—is a state of attentiveness in a person who nurtures attentiveness in himself. this is a state which one either picks up on, and then it’s incredible fun, or doesn’t pick up on, and then it’s game over.
Foksal Gallery Foundation was founded by Adam Szymczyk and Joanna Mytkowska in 1997.First I met with Andrzej, and then I discovered that there were three people in on the hunt: working together, but also on their own. they had a beautiful tactic which involved accepting their own intuition while having respect for their joint knowledge. It was intuition and friendship. I saw both these things as the first most basic link that drew us together.
Intuition and friendship. What else binds you together?the experiences we’ve shared. In this state of attentiveness that I’ve found myself—which Andrzej shared with me—I felt that this wasa path worth turning down.
Do you remember the moment when you turned onto this path?during a conversation. Andrzej and Adam took me to a park near Foksal and began asking me questions. One of my secrets, which I happily
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30 31Paweł AlthamerBalloon, 2007 (Warsaw Gallery Weekend, 2012)
32 33damir OčkoStudy on Shivering No. 4: Bite Study 2013
Interview with gallerist Kasia Michalski.
The story behind you being here is quite interesting.KASIA MIChALSKI: yes. I grew up in Switzerland, and studied in New york.
You've very recently opened a gallery in Warsaw: March of 2015. Why here?Firstly, because I am Polish. half-Polish actually, but I’ve never lived here. I only ever visited on occasion. the second thing is, it makes absolute sense—much more than New york—to open a young start-up gallery in Warsaw. Not only is there room for new businesses, but also these businesses are very much encouraged. there’s a group effort that I like.
Is this sense of collaborative endeavor specificto Warsaw? Poland is, in the truest sense, an emerging country. the people are curious and the scene here is not fully defined. there are many artists looking for opportunities.
Your debut presentation featured the work of the Croatian artist Damir Očko; you’ve followed this with a showing of the Swiss artist Maurice Schobinger. Will your gallery only exhibit the work of international artists?No. Naturally, because I'm here, I would also like to show Polish artists. this year the gallery will exhibit
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KASIA MIChALSKI GALLEry
16 Poznańska sttue to Sat, 11am to 7pmwww.kasiamichalski.com
ArtIStS
Katarzyna Mirczakdamir OčkoMaurice Schobinger Jurek Wajdowicz
GALLErIStKasia Michalski
Maurice SchobingerCombinat métallurgique CMK // 0758, 2011
the Polish-born, New york-based, photographer Jurek Wajdowicz’s work. We also plan to present a solo exhibition of Katarzyna Mirczak’s work.
A mix of local artists, and artists from abroad?yes, but it is not so absolute.
Most galleries in Warsaw are focused on curating and promoting local content for a local audience; you’ve chosen a different path. What solidified your interest in pursuing an alternate approach?I get the feeling, although I’ve only lived here for two years, that local art-oriented individuals still often tend to go abroad to acquire or familiarize themselves with foreign artists. this is only normal, of course, but I also think that Warsaw is slowly becoming a destination for curious art-oriented crowds as much as young international and dynamic entrepreneurs. this simply means that it is the right moment to make good use of this opportunity to mix the local art scene with the international one.
Jurek WajdowiczUntitled (7AS_2107)2011
36 37tomek Baran#071F75, 2014
Interview with gallerist Agata Smoczyńska-Le Guern.
Le Guern was one of Warsaw’s first private galleries. You were established in 2004.AGAtA SMOCZyńSKA-LE GUErN: the initiative itself was born during social meetings with artists who kept repeating that they needed someone to look after them—to organize their artistic life. An acquaintance worked abroad and began telling me how it all worked. At the time he said: “And maybe you’d like to be a gallery owner?” And that’s how it started.
Did you have any previous experience in contemporary art?No, I studied English. At the beginning Bożena Czubak helped me develop the exhibition program. At the time regional art collections came about as part of the government’s “Signs of the times” program, which gathered the work of contemporary artists. that helped us a great deal.
How do you begin working with artists? What are your criteria?this core has, from the beginning, been some ofthe artists from the informal Pendzle [Brushes] painters group—tomasz Ciecierski, robert Maciejuk, and Włodzimierz Jan Zakrzewski—who are also my friends.
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C.t. JasperVertigo, 2015Photo: Piotr tomczyk
LE GUErN
8 Widok sttue to Fri, 12pm to 6pmSat, 11pm to 4pmwww.leguern.pl
ArtIStS
tomek Baran tomasz Ciecierski Jiří david Marta deskur Alice Gaskon Pravdoliub Ivanov rafał Jakubowicz Przemysław Jasielski C.t. Jasper Zofia Kulik robert Maciejuk Igor Omulecki tadeusz rolke Simone rueß Włodzimierz Jan Zakrzewski Natalia Załuska
GALLErIStAgata Smoczyńska-Le Guern
then I decided to cooperate with international artists—I invited artists from Bulgaria, the Czech republic, and from Germany. I also got in contact with younger artists such as Simone ruess and tomasz Baran.
I’m more interested in how you built the profile of Le Guernvis-à-vis two established Warsaw galleries—the Foksal Gallery Foundation and Raster.In my case the most important thing was the personal relationships with the artists. From the outset I didn’t imagine that I was going to work with someone with whom I had no common language, no similar sensitivity or sense of humor.
How do these two spheres relate—the professional and the private? Do you have to know how to separate them?I like it when art intersects with life. three years ago we prepared an exhibition by Christian tomaszewski [C.t. Jasper] that rubbed out the gallery space—we had to remove all traces of our presence, the whole office, for several months. the work was called Erased. And three years earlier we had the Axes project in garden plots.
Did your collectors take part?yes, of course. We shared food, there were performances and film screenings. Joanna Warsza even organized a small Biennale—every plot was meant to represent a different country (laughs). It was a lot of fun. We all took on unusual roles: tomek Saciłowski involved us gallery owners in gardening, robert Maciejuk cooked pasta, and Igor Omulecki reminded us of an old childhood game called “skyscope.”
41radek SzlagaTransatlantic, Frieze New york, 2009
Interview with artists radek Szlaga and honza Zamojski.
Three years ago you set sail together on a container ship to New York. You showed the results of this journey as part of the Frieze Art Fair. What was the project about?rAdEK SZLAGA: the point was to follow in the footsteps of European immigrants who sailed from Antwerp. For ten dayswe tried to create work for the Leto Gallery booth in the middleof the ocean.
But what did you do? Radek, you’re a painter, while Honza designs art books. Meanwhile, your project was totally different.rAdEK: this time I made a book, and honza drew.
hONZA ZAMOJSKI: I made a newspaper, which we gave out for free. On site, at the fair, we also assembled a bunk bed together —it was like a berth, the set of our narrative.
rAdEK: We threw in everything we talked about during the trip. And we had talked about the uncertainty all around. At the time everyone was afraid of the crisis, the stock market in America was supposed to crash.
Your friendship goes back further, to the mid 2000s, when you studied together at the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznań.hONZA: In a sense it all started when Poland entered the EU in 2004, I went to work in England for a year, and radek came after me.
And what did you do in England?hONZA: I worked at “Sausage & Mash,”a British diner with sausages, and also asa caretaker at London’s White Cube Gallery. When radek came he started working there as well.
rAdEK: I carried tracey Emin’s thingsfor example. I “assisted her.”
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Maybe it would be better if you told me about the art you’ve done together.rAdEK: After returning from England, honza made a book—We Came From Beyond / We Go Far Beyond (2008). I also took part in the project.
hONZA: yes, that was the first part of the project. And for the second part Konrad Smoleński also pitched in, putting a huge, burning “dEAth” inscription on the Warsaw–Berlin express-line railroad tracks.
A year later Konrad joined Leto as well. Are you still working together?hONZA: After a residency in the Czech republic we did an exhibition in Poznań (along with Grzegorz drozd), then came the joint Gradient project in Berlin. We’re also planning something now. It’s more of a friendship—if an idea comes up that we both relate to, then we set to work.
rAdEK: Konrad and I have recently been working together on Performa 13 in New york (2013). he played there with daniel Szwed as BNNt, and I created something in between an installation, set design, and an environment—it was like visual noise. We wanted everything to go together, yet to elude any sort of definition.
LEtO
25 Mińska sttue to Fri, 12pm to 7pmSat, 12pm to 4pmwww.leto.pl
ArtIStS
Maurycy GomulickiAngelika MarkulWojciech PuśBianka rolandoIwo rutkiewiczKonrad Smoleńskiradek SzlagaAleksandra UrbanAleksandra Waliszewskahonza Zamojski
GALLErIStMarta Kolakowska
honza ZamojskiFour Eggs Theory Futura, 2014
radek SzlagaBozia, 2014
44 45Ewa Juszkiewicz Untitled, 2014
Interview with gallerist Agnieszka rayzacher and artistZuzanna Janin.
How did lokal_30 start?ZUZANNA JANIN: I remember we were sitting there on the terrace—it was May or June—and we were talking about Warsaw's galleries, or the lack thereof. I said that I wanted to provide a place as an open space, but I wouldn't be able to run it myself. Agnieszka said she had considered opening and running a gallery herself for some time. that's how it started.
AGNIESZKA rAyZAChEr: that was in 2005, the situation was completely different—Warsaw had three private galleries active on the international scene whose profiles resembled what we had in mind. the initial idea was to create an independent mini art center, run by the foundation. We introduced a few series: “Provocations,” or conversations and meetings with interesting personalities, “Incubator,” or activities with young artists, and “Performance on Site.” We also ran a residency program.
What has changed over the past ten years?ZUZANNA: the formula has evolved from a “place of experiments” to a professional gallery. two years ago we closed the venue on Foksal street and Agnieszka moved the gallery to a new space on Wilcza street. Instead of the wide spectrum of activities we ran together on Foksal, today Agnieszka focuses on working with particular artists.
AGNIESZKA: But this place is always open—for example, we recently had a performance by Zbigniew Warpechowski. Every year, in September, we also have a few weeks when external curators can carry out their projects.
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cropping up, the tendency is definitely on the rise, but the collectors are definitely coming more slowly, and their choices are fairly conservative. It is a good signal, however, that we have growing numbers of young collectors whose financial capabilities might be limited, but whose enthusiasm is enormous.
LOKAL_30
29a/12 Wilcza stWed to Fri, 12pm to 6pmSat, 11am to 3pmwww.lokal30.pl
ArtIStS
Filip BerendtKarolina BregułaStefan ConstantinescuChristoph draegerJustyna GórowskaZuzanna JaninEwa JuszkiewiczNatalia LLKonrad MaciejewiczJan MioduszewskiAnna PanekJózef robakowskiKamen StoyanovMateusz SzczypińskiSociété réalisteKatya ShadkovskaAlicja Żebrowska
GALLErIStAgnieszka rayzacher
What is special for you about the Warsaw gallery scene?ZUZANNA: It's like an empty space that gets entered by enthusiastsof all kinds…
Why “empty”?ZUZANNA: Because of our checkerboard history. In general the tradition of collecting contemporary things is a short one in Warsaw. Prewar art developed more strongly in Kraków. here, during the Warsaw Uprising, the city was leveled, torched, plundered. Later, in the People's republic, there weren't really any private collections because there was no free market. there were exceptions, but not enough to create a “scene.” After 1989 state institutions did not really purchase contemporary art, at most they held it in deposits and thus the museum collections lost works by Wróblewski and Szapocznikow. Now too, unfortunately, the budget and response speed do not allow our public institutions to purchase many important works.
What kind of prospects for development do you see?AGNIESZKA: I'm a guarded optimist. there are more and more galleries
Zuzanna JaninVolvo 240 transformed into 4 drones, 2014 Photo: Paweł derkacz
Karolina BregułaUlica, 2013
49Przemek dzienisUntitled from the series I can't speak, I'm sorry, 2012-2013
Interview with artists diana Lelonek and Przemek dzienis.
Lookout is only focused on contemporary photography?dIANA LELONEK: yes, in Warsaw we are the only gallery with this profile. there is also Czułość, but they are more of an art collective. Asymetria, Arton, and the Archaeology of Photography Foundation focus more on research.
PrZEMEK dZIENIS: It is important that Lookout is considered in the context of contemporary art. this is quite a relevant matter, because photography has ceased to be an autonomous field—it is increasingly making inroads into the art world. We see this both in public art institutions and at photography festivals.
What is the point of collecting photography? Everything today is on the internet; you can makeall the prints you please.dIANA: true, this way of thinking has its place. People are not aware that galleries control this circulation.It is the same as with graphic art: there are signed works and limited editions.
PrZEMEK: you have to explain these things to people, because seeing photography as a collector's object is something relatively new.
What does this involve?PrZEMEK: Many different things. In Poland people generally collect because they are passionate about it.
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LOOKOUt GALLEry
41/22 Puławska stWed to Fri, 12pm to 7pmSat, 11am to 4pmand by appointmentwww.lookoutgallery.pl
ArtIStS
Alexander BinderPrzemek dzienisdzienis & BuczkowskaKarol Komorowskidiana LelonekGrzegorz łoznikowLelonek & KucharskiMaciej NowaczykJana romanovaGrzegorz StefańskiAndrzej ŚwietlikSarah Wilmer
GALLErIStKatarzyna Borucka
In the West I more frequently encounter collectors who approachart more like stocks to invest in. there is a certain snobbery in this; the whole ritual of possessing an object that has no practical value. Art is a luxury product, we all know that we can start collecting when we start to have a better life.
dIANA: I haven't been on the art market for as long as Przemek. Now I'm mainly concentrating on my own artistic development. I made contact with Lookout because they are not afraid to invest in the potential of young artists. three years ago nineteen-year-old Karol Komorowski made his debut here. Few galleries are so open to debutantes.
diana LelonekUntitled from the series Yesterday I met a really wild man, 2014
Karol Komorowski Wired, 2014
52 53Bartosz KokosinskiFrom the series Charred Paintings, 2014
Interview with gallerists Zuzanna Sokalska and Anna Ciabach.
“Monopol”—how did you come up with the name?ZUZANNA SOKALSKA: It aims to be ironic. We wanted to summon both Polish associations: “monopoly/domination” and “liquor store.” the funny part is that when we found the place it turned out it was once a twenty-four-hour liquor shop. We had to scrape the windows because they were covered with plastic advertisements. We still have the little window in the door that was designed for after-hours sales.
ANNA: the name came first, then the place. that's the funniest part. We were looking for a place that would be different from other Warsaw galleries. And this sure is. It is glassed in like an aquarium and is in an neighbourhood that pulses with nightlife. Lots of people pass by, cars sit there in traffic jams; trams cruise by.
ZUZANNA: this whole neighborhood is associated with the architectural mess of the 1990s. there aren't any galleries around here, nor anything of the sort. I actually like that a lot, because people are always stopping and staring from the outside. Even if they're hesitant to come in, sometimes they read the poster with the exhibition statement.
Have you considered doing site-specific projects? Stepping outside the gallery?ZUZANNA: We have. In fact, we've already had one such work—the white neon sign in the window.
The neon is milky-white, but it reads “Różowy” [Pink].ANNA: Elżbieta Jabłońska did it during our first exhibition. It's copied from a banner that Maria Pinińska-Bereś used in one of her first performances in 1980.
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MONOPOL GALLEry
117 Jerozolimskie sttue to Fri, 12pm to 7pmSat, 12pm to 3pmwww.galeriamonopol.pl
ArtIStS
Jerzy BereśCzekalska+GolecJerzy Goliszewskiroman dziadkiewiczZofia GramzBartosz KokosińskiAndrzej PartumMaria Pinińska-BereśIrmina StaśMartyna ŚcibiorZbigniew WarpechowskiPaweł Wocial
GALLErIStSAnna CiabachZuzanna Sokalska
ZUZANNA: But it also references the particular place we’re in right now. Until recently, this building was mainly known for the escort agencies that were located here (laughs). And they had neon signs of this sort. Now only one is visible from the front. It's not so cool, because it was factory produced. Apparently they all used to be homemade.
ANNA: Lots of gentlemen wave at us through the window (laughs). But so far only one typical American tourist has popped in looking for a massage. he came in thinking he had to utter some kind of password—he repeated it with a wink, as if it was supposed to work right away. When we got it through to him that this was an art gallery, he blushed terribly and apologized up and down, explaining that his friends had put him up to it (laughs).
Zbigniew Warpechowski Untitled
Nine Nameless MountainsExhibition view, 2014Photo: Paweł Grześ
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Interview with gallerist Matylda Prus.
How did m2 start?MAtyLdA PrUS: the beginnings of Warsaw's private galleries were quite varied. Many of them were extensions of the earlier curatorial activities of their owners. Before founding m² I worked at two auction houses and at another gallery.
What was driving you?At auction houses one has limited influence over what gets put up for auction. I wanted to be able to feel responsible for what I displayed and promoted; to help create art events, and not just be a passive observer. In 2005 I prepared an exhibition of works by young artists, “the 70s: Paintings and Graphics by Artists Born in the 1970s.”
So as I understand it, this was your first project as a curator?you could say that. I wanted to show new, fresh art to the fairly conservative clientele at the auction house. that exhibition confirmed my conviction that I wanted to, and should be doing this kind of work.
You founded m2 Gallery less than two years later—in January 2007. How has the Warsaw gallery scene changed since then?the art market is entirely different. Back then, the art press were still wondering if Poles were ever going to start collecting contemporary art. Moreover, those same articles listed almost exclusively the names of dead artists of the canon: Kantor, Krasiński, Stażewski, and Szapocznikow. today over a dozen galleries are actively supporting artists of the younger generation now in their twenties and thirties.
What was the beginning like?When raster and FGF were created, that was a pioneering period that will never return. they created the foundation of the Warsaw gallery landscape. A few years later came the second wave of ambitious Warsaw galleries—including my m2. It was expected that we would turn everything on its head; we'd discover the
M2
Grzegorz SztwiertniaFrom the seriesThe Practice of Seeing
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M2 GALLEry
6 Oleandrów sttue and Fri, 2pm to 7pmthu, 2pm to 9pmSat, 12pm to 4pmwww.m2.art.pl
ArtIStS
Jakub Adamekdobrawa BorkałaPaweł dunalAgnieszka KieliszczykKamil KuskowskiMiłosz PobiedzińskiIgor Przybylski Grzegorz Sztwiertnia
GALLErIStMatylda Prus
“next Sasnal.” But these were no longer times of romantic fits, only ongoing everyday work, which is less than evident from the outside.
In your view, what is the biggest problem facing the artworld here?It pains me how easily we waste talents. Look at how little has survived from the generation of Paweł Althamer, Katarzyna Kozyra, Artur Żmijewski, and Grzegorz Sztwiertnia. Who knows how many clever artists simply couldn't get by because no one noticed them and they received no support. today it is somewhat easier for young artists, in part because there are a dozen or so galleries operating. Perhaps only the cleverest ones will be around in a few years, but at least there is a chance to support and promote them. this is why we put so much stress on debuts—Michał Frydrych, Paweł dunal, róża Litwa, Maja Kitajewska, and recently, dobrawa Borkała, all had their first exhibitions at m2.
Igor Przybylski230 - 067, from the series Czechoslovakia, 2010
Paweł dunal Untitled, 2013
61Cezary Poniatowskiuntitled, 2014
Interview with gallerist Michał Woliński.
You founded the gallery only four years ago. Before that came the Piktogram art magazine, whichyou published between 2005–2012.MIChAł WOLIńSKI: Piktogram as an organization for special curatorial tasks came about simultaneously with the founding of the magazine. From the outset we organized exhibitions in specially chosen locations, outside of the classic “white cube.” In 2011 we began working as a project space in Soho Factory, and as of 2013 we have been representing artists on a gallery basis.
You once called the magazine an exhibition on paper.It was not only about pairing a text with an image, but also about orbiting around certain issues, a construct of structure and content based on loose associations. We explored the crossroads between art and other fields, discovering forgotten or marginalized artists and ideas. We also worked with artists and curators who did projects specially devoted to this medium.
PiKtoGRAM
I did not want to do an ephemeral artzine for my acquaintances; I wanted a magazine with international distribution, in English. It was to be about showing Polish art beyond our borders and placing it in an international, historical, and multidisciplinary context.
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PIKtOGrAM
25 Mińska st,Soho Factorytue to Fri, 12pm to 7pmSat, 12pm to 4pmwww.piktogram.org
ArtIStS
ryszard GrzybEstate Leszek KnaflewskiPaweł KwiekLUXUS(Paweł Jarodzki, Ewa Ciepielewska,Bożena Grzyb-Jarodzka, Jerzy Kosałka, Marek Czechowski, Artur Gołacki,Piotr Gusta, Małgorzata Plata,Stanisław Sielicki, Jacek Ponton Jankowski, Szymon Lubiński)tomasz MrózIgor OmuleckiPaweł OlszczyńskiCezary Poniatowskitomasz SaciłowskiJerzy truszkowski
GALLErIStMichał Woliński
A pictogram is a picture that replaces a word. Why did you choose this name?I did not want to do an ephemeral artzine for my acquaintances; I wanted a magazine with international distribution, in English. It was to be about showing Polish art beyond our borders and placing it in an international, historical, and multidisciplinary context. the title came from the fact that we were inspired in part by old Polish magazines—their design and typography—thus the association with Projekt.
In 2007 you were invited to take part in “Documenta 12 Magazines” curated by Georg Schöllhammer. What wasthat project about?We took part in special seminars and prepared materials on issues in Polish art from the perspective of the three main subjects of documenta 12. the magazine itself was displayed in exhibition at Kassel and distributed in a specially prepared bookshop.
Apart from the magazine, you have made exhibitions suchas “Down with Art Pimps” (2006).that came as a result of a research project on the relationship between punk and art in the 1980s. We worked with łukasz ronduda, who researched the artist archives, and I harassed the musicians with questions. Lots of people came from abroad, including Nicolaus Schafhausen, who proposed I do an exhibition on the climate and approaches of artists in Poland in the 1980s.
You mean the much publicized “I Could Live in Africa” exhibition, also shown at the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw (2010)?yes, first we displayed it at Ursula Blickle Stiftung (2009) —that was a dress rehearsal for the exhibition at Witte de With (2010). that began my fascination with the art of the 1980s; it also confirmed my conviction that I needed an exhibition space.
Jerzy truszkowski To Art You Are Indifferent, 1983
64 65teresa GierzyńskaTraces of Friendship, 1979
Interview with gallerists Patrick Komorowski and Gunia Nowik.
How do people find you?PAtrICK KOMOrOWSKI: definitely not by accident—you need to know which gate to open and which doorbell to press. But what we show here demands an informed audience who know what they're looking for, and how to find it.
Everyone comes to you that way—through theback door?PAtrICK: there's no way to come in without having contact with Gunia or myself; when guests come, one of us takes care of them. there is always direct communication.
So for all intents and purposes you’re inviting people into your own home?PAtrICK: yes, there's no separating the two. When you visit us, you have to see the exhibition, and if you want to see the exhibition, you have to meet us. Grzegorz Kowalski [one of the gallery's leading artists] has called it a “life filter” that you have to get through to have an encounter with art.
GUNIA NOWIK: When we first opened the gallery there was no specific intention to open it in our home. It was the result of material circumstances. But as soon as
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POLA MAGNEtyCZNE
13 Londyńska stWed to Fri, 3pm to 7pmSat, 1pm to 5pmwww.polamagnetyczne.com
ArtIStS
Elżbieta CieślarEmil Cieślarteresa GierzyńskaWiktor GuttAnna JarnuszkiewiczKrystian JarnuszkiewiczGrzegorz KowalskiAntje Majewski
GALLErIStSPatrick KomorowskiGunia Nowik
Antje MajewskiThe Museum in the Garage, based on a text by Sebastian Cichocki Exhibition view, 2014Photo: Franciszek Buchner
we started our activity, it became clear that this format isa fertile tool.
PAtrICK: Every visitor is treated equally, whether she is a collector or a student. All visitors are our guests and are considered as such. We believe that you have to talk to your guests—to provide them with interpretative clues so that they can link the works together, so they are aware of the context, and are focused not only on the visual layer.
GUNIA: the gallery’s program proceeds along three main lines. One is to acquaint the contemporary viewer with historical art works that enjoyed little visibility during the era of the Polish People’s republic. In this way, we aim to develop a contemporary discourse around the innovative practices of the work’s author, artists who represent some of the most influential representatives of the Polish neo-avantgarde. Another is to combine historical research with presentations of this generation of artists more recent work. Finally, we support the contemporary practice of a younger generation of artists from abroad.
Is the name of your space a deliberate reference to the writing of Breton and Soupault?GUNIA: Exactly, Pola Magnetyczne comes from Les champs magnétiques. We wanted to join in that way our two identities: I'm Polish and Patrick is French.
PAtrICK: Above all, we are interested in the plurality of the name Magnetic Fields. We think a gallery should be more than a private, commercial enterprise or a provider of a superficial aesthetic encounter. Of course we face these issues, but we remain resolute that this gallery is first of all a collective project based on a close collaboration with a group of artists with whom we share a curiosity about the nature of the human condition.
68 69Irena KalickaFrom the series Goosebumps, 2014
Interview with director Bożena Czubak.
BOŻENA CZUBAK: We should start by mentioning that we are a foundation. this means we stress our research and publishing program. Many of our projects are not for sale. Apart from the exhibition catalogues we publish research projects such as the book on the NEt, The Net: The Art of Dialog (2014) and art books including The Gay, Innocent and Heartless (2008) by Zbigniew Libera.
The NET is an initiative by Jarosław Kozłowski, who ran the Akumulatory 2 Gallery in the 1970s—one of the most important conceptual art centers in Poland. Today he is an artist affiliated with Profile. Is this a tradition that you draw from, as part of your mandate?I would not define our mandate as covering the conceptual tradition, though it is undoubtedly one of the more important points of reference. But our work with Kozłowski has a much wider scope, much as Akumulatory has a wider spectrum of activities. For instance, in the 1970s, it was the only place in Poland where the work of Fluxus was shown.
Perhaps not the only one, given that Andrzej Partum's Biuro poezji [Poetry Office] was active in Warsaw, keeping in contact with the leading figures of the movement in the 1970s, including Ben Vautier and Dick Higgins.Warsaw primarily had Foksal Gallery, whose seriousness was ill-suited to Fluxus' sense of humor. Krzysztof Wodiczko, who worked with both Foksal and Akumulatory, once explained to me the difference on the basis of his piece Ladder (1975). this was a conceptual object showing the duality of the reigning models of visual representation. Wodiczko first used it as a prop, walking about town and taking pictures of himself, for which he was criticized at Foksal. Kozłowski however was so delighted by this action that he displayed the resulting photographic documentation in exhibition.
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6 Frańciszkańska sttue to Sat, 12pm to 7pmwww.fundacjaprofile.pl
ArtIStS
Natalia BrandtEwa harabaszIrena KalickaAlicja Karska & Aleksandra WentJarosław Kozłowskitomasz KopcewiczZbigniew Liberatomek PartykaKrzysztof Wodiczko
dIrECtOrBożena Czubak
Your work with Krzysztof Wodiczko began with the Guests project for the Polish Pavilion at the 53rd Venice Biennale (2009), which you curated.Actually, it began a bit earlier—with an exhibition featuring reconstructions of his lesser-known self-portraits from the early 1970s. then came a large project in the public space, A Projection of War Veterans (2010). that was a difficult project featuring a group of real war veterans. For the project we “shot up”
the facades of the National theater, Krasiński Palace, and technical University with images and sound. It involved using a special military vehicle; exactly the same kind that Polish soldiers were using in Iraq at the time.
Jarosław Kozakiewicz,Anatomy of SpaceExhibition view, 2015
Krzysztof Wodiczko Passage 1969-1979Exhibition view, 2013
72 73Krzysztof M.BednarskiDiagonal Column - Hommage à Brancusi, 1988
Zawa & Worpus Justice, 2015
Zawa & WorpusSecret Message, 2015
Interview with gallerist Paweł Sosnowski.
You founded your first private gallery in 1982.What was running a gallery like back then?PAWEł SOSNOWSKI: It wasn’t like anything. that was a struggle for survival. the saving grace was that the cost of living was relatively low, and art relatively expensive. It was mainly foreigners who did the buying: the embassy workers and trade representatives living in Warsaw who had very high, foreign salaries. For them, fifty or a few hundred dollars for a picture was nothing. In Poland, a university professor earned more or less thirty dollars a month.
The Poles weren’t buying?those who could afford contemporary art had no idea what was good. the most important purchaser was the “foreign tourist.” One time, for example, an American stopped by—a psychiatric doctor, it later turned out—and bought eight pictures, which I hadto somehow send to him.
There wasn’t any problem with that?ha! the director of the customs office in Okęcie [Airport] couldn’t understand where the error was—by what miracle was I capable of paying over one hundred dollars to send eight pictures!
What was your work with the artists like?Did you go to art fairs?What fairs? you have to keep one thing in mind: in the 1980s there was nothing. there weren’t even light bulbs, not to speak of toilet paper. this “nothing” included publications and catalogues, though there was an artists’ boycott of state art institutions. Because there were only a few such institutions in Warsaw—Zachęta, Foksal, and some culturecenters—this was a total boycott.
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11 Foksal stMon to Sat, 12pm to 6pmwww.prpgnd.net
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Adam JastrzebskiAleksander ryszkaAmir yatzivAnna BarlikJakub CiezkiJarema drogowskiLodz KaliskaMariusz tarkawianPawel Kowalewskiryszard GrzybSharon BalabanStanislaw drozdztomasz KulkaWlodzimierz Pawlak
GALLErIStSJacek SosnowskiPaweł Sosnowski
And this is why galleries like yours sprang up?this is why, above all, limited-edition underground publications appeared, released by independent arts communities. It was the only way for artists to show their work.
In 1991 you founded Appendix Gallery.After ’89 everything changed. there was toilet paper; there were light bulbs. At the time, Adam Myjak [then director of the Academy of Fine Arts] suggested I run the gallery linked to the academy. the gallery was opened with great pomp, with an exhibition by roman Opałka—his first individual exhibitionsince he had emigrated from Poland [in 1974].
Mariusz tarkawianOlimpie i Wenusjanki, 2014
Jakub Ciężki Barierka, 2014
76 77Olaf BrzeskiUntitled, 2015
Interview with gallerists Michał Kaczyński and łukasz Gorczyca.
Raster has its roots in publishing: How did raster magazine [1995–2000] influence your initial start-up?MIChAł KACZyńSKI: Raster magazine, whilst not explicitly focused on art, was a vehicle that connected us with a networkof artists whose attitudes and values aligned with our own.
łUKASZ GOrCZyCA: the gallery developed organically in part from these formative relationships. Many of the artists we worked with in the ‘90s are still part of our contemporaneous activity.
Warsaw in 2015 is very different from the Warsaw of yourearly years.MIChAł: In the beginning, it wasn’t only that we were the first commercial gallery here, it was also that an art market didn’texist for the kind of art that we were trying to exhibit and sell.We experimented with what it was a gallery could do, we took risks not common to the typical business-oriented model—we ran a music program; we hosted projects like Villa.
łUKASZ: If you were to chart our activity, you can see we’ve invented everything anew. It’s the same for all Warsaw gallerists, all local collectors. this is pioneering work, the job of the first generation.
The foundational period provides certain creativity; the freedom of the early years is hard to replicate. How do you see Warsaw, and how have you adapted to the reality ofa changing art scene? łUKASZ: As a young gallery, the market mirrored our activity; it went with us. Initially there was huge interest in emerging artists as the commercial outlay for an
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63 Wspólna sttue to Sat, 12pm to 6pmwww.en.rastergallery.com
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AzorroOlaf BrzeskiMichał Budnyrafał BujnowskiOskar dawickiSławomir ElsnerAneta GrzeszykowskaKwieKulikZbigniew LiberaMarcin MaciejowskiPrzemek MateckiBartek MaterkaZbigniew rogalskiWilhelm SasnalJanek SimonSlavs and tatars
GALLErIStSłukasz GorczycaMichał Kaczyński
entry-level work was minimal. Now, the scene here is more diverse. the consequence of this development is that we’re confronted with a new challenge: how to run a successful gallery in Poland with our artists, all of who have reached mid-career status.
MIChAł: you have a certain credit as a young gallery. the actualities of development, of success, ensure you cannot remain the “young” gallery forever. the artists we work with are collected by major institutions, they have revised their ambition. In short, their outlook is grander. In practical terms, this equates to work that is very difficult to manage, to produce.to encourage them to have a bigger vision, even if it’s for research or travel, is a significant part of our role.
łUKASZ: Warsaw, and Poland, is in a strong position now. We cooperate with international partners, whether at art fairs, through Villa, or with foreign institutions. It’s important to cultivate these networks; we’re aware this position is not forever guaranteed.
Aneta Grzeszykowska Selfie, 2014
Marcin MaciejowskiComposition For A Small Space, exhibition view, 2014
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Wysokie Obcasy!” [a Polish culture magazine] (laughs).
BOWNIK: At the time, I had recently travelled to a computer game convention to do portraits of the game players. Along the way I noticed that they were using very low-tech solutions with high-tech materials.
MArIKA: this became our first Bownik exhibition at the gallery (2012)—a presentation of do-it-yourself objects made by playersfor gaming.
BOWNIK: I photographed it all to evoke certain associations: with Suprematism for instance. I wanted to divorce these objects from their functional context and put them in the iconosphere of the avant-garde tradition. this was my nod toward art history.
Why did you go to Starter?MArIKA: Actually, I’m wondering that myself (laughs). do you know that Bownik studied in Poznań and never dropped by to see us?
BOWNIK: Because Starter was only getting going and, in some sense,I was just beginning as well. I wanted to launch my work, and I wantedto do it someplace where there were no set hierarchies.
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13 Andersa sttue to Fri, 12pm to 6pmSat, 12pm to 4pmwww.starter.org.pl
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Alicja BielawskaBownikdorota BuczkowskaMichał GrochowiakAgnieszka GrodzińskaMagdalena KarpińskaJanusz łukowiczMikołaj MoskalAnna Zaradny
GALLErIStMarika Zamojska
Interview with gallerist Marika Zamojska and artist Bownik.
Starter started in Poznań in 2007.MArIKA ZAMOJSKA: that was only among friends. We just gathered together—my friends from art history and the Academy of Fine Arts, my brother [honza Zamojski], various artists that he knew [including radek Szlaga], and for the first three years we worked together. It was meant to give young people their start —it was a place for artists and curators to make their debuts.
Did you do it in a squat of some sort?MArIKA: yes, it was in a building that was pissed on and abandoned; nestled among sex shops. that was quite incredible, because there was a peep show there (laughs). So all kinds of men were coming in, spending their ten minutes there, and going out.
Today you are somewhere else entirely. Did you think it would develop this way back then?MArIKA: there was no plan. We had created an association, but for the purely pragmatic reason of obtaining financing from the city. It was meant to be democratic, participative, and so forth. Of course, it swiftly turned out that some people were working more than others.
You invited collectors and curators?MArIKA: We didn’t think of it that way. I like to call this model an “artists and curators run space”—it was supposed to be different from a commercial gallery.
So how did you and Bownik begin working together?MArIKA: It was shortly after we moved Starter from Poznań to Warsaw [in 2011]. A curator I knew called me up and said that an artist, Bownik, wanted to meet me. I thought, “Oh super, I’ve read about Bownik somewhere. Wait, wait… I know where—in
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82 83BownikDen, 2014
84 85Gizela Mickiewicz Mass and Mood, 2015
Interview with gallerist Zuzanna hadryś and artist Wojciech Bąkowski
Stereo was created in Poznań in 2009, but you had already been active as a curator. What were you doing?ZUZANNA hAdryŚ: two years before Stereo opened, Michał Lasota and I established a foundation whose aim was to promote Penerstwo [Low-lifes].
What was Penerstwo?WOJCIECh BąKOWSKI: An art group.
Did you come to some kind of agreement? Did you write a manifesto?WOJCIECh: In our case there was no manifesto in the full sense of the word, but we did come to an agreement.
On what?WOJCIECh: On creating an art group. It happened naturally, just like children would do it, sitting rounda table and drinking…
You were students at the Poznań Academy of Fine Arts, right? That probably brought you together.WOJCIECh: yes, but we had never been great friends. Piotr [Bosacki], Konrad [Smoleński] and I were close. radek Szlaga hung out with tomek Mroz.
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there was a lot of thoughtlessness involved, lots of clichés of how art groups worked. Groups were supposed to hold legendary events, where some kind of madness went on. It bore all the hallmarks of emulative foolishness.
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11 Miedziana stWed to Sat, 12pm to 6pmwww.galeriastereo.pl
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Wojciech BąkowskiPiotr BosackiNorman LetoPiotr łakomyGizela Mickiewiczroman StańczakMateusz SadowskiMagdalena Starska
GALLErIStSZuzanna hadryśMichał Lasota
We even joked that there was the Silesian faction and the Poznań faction. there was a lot of thoughtlessness involved, lots of clichés of how art groups worked. Groups were supposed to hold legendary events, where some kind of madness went on. It bore all the hallmarks of emulative foolishness.
And what has changed over these seven years?WOJCIECh: Everything. Absolutely everything.
What does your relationship look like these days?WOJCIECh: It looks like nothing. We don’t have a relationship.
ZUZANNA: No, no, we’ve stayed friends.
WOJCIECh: the creation of the gallery already made things start to fall apart. Some of the artists went into it, others didn’t. Even though Stereo was initially an extension of Penerstwo.
ZUZANNA: It was. We built Stereo on the foundations of Penerstwo. Our first exhibition was work by Iza tarasewicz and Magda Starska. And that was maybe the last minimal community action. Soon afterward Stereo grew to include somewhat younger artists—Mateusz Sadowski and Gizela Mickiewicz for example.
WOJCIECh: And then it became more cohesive.
ZUZANNA: then it got more cohesive, but less “low-lifeish.” Later we started working with Norman Leto and Piotr łakomy. For two years roman Stańczak has also been with the gallery—he is an artist from a different generation and tradition in the arts.
What is Stereo in our day? The critics say that you are joined by a certain aesthetic.ZUZANNA: Minimalism, lots of gray, a language of reduction. It is a radical departure from how Penerstwo was perceived.
WOJCIECh: In Stereo there is a strength capable of producing a kind of shared visual code. In Penerstwo there was no such thing.
Gizela Mickiewicz Mass and Mood, 2015
WArSAW by Błażej Pindor
Błażej Pindor, 2014 b. 1973, Graphic designer and Photographer, co-creator of Piktogram magazine.he documents Warsaw's evolving urban landscape.
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In the past, with the huge change thatcame with the transformation froma Socialist state to a free-market economy,the posture adopted by many artists was one of commentary. Politicians, the church, gender, sex, in essence the questions of identity, they were the subjects of the first wave ofpost-89 artists. Now, with the passing of this age, a more sophisticated engagement with that which has followed—a kind of existential engagement—is observable. In the work of the current crop of excellent Polish artists,it is not so much nationality, but this central preoccupation that unites their work.
Krzysztof Nowakowski –collector, member of the boardat the Museum of Modern Artin Warsaw and chairman ofthe institution's "Friends ofthe Museum" society.
trANSFOrMAtION
KrZySZtOF NOWAKOWSKI IN CONVErSAtION ON Art ANd
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ryan GanderReally Shiny Things That Don’t Mean Anything, 2011Photo: Bartek Stawiarski
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The Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw was established in 2005 and you’ve worked with the Museum from the beginning. As a major institution devoted to the collection of modern and contemporary works, what do you view as its collection strengths?KrZySZtOF: the Museum of Modern Art is still going through a process of development. In its foundational period the acquisition strategy was defined by geography, with Polish art as focus. today, that thematic direction has altered. the Museum has shifted its attention to narratives of transformation, of transition and of temporality in modern and contemporary art, architecture and design.
The active revision of art history, to re-examine the practice of artists previously overlooked—this also appears to be of central importance to the Museum?retrospective exhibitions and research on practitioners such as Alina Szapocznikow, Maria Bartuszová, Andrzej Wróblewski and Oskar hansen, has without doubt helped to disseminate their respective work to a wider audience. hansen’s work, in particular, resonates strongly with the Museum’s own activity. his conception of fluid form, of openness in pedagogical practice, mirrors the Museum’s own attitude toward the expression and reception of knowledge. there is no financial barrier to engagement at the Museum. Everything from exhibition entrance, workshops, screenings, and excursions are free of charge.
The institution has emerged at a latter point on the European landscape—a landscape with a long history of collecting, as well as legislative frameworks designed to encourage state-support of cultural entities. Is the relative youth of the Museum a limitation, or does it encourage creativity in collection development?there is no doubt that a great collection of modern art would be a boon for the Museum. Unfortunately, when state-support for institutional collections collapsed in the late-1980s and early-1990s, and a free market was ushered forth, many great works produced
Alina SzapocznikowSculpture-Lampe III (Fetish IX), 1970Photo: Jan Smaga
100 101Sarah LucasRomans, 2011Photo: Bartek Stawiarski
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during the PrL days either left the country, or moved into private collections. All of which means, in part, there is a necessity to look at what can be achieved with the tools we have. this is why the concept of transformation, which is so pivotal to the Polish experience, has become a central part of the Museum’s focus.
To what extent do you consider Polish art to representa singularly Polish experience?Polish art follows very closely what is transpiring in a more general sense in the country. It keeps pace with other changes. this has been the story for twenty-five years: the ongoing adaptation to an ever-newer context. In the past, with the huge change that came with the transformation from a Socialist state to a free-market economy, the posture adopted by many artists was one of commentary. Politicians, the church, gender, sex, in essence the questions of identity, they were the subjects of the first wave of post-89 artists. Now, with the passing of this age, a more sophisticated engagement with that which has followed—a kind of existential engagement—is observable. In the work of the current crop of excellent Polish artists, it is not so much nationality, but this central preoccupation that unites them.
Would you say the art produced in Poland remains grounded in the past? What debt does Polish art owe to that which came before?Whilst not always perceptible, one could mount a strong argument that the traumatic experience of war still finds a way into the national discourse on art. take Mirosław Bałka, who often engages through his work with the residual effects of the occupation, segregation and death brought about by the war; and explicitly, the very weight of its memory. Or Oskar dawicki, an artist who may say—I’ve never made work about the Holocaust—but whose words run contrary to their expressed meaning by the very nature of them having been written. dawicki embraces the double edge of this position: the tongue-in-cheek rejection of this trope so common to Polish art, but also the unavoidability of its presence.
Ion GrigorescuCommuters, 1972
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What differentiates what’s being made, exhibited and sold in Warsaw today, compared to ten years ago, when Poland first joined the EU?Everything has changed. Much can be said about the past, but now one of the most interesting things about this context is that the Warsaw gallerist is very self-aware of what they would like to achieve, very self-aware about their program. Naturally, every gallery around the world would like to profess such ability for critical reflection. here, I see it in practice.
Is there an explanation for this heightened self-reflection?I view it as a result of the rapid development of the art market here—the comingling of the acceleration of change with the availability of good art and artists. Unlike the major centers of New york or Berlin, the number of gallerists remains small. As consequence, the network is more insular and in turn promotes a kind of cohesiveness and solidarity within the scene. Everybody works toward better outcomes.
In Warsaw, the definition of a private gallery is multifaceted—galleries publish books, they take interpretation very seriously, they provide support for younger artists. Work that is often considered the domain of public institutions. How much does contemporary cultural life in Warsaw owe its gallery scene?to be a gallerist in Poland is a hardship, almost a penance. there is very little support from the state. there are growing signs that officials aim to address the lack of support-structure for the activities that contribute to cultural life here—the music and books as well as discussion prompted by our contemporary spaces; the activities outside the purview of a commercial space. this attitude is welcome as without doubt culture is one of the drivers, in fact the key catalyst, for economic advancement.
Many of the “Profile on Poland” pieces that appear in foreign press approach what’s happening here—Poland’s accession to the European Union, trans-European migration, exponential growth on the back of a strong, diversified free-market
Zbigniew LiberaLego. Concentration Camp, 1996Photo: Bartek Stawiarski
106 107Mirosław BałkaA Boy and an Eagle, 1988Photo: Bartek Stawiarski
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economy, development in multiple sectors—in roughly the same way: optimistically. However, transformation is complex, often leading to significant anxiety about the future. How’s the future looking for the Polish art scene? In 2014, the Museum of Modern Art hosted a group show titled: “As you Can See: Polish Art today,” its focus was Polish art of the last ten years and the concept was to draw together the threads of the recent past—to articulate what can be said of the development of the scene as a whole. the resulting exhibition was shocking in so much as it showed a dilemma at the heart of Polish art: that to be judged in national terms has brought about a critical vacuum. Polish art is at a crossroads; Poland is an emerging country, an emerging culture and a place in which self-analysis remains in constant permutation. “Polish Art today” captured this shift, showing the anxiety of development and the ongoing changes to this art world—the departure from the subject of the social, critical, political or prank, and the push toward a more exploratory and self-reflective conversation on art.
Julia daultUntitled 25, 11.00 AM–3.00 PM, September 1, 2012, 2007Photo: Bartek Stawiarski
110 111Exhibition view (exterior) "As you Can See: Polish Art today", 2014Photo: Bartek Stawiarski
All images reproduced in this article courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw
vienna international art fair24–27 september 2015marx halle viennawww.viennacontemporary.at
WGW ENGLISh EdItION
EditorMeagan down
InterviewsIwo Zmyślony
With the exception ofKasia Michalski, raster,and Krzysztof Nowakowski,conducted by the editor
translationSoren Gauger
Photographs of GalleristsBartosz Górka
With the exception of Archaeology of Photography Foundation, Kasia Michalski, Leto, lokal_30, Lookout, Piktogram and Profile, supplied by the respective gallery
Photo Essay (p. 88–95)Błażej Pindor
Graphic designMarcel Kaczmarek
PrOdUCtION
PrintArgraf, Warszawawww.argraf.pl
Paper insideAlto Natural, 115 g/sm
Paper covertintoretto Gesso, 250 g/sm
ISBN978-83-938244-9-6
WArSAW GALLEry WEEKENd
is organised by an independent group of gallerists, representing the city's twenty-one privateart spaces
Members of the BoardMichał KaczyńskiMarta KołakowskaJustyna KowalskaJacek Sosnowski
CoordinatorKatarzyna Gutkowska
t +48 694 448 [email protected]
