Wasteland Biennale
Corner of Marszałkowska and Świętokrzyska streets (from the side of PKIN), Warsaw
10/12/2022 - 17/12/2022
In 2022, we succeeded in realizing the first edition of the Biennial of the wasteland! For several winter weeks, 4 teams, under the guidance of tutors and female tutors, tried to answer the question: how do urban wastelands (abandoned, derelict, unused areas, vacant lots, but also open areas without a specific function) affect our contemporary identity?
The idea

The topic of urban wastelands has been running through various Warsaw activities for several years, showing the potential and the extraordinary need to discover and revitalize these places. Many publications and projects have been written around this topic. Gilles Clement described them as “Third Places,” pointing out the profound importance of wasteland as a source of biodiversity, and consequently the importance for us — residents.

 

Within the framework of the Wasteland Biennale, we want to look for wastelands that we pass every day, that we see from the windows of our apartments, work, that bother us, but also make us curious. We want to consider what role wastelands play in the urban structure, are they a bad thing, or on the contrary? What we can or should do with them and how art can help us discover another side of the city.

 

An important aspect of this activity, is the involvement of local communities. Artistic and cultural projects that are carried out in neighborhood spaces repeatedly show that they can be a tool that helps residents stimulate a sense of shared responsibility for the space and encourage the sharing of its resources. Perhaps this is the key to revitalizing the wasteland?

 

More about the whole project Wasteland Biennale  on the website of the Cultural Foundation ‘Grupa w działaniu’ and on FB.

Text by Barbara Jędrzejczyk about the history of the wasteland we chose in the center of Warsaw and the Miniature Park located here.

 

Team members

Kamila Szejnoch – tutor, 

Maciej Bykowski, Nawojka Gurczyńska, Barbara Jędrzejczyk, Katarzyna Kowalska, Michelle Mbazuigwe, Barbara Pazio, Gabriela Piwar.

Coordinating and leading the process

Fundacja Grupa w działaniu

Martyna Cziszewska-Klejnowska

Małgosia Załuska

Implementation

November 2022 – December 2022

Warsaw

 

Media partner of the project

Architektura & Biznes

Project partner

ZODIAK Warszawski Pawilon Architektury

Project financed by the city of Warsaw.

Inner states
Prześwit Gallery | Freta 39 | Warsaw (PL)
10/12/2021 - 23/12/2021

The new Warsaw-based Prześwit Gallery has opened in Warsaw’s New Town Square, re-engaging the viewer in the process of valuing art through a shared practice of sensory and intellectual reception of the work. Two group exhibitions opened simultaneously in December: “Conception” and “Inner States.”

The artists participating in the “Conception” exhibition: Anna Baumgart, Beata Ewa Białecka, Agnieszka Brzeżańska, Barbara Falender, Natalia Hirsz, Anna Królikiewicz, Janina Myronova, Magdalena Moskwa, Sylwia Rams, Diana Rönnberg, Katarzyna Swinarska, Agata Zbylut.

An extension of the “Conception” main exhibition, is the event creators of Prześwit, inscribed the theme, while also being a continuation of the regular “Inner States” event showing the birth of a community of artists and the transformation of a place along with the attitudes of the artists who create it.

The creators of Prześwit: Ewa Ampulska, Paulina Babicka, Nastazja Babska-Kozak, Igor Dobrowolski, Hubert Dolinkiewicz, Raphaël Gaudin, Kamila Kamińska, Marta Kołdej, Katarzyna Kowal, Katarzyna Kowalska, Natalia Kozarzewska, Sylwia Ozimek, Paweł Pałkus, Patrycja Serweta, Filip Syczyński, Klaudia Szot, Aleksandra Śmietana, Irma Tylor, Olga Zaremba.

 

It is December, the month that highlights the woman – the trusting and courageous parent, and the act of conception and birth becomes the subject of collective reflection and celebration. The exhibition “Conception” departs from the Christmas tradition, however, remaining in its aura. It is the result of the personal experience of giving birth to a daughter, which brought about questions about the reality of the female body, the sense of one’s own existence, external obligations, and internal callings, about the power of sexual energy, fertility, bonding, the act of creation, the question of the beginning, of creation.
I begin the cycle of exhibitions “Conception” in the annual formula focusing on the figure of the mother, the act of creation and the creative act associated with sexuality.
This year’s “Conception” is an exhibition of female Pantocratorists whose work, like the word “conception”, touches upon the areas of spirituality, myth, religion, ritual, sexuality, as well as fairy-tale. The latter area is highlighted when we think of the exhibition as a form of celebration of birth, a meeting of artists whose works contain wisdom that is a gift for a new existence and enables the shaping of a new social reality.

Karolina Kliszewska – curator
Coordination: Olga Krywolewicz

 

Prześwit Art Gallery implements a new approach to exhibiting by means of a parallel educational and research programme in the field of the emotional and intellectual condition of a human being and the support and strengthening of social relations.
According to the curator’s assumption, the exhibition, educational and research layers function equally. It is an example of holistic thinking about the world of ideas, art, science and philosophy enabling sensual, intellectual and cognitive experiences. Prześwit is a collective cultural institution with artistic studios, formed at the New Town Market Square in Warsaw.
The idea of Prześwit refers holistically to the genesis of the place where it is created – a space devoid of identity, devastated, and regaining its belonging and identity thanks to creative actions that trigger the revitalization process.

 

Photo: Dominika Szatkowska, social media of the gallery and private archives of the artist

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article in “Gazeta Wyborcza” – Warsaw

Ad Extremum. Interesting cases of the head falling off
Culture Center in Lublin and Otwarta Pracownia in Lublin | tenement house at 6 Krakowskie Przedmieście | Lublin (PL)
11/11/2021 - 20/01/2022

The exhibition is the final of the jubilee exhibition programme of ‘Otwarta Pracownia’ Artistic Association in Lublin entitled ’10 x 10′. It is jointly created by artists and theoreticians of “Otwarta Pracownia”: Tomasz Bielak, Agnieszka Chwiałkowska, Maksymilian Cieślak, Kamila Czosnyk, Magdalena Franczak, Agnieszka Grzywacz, Paweł Korbus, Piotr Korol, Katarzyna Kowalska, Mikołaj Kowalski, Magdalena Łata, Lech Mazurek, Aniela Mroczek, Michał Mroczka, Florentyna Nastaj, Jerzy Norkowski, Kosma Ostrowski, Małgorzata Pawlak, Szymon Popielec, Sławomir Plewko, Marta Ryczkowska, Sebastian Smit, Kamil Stańczak, Piotr Strobel, Sławomir Toman, Grzegorz Tomczyk, Kamil Zaleski, Ewa Zarzycka
—-
We live in the times of a small apocalypse. The dystopias we know from films and books slowly begin to materialise. If every century has its zero point, this is ours. Maybe the world has entered the era of successive pandemics and we have to get used to living in the shadow of danger. Who knows if the annihilation has been going on unnoticed for a long time, in an aura of calm, in numerous weekdays?

We enter the abandoned space of an apartment building that for years housed a bank. The safes have been emptied, the rooms are dusty with office furniture and textured wallpaper. The space is seemingly neutral, post-corporate. It consists of a maze of small rooms. The art slips into closets, takes over walls, nooks and crannies. The last joint exhibition of “Otwarta Pracownia” is a story about the point at which we find ourselves as humanity. We look at our resources. We reassess our baggage, deciding what we leave behind and what we take with us on our journey, aware of how much we can carry. Traces are left behind if we choose not to obliterate them.

Science says the end is fire. In about five billion years, the Sun will enter its red giant phase and swell to such a size that it will consume Mercury’s orbit. Possibly the same fate will befall Venus and the Earth will turn into a burnt-out, lifeless, magma-covered rock. Eventually it will disintegrate into millions of atoms in the hot breath of a dying star. Will the end be final? According to Mayan beliefs, the universe is cyclical in nature. In different religions, particular cycles are seen as opportunities for change for the better. Secular visions of the end of the world include both the nihilistic view that we will be consumed by nothingness and the dark image of a world that is eternally repeating itself, and in which everything that happened in the past will happen again. In her book The End of Everything, Katie Mack writes of an infinite cosmic expansion, indicating that the apocalypse will be slow and painful, marked by increasing isolation, inexorable decay, and all-consuming darkness. In a sense, it is not the universe that will end, but it will end, invalidate and annihilate everything in it. All stars will eventually burn out, particles will decay, black holes will evaporate.

We are living in times in which the premonition of the end is very strong, it is shown by the pandemic, the impending climate catastrophe, the dying ecosystems, the populist and nationalist turn in the world. Other, more internal symptoms, pointing to the fragility of human beings and their relationships with others also speak about it. It seems that the apocalypse also has a chronic form. So far unnoticed. It came unnoticed, among the murmurs of nature. The all-encompassing vision of the end of the world was built on the lack of human ability to self-restraint, the end of humanism, and the breakdown of seemingly inviolable structures of social life. We live in bubbles believing, as Barańczak wrote, that “the next day, after another collective suicide, one always goes the same way in the morning to get the newspapers […] the same way a little girl with a schoolbag runs to school and stumbles, and falls, and smashes her knee, and there is a lot of crying, and in that crying there is always so much life.”

In looking at the world over the precipice, we also peek into the archive. We study what remains, what preserves traces, we are interested in the feeling of materiality of works or their splinters. The archive of the vitality of visual imagination and dark premonitions. Understood in this way, the archive is itself a living, pulsating organism, whose only sense is to enter into relations with other organisms, and whose principle of operation is constant transformation. It constitutes a place and a moment of meeting of the past and the future in the process of feeling and imagining our shared present. The exhibition visualizes the everyday, the anxieties, the disappearance, quiet and spectacular, the passing away of old narratives and the hope for new ones.
—-
– And if nothing we do here survives, if even our best actions are forgotten, is there any reason not to just give up? – The reason is everything in this world,” Rudd replied, “We are here and we are alive. And this is a beautiful evening on the last perfect day of summer.
Alastair Reynolds, Pushing Ice

The project “10×10” is realized by “Otwarta Pracownia” Society in cooperation with Centre for Culture in Lublin. The project is co-financed by the Ministry of Culture, National Heritage and Sport from the Fund for Cultural Promotion.

Photo and graphic: social media of the Otwarta Pracownia association in Lublin and private archives of the artist

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A better tomorrow was yesterday | 10×10
Labirynt Gallery, Plaza | Lipowa 13, entrance from Ofiar Katynia | Lublin (PL)
10/11/2021 - 28/11/2021

The theme of the exhibition will be the future, perceived as a phenomenon that is taking place before our eyes. Visions from the sciencie-fiction films of the 80s have materialized, the pandemic has taken over the world, chaos reigns around, forecasts for the future are not very optimistic. The aim of the play is to visualize possible scenarios of the future on the basis of the present and premises for the coming years. Artists are looking for the right models of development in the field of economy, consumption, climate, social sphere, transport, architecture. They reflect on how the city will function in the future, what will travel and art look like: to what extent will it move to the VR space, how will this or newer technology develop? The artists assume that first of all it is worth subjecting them to thorough reflection. They ask themselves questions: about future social hierarchies, about the economy after capitalism, about the cosmic performer Betelgeuse? When will it explode and will humanity be able to see this phenomenon?

artists: Katarzyna Kowalska, Grzegorz Tomczyk, Kamil Zaleski
coordination: Aniela Mroczek

Exhibition organized in cooperation with the Labyrinth Gallery.

The “10×10” project is implemented by the “Open Studio” Artistic Association in Lublin in cooperation with the Cultural Center in Lublin.
Co-financed by the Ministry of Culture, National Heritage and Sport from the Culture Promotion Fund.

Photo: Piotr Korol, Marta Kammbach

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Windows’21
Art Spaces Lublin | Culture Center in Lublin and Otwarta Pracownia in Lublin | Stanisława Staszica 2 | Lublin (PL)
29/10/2021 - 12/11/2021

“Pavement, wall, exhibition. 10 years of Otwarta Pracownia in Lublin”. – excerpts from an interview with the curators of Otwarta Pracownia (Open Studio) association: Marta Ryczkowska and Aniela Mroczek in the Lublin daily “Dziennik Wschodni” describing the Windows’21 exhibition series:

“Turning from the promenade into Staszica Street, it is easy to miss this one of the smallest galleries in the world. Let me give you a hint: look in the first shop window of the tenement house at number 2, belonging to the Kodak Express photographic studio. Something new will appear there tonight.

26 years ago Bill Gates presented the Windows 95 operating system. Today is the opening of the next edition of the Windows ’21 project, carried out by the Otwarta Pracownia (Open Studio) art association from Lublin to celebrate the 10th anniversary of its establishment.

Marta Ryczkowska: ‘When we were setting up Otwarta Pracownia, we imagined that it would be a collective, bringing together art theoreticians and practitioners. And we would create together such a place for creative work. It turned out that reality is more difficult.

Aniela Mroczek: – But we adapted to it.

MR: – We transformed this formula into a romantic, open studio that works in different places and operates in an ephemeral way because we don’t have our own space, although we are constantly looking for it.

MR: – The project is that we wanted to make exhibitions that would be accessible to people during a pandemic. Because at the moment when we were inventing it, the world was closed.

The search for a window suitable for the project began. It turned out that it was not that simple. One of the windows in a well-known hotel turned out to be unavailable. In the end, Jacek Delmata of Kodak accepted the artists.

MR: “He’s our wonderful host, very accommodating. He agreed to put up the exhibition right away.

The project was launched in March. Since then, several artists have already shown their works. (…)
MR: – We were probably guided from the beginning by a kind of nonconformism, not being tied down to any institutional place. And, on the other hand, nomadism. We stick to different situations and objects.

But Windows 21 is not everything. Otwarta Pracownia, which is celebrating its 10th birthday, also exhibits in traditional spaces. On October 7th a performance exhibition is planned in the Lubomirski Palace.

MR: – So far we have been spreading out to various places. We will continue in this way. Something will be in a window, something will be somewhere in a room. We are very much into what is happening in reality. This showcase will be part of looking at art that is close to people.
MR: – We’ve also been very much held by education over these 10 years. When we weren’t doing exhibitions, we were doing workshops very intensively. We work with children from schools, hospitals, with kids who have special requirements.

AM: – This is an area where you get a lot of feedback energy. This is something that carried us very much at certain points. (…)”.

entire interview in “Dziennik Wschodni”

The project is realized thanks to the support of the City of Lublin.
Show realized as part of the programme Art Spaces Lublin, financed by the Ministry of Culture, National Heritage and Sport and co-produced by Zbigniew Raszewski Theatre Institute and National Institute of Music and Dance. The local operator is the Center for Culture in Lublin.

Photo: Piotr Korol, private archives of the artist

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interview with Marta Ryczkowska, curator, in Radio Lublin: “Windows’21 according to the artists of Otwarta Pracownia”.

GEO | Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Center Collection Exhibition
Riga Art Space | Kungu iela 3 | Riga (LV)
05/06/2021 - 25/07/2021

As soon as it will be possible to open cultural spaces to visitors, the exhibition hall “Riga Art Space” will hold the exhibition of Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Center collection “GEO”.

The artistic concept of the “GEO” exhibition project is based on a combination of two unifying aspects – geographical diversity and geometric forms of expression – in art, demonstrating the artists’ ability to find common artistic planes in a creative dialogue and, at the same time, show their creative signature by breaking down the imagined geographical and national boundaries. The abstract language has been similarly created many times over, here and abroad. There are brighter or less pronounced turning points in its manifestations, noticed only by the viewer.

The exhibition is about each artist individually, and about each location and its story, forming the individual composition of art. It is a story about art in general, living its life in the minds of artists and another life in the exhibition – collectively with the works of other authors.

The exhibition is deliberately designed to represent only foreign artists, thus confirming the Rothko Center as the home of the largest international collection of contemporary painting in the Baltics.

Artists represented in the exhibition: Tomas Rudokas, Ramūnas Čeponis (Lithuania), Barbara Rosengarth, Edeltraut Rath, Martin Voßwinkel (Germany), Cipriano Martinez (Venezuela, Great Britain), Andrew Colbert, Deann Sirlin (USA), Gonzalo Rodríguez Gómez (Spain), Katarzyna Kowalska, Pawel Wasowski, Piotr Skowron, Anna Podlewska-Polit (Poland), Katarina Balunova (Slovakia), George Meertens, José Heerkens (the Netherlands), Alexander Selivanov (Russia), Agostino Tulumello (Italy).

The collection of Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Center has been created with the idea of creating an art center. Every year it is supplemented with procurements, creative work of symposium participants and valuable gifts from artists and cooperation partners, confirming the current and future cooperation in the implementation of art projects. Currently, the collection consists of more than 2 000 works of art in various media. The mission of the Rothko Center is not only to preserve this valuable collection, but also to display it regularly both in the art center and in other cultural and artistic spaces in Latvia and abroad.

 

Organized by:

Association of Culture Institutions of Riga City Council and the exhibition hall “Riga Art Space” in cooperation with Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Center.

Exhibition curators:

Zane Melāne, Māris Čačka, project manager Alise Anna Sondore.

Photo: organisers’ websites and social media

information about the event on Riga Art Space

information about the event on Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Center

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2nd International Painting Symposium Silva Linarte
Mark Rothko Art Centre | Mihaila iela 3 | Daugavpils (LV)
28/07/2020 - 12/08/2020

Continuing the tradition of 2019, from 28 July to 12 August 2020, within the framework of its residency programme, Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Centre organised the second international painting symposium conceived as a tribute to the distinguished local artist and art educator, Silva Linarte (1939 – 2018). “Painting is no multiplication table that you learn once ant then remember all your life. In order to paint, you need to maintain a constant state of elation and attunement, much like an actor going on stage,” said Silva Linarte about her day-to-day life and pursuit of inspiration typical of many an artist. In a sense, these words may be interpreted as her behest to symposium participants.

Symposium as a point of convergence – a space and time where, this year, artists representing different generations and countries (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Poland) were invited to participate in a joint creative dialogue, contemplating the life of Silva Linarte and her art and experiencing the special environment of Daugavpils. Joint meetings, conversations and studio work, visiting Silva Linarte’s home, walking and exploring a particular place – all these experiences became a forthnight-long source of inspiration that enrichted the artist’ current perspectives and perceptions of environment and space.

The packed symposium time gave each artist plenty opportunities for self-expression  through contemporary paintings that display their individual painterly styles and explore themes such as person, space, nature, place, order and chaos. Likewise, the motifs of light and sun, a keen sense of colour and an intrinsic elation, all so very important to Silva Linarte and so clearly present in her art, can also be traced in the painterly outputs of each symposium participant.

The 2nd Internationa Painting Symposium “Silva Linarte” brought together Osvalds Zvejsalnieks (Latvia), Ingrīda Ivane (Latvia), Ričardas Garbačiauskas (Lithuania), Katarzyna Kowalska (Poland), Franciszek Ledóchowski (Poland) and Liisa Kruusmägi (Estonia).

Curator: Tatjana Černova

Photo and graphic: social media of the organizer and private archives of the artist

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photo report from the event

Operating manual for Utopia Island
Tarnogórskie Centrum Kultury, Przytyk Gallery | Jana III Sobieskiego 7 | Tarnowskie Góry (PL)
25/01/2020 - 23/02/2020

Automatic or manual mode? The future will show.

The exhibition is a part of an individual artistic project undertaking the current, recently rapidly increasing problems of the “crew” travelling “on the spaceship Earth”. The presented works relate to the issues selected by the artist, several possible versions of the future observed through the prism of the present.

At the heart of this process is a strong fear about the future of our planet, named by Richard Buckminster Fuller as the Spaceship Earth. The American architect, constructor and philosopher warned about the limited energy resources of the “spaceship” already a few decades ago, calling for a revision of the principles underlying our relationship with the surrounding world. His famous phrase “Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth” speaks of the need to unite the efforts and activities of people acting in various, often extremely different fields in order to develop a new model of the functioning of our civilization.
In the near future, we will face enormous changes related to the technological revolution, which, combined with the real threat of climate change and its consequences, foreshadows a crisis of humanity on a global scale. Scientists agree that the impending changes are the greatest challenge our civilization has ever faced. To meet them, we will need a new story that will work in the future circumstances, one that we will be able to identify with. Unfortunately, none of the contemporary political and religious narratives can fulfil this function. That is why the awareness and united approach is so important in order to develop an up-to-date manual on how to handle societies and phenomena that the future will bring.

The artist found it important to look at the above-mentioned issues from the perspective of architectural and urban concepts and utopian ideas. In the originally meaning, the word utopia was the name of a non-existent place, an ideal island of happiness. Longing for a better world resulted in a vision of an ideal society in which there is no room for evil and social injustice, a vision that does not take reality into consideration and therefore has no chance of coming true. It is just a daydream that generates fantastic ideas, architectural forms and visionary cities of the future. But it is dreams of a better future, just like the utopian longings for social order and fulfilment, that animate us to act, which is what makes them valuable. In this way, they can become a part of the future of our planet – the “spaceship” floating in the universe, and inspire us to develop a shared new narrative for humanity.

The perception of the cities of the future consists of information about the developing technology, its possible applications and the impact on future communities. In combination with climate forecasts, this allows us to identify several separate threads that became the basis for the creation of the artistic works presented at the exhibition. Each of the pictures is a separate vision of the future, and is a mixture of scientific theories, fiction, utopia, real development opportunities and threats. Such hypothetical journeys into the future make it easier to feel the connection it has with the present and at the same time understand the responsibility for creating a good operation manual.

 

Katarzyna Kowalska

 

Curator: Marta Burian

Photo and graphic: Kaja Cyfka

Science in art – art in science. Spatial forms
Hugonówka Gallery | Mostowa 15 | Konstancin-Jeziorna (PL)
23/11/2019 - 15/01/2020

The exhibition “Art in Science – spatial forms” is the result of a symposium held in July 2019 in Wygryny in the Mazury region on the initiative of Iwona Nowakowska – Skop, president of  “Mi Do Szu ” Foundation based in Konstancin-Jeziorna. The works presented will show the mutual relations between the visual arts and science and technology. The artists will present paintings and sculptures, but also works made in their own techniques using the most modern materials and technologies, including new media. Scientific discourse will be translated into visual expression, drawing the viewer into the world of the artist – a researcher of the surrounding reality.

Curator: Sylwia Svorova – Pavelkovich.

Exhibition participants:

Agata Czeremuszkin – Chrut / Andrzej Bieniek / Katarzyna Kowalska / Wojtek Osiak / Bartłomiej Sęczawa / Sylwia Svorova – Pawełkowicz.

Photo and graphic: Marta Kammbach and social media of the organizer

Artistic symposium Science in art – art in science
Wygryny 27 | Ruciane-Nida municipality | Masuria (PL)
20/07/2019 - 28/07/2019

The 3rd Art Symposium of the Mi Do Szu Foundation in Wygryny, Masuria, was organised for artists who value contact with nature, a clean environment and a homely atmosphere. The intimate accommodation and working conditions are conducive to evening meetings – lectures given by invited artists and guests.

The symposium will be participated in by:
Agata Czeremuszkin-Chrut / Agnieszka Żak-Biełowa / Bartłomiej Sęczawa / Elvin Flamingo / Izabela Maria Uchman / Maciej Sęczawa / Monika Kopczewska / Monika Krajewska / Karolina Pikosz / Katarzyna Kowalska / Łukasz Huculak / Sylwester Piędziejewski / Sylwia Svorova Pawełkowicz / Wojciech Osiak

We will also be visited with a lecture by Jan Fabry – an employee of the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences.

Thematic areas of the lectures:

⦁ ornament – drawn from nature and geometry, a language of different cultures;
⦁ art and science – through the eyes of an artist;
⦁ art and science – through the eyes of a scientist.

Lectures:

Jan Fabry – Looking at art through the eyes of a scientist. Geometry. Wenzel Jamnitzer.
Iza Uchman – “THE QUADRAT – a unit of perfection of eternal order.”

Monika Krajewska – “On celestial bodies in Jewish tradition and calendar”.

Katarzyna Kowalska – “The influence of science on the creative process”.

Sylwester Piędziejewski – “The openness of the ornament”.
Elvin Flamingo – ‘Obstacles on the road to perfection’.

Sylwia Svorova Pawełkowicz – “Provenance and authentication of works of art. Application of sciences in the study of works of art”.

Curator: Sylwia Svorova Pawełkowicz

Photo and graphic: social media of the organizer and private archives of the artist

Project under the patronage of:
European Parliament
Marshal of the Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship
Ambassador of the Czech Republic in Warsaw
Ambassador of the Republic of Poland in Prague
Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences

Study visits within OP_FAME
Wroclaw (PL) | Dresden (DE) | Warsaw (PL)
11/06/2019 - 22/09/2019

The OP_VISITORS program contains series of study visits which are dedicated to cooperation between Poland and Germany. It centres on the topics which gives the opportunity to learn new models of work, organization and planning in the artistic area of both countries. The aim of the project is increasing the mobility and professional competence of the participants, based on the mutual experience and expert knowledge. The contacts made this way should not only shorten the distance between participants and experts, but also have a positive impact on the cooperation, integration and flexibility in the professional field.
We create the connection between people form Berlin and Wrocław who are interested in art and culture, and our purpose is to support networking for artists, curators and art collectors.

  • 11- 12.06.2019 In June, we work not only stationary.
    We are currently in the second block of study visits under the #OP_FAME project, which are held in Wrocław in cooperation with the WRO Art Center, as well as in Dresden as part of this year’s OSTRALE Dresden. Study visits in Wroclaw are behind us, in a week’s time we’ll see in Dresden!
    Many thanks to Krupa Gallery, WRO Art Center, AIR Wro and JEST galeria for meetings.
  • OSTRALE Dresden is underway. Between 17th and 19th of June it became a destination of our further study visits, being the part of OP_FAME program. We would like to express our very special thanks to Goethe-Institut Dresden, Gedenkstätte Bautzner Straße Dresden, Ausländerrat Dresden, Historische Tabakfabrik f6 Striesen, Alte Feuerwache Loschwitz and Künstlerhaus Dresden.
  • 20-22.09.2019 The last of the OP_FAME study visits is already behind us. This time we have taken the participants of the project to Warsaw Gallery Weekend 2019. What did they see and what did they learn? They will tell us during the meeting WE / YOU / THEY during OP_Fame / Future Art Market Education – conference and workshops!

 

Text and photos: OP_ENHEIM, also the organiser’s social media and private archives of the artist.

The project is support by the Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation.

OP_FAME / Future Art Market Education. Workshops | study visits | conference
OP_ENHEIM | Plac Solny 4 | Wroclaw (PL)
16/03/2019 - 27/10/2019

OP_FAME is a series of conferences, workshops and study visits addressed to visual artists and curators who would like to find out what a professional job in the arts and culture sector entails and further expand their knowledge on the art market, artist-in-residence and artist-gallery collaboration.

OP_FAME, OP_Future Art Market Education, is a series of workshops, conferences, study visits and discussions prepared by OP ENHEIM and involving numerous specialists in the field of visual arts. This project is educational in nature and was created to give artists greater access to knowledge in the field of international mobility, professional activity of the art environment, learning about models of working with galleries, organization, planning and the profession of the artist.

OP_FAME is a project based on the exchange of knowledge and experience in order to improve the professional competences of people involved in the contemporary art world  and art market. – says Kama Wróbel, OP ENHEIM’s Programme Director – The formula is based on workshops where knowledge is constantly updated and experience is constantly confronted with changes on the art market, which gives the opportunity for modern education. The programme of specialised workshops is addressed to artists and curators. Networking a group of artists and future curators and gallerists in a joint project increases the effectiveness of the project’s results and will be important for the development of the local and supra-local art market. Especially that in OP ENHEIM, the participants will have a chance to meet and talk personally with experienced experts such as: Asia Żak Persons from Berlin’s Żak-Branicka gallery, Marta Kołakowska from Warsaw’s Leto Gallery, Agnieszka Kubicka-Dzieduszycka from WRO Art Centre, critic and curator Stach Szabłowski or Andrea Hilger, Mátyás Dunajcsik from Dresden biennale – OSTRALE.

The workshops prepared will not only provide an opportunity for direct, open contact with experts and practitioners in a given field, but will also broaden the participants’ competences, their practical skills, and will provide an opportunity to dispel myths and stereotypes. The programme of events is year-round, but has been divided into two main blocks – the first of which includes events on 16, 17 and 30 March 2019, and the second will take place from 25-27 October 2019. In the meantime, study visits also took place between April and September, with selected workshop and conference participants visiting Berlin, Dresden, Warsaw and Wrocław. The autumn edition of the OP_FAME project is the moment to sum up all the joint artistic journeys with the project participants during the conference entitled WE / YOU / THEM. This time the participants will turn into speakers.

Text and photos: OP_ENHEIM, also the organiser’s social media.

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xibitmagazine.com: Where to find artistic research? The OP_FAME conference in Wroclaw

The project is implemented with the Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation.

Patron of OP ENHEIM: Womak Holding SA,
Partner: Art Hotel Wrocław

The sadness of modernism: oppression and depression
City Gallery | Kiełbaśnicza 28 | Wroclaw (PL)
08/03/2019 - 25/04/2019

From March 8, the spaces of the Wrocław City Gallery will be filled with paintings inspired by architecture. At the exhibition “The Sadness of Modernism: Oppression and Depression”, 16 Polish artists of the young generation, for whom modernism is the starting point for both thematic and formal artistic searches, will present their works.

Artists: Jakub Adamek, Karolina Balcer, Katarzyna Dyjewska, Karolina Jaklewicz, Celina Kanunnikava, Maria Kiesner, Anna Kołodziejczyk, Katarzyna Kowalska, Aleksander Laszenko, Anna Libera, Aleksandra Łatecka, Iwona Ogrodzka, Joanna Pałys, Iza Rogucka, Katarzyna Rutkowska oraz Noemi Staniszewska.

Curator: Katarzyna Zahorska

 

The great ideas of the modernists concerning a thorough reformation of the social structure of the 19th century with the help of architecture and urban planning, and the elimination of all its injustices, turned out to be utopia. Modernism, which promotes the concept of “light and air for all,” was first criticized by supporters of conservative architecture, supported by totalitarian regimes, and later by those accusing it of ignoring the needs of the postmodernist individual, falling into oblivion. In a way, it returned in the 1980s in the form of neo-modernism, however, separated from the old idealistic and hence naive socio-political and urban assumptions.

Modernism, which contained the ideas of repairing social structures and making people happy, unexpectedly turned into a symbol of oppression and depression, at the same time releasing critical, sometimes even aggressive emotions of an individual directed against this type of architecture.
For many years, young Polish painters have shown a tendency to dress artists’ gloomy moods in representations inspired by modernism – ranging from apathy, melancholy and sadness, through a sense of alienation, abandonment, horror, anger and aggression. The aim of the Wrocław exhibition is therefore to explore contemporary meanings of modernism through the works of young Polish painters and to illustrate how our thinking about it has evolved over the decades.

Therefore, the first of the exhibition halls will be dedicated to paintings presenting the oppressiveness of an individual towards architecture – an oppressiveness that falls within the framework of both sudden processes of destruction and natural processes of degradation (and thus also associated with a disrespectful attitude towards the protection of architectural objects). The exhibition explores the destructive tendencies of humans towards architecture also in a purely painterly context, through the presentation of images that break up the geometry of solids and the density of urban tissue.
The second room will be dedicated to artists who in their works draw from the repetition of geometric forms, which is characteristic of modernist architecture. Repeatability, which when translated into the problem of the functioning of an individual in the urban landscape, may equate to routine, banality, apathy.

The next room will present the works of artists who use architecture to talk about the control of society and the violence that is used against it. It will show images of monumental buildings of ministries, offices, prisons, but also churches, i.e. places associated with oppression against the autonomy of the individual.

The last two rooms will house projects that show a tendency to traverse the artist’s nostalgic feelings towards architecture. Simple, geometric forms constructed with the use of raw materials and dressed in shades of grey function here as a carrier of emptiness, horror, sadness and a sense of alienation of the individual amidst the multitude of gigantic, towering buildings.

Photo and graphic: social media of the gallery and private archives of the artist

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photo relation from the vernissage

information about the event on wroclaw.pl

Concept for an artistic work for the Monumental Room in the POLIN Museum
Competition for the conception of an artistic work | Museum of the History of Polish Jews POLIN | Anielewicza 6 | Warsaw (PL)
19/12/2018 - 29/03/2019

Concept of an artistic work for the Monument Hall at the POLIN Museum
The POLIN Museum wishes to dedicate part of its space to the civilizational heritage of Polish Jews. The most important part of this space will be an artistic work. The competition is to select the author of the concept of this work.

Curators: Agnieszka Bujak, Tamara Sztyma – Knasiecka

We are open to various means and artistic media (installation, painting, sculpture, film, photography, new media, etc.).
This work should be spectacular, eye-catching, arousing curiosity and encouraging deeper interest in the subject.
The spatial installation “Obecność” – “Presence” project is dedicated to the civilization heritage of Polish Jews who participated in various areas of culture, art, politics, science and economy, contributing to the development of our civilization.

The site specific installation is dedicated to the Monument Hall at the Polin Museum of the History of Polish Jews. It brings reflections on the shared fate of the Polish and Jewish nations, which have mingled and developed together on the territory of the Polish state for centuries, from the mentions available in the first written chronicle sources to the present day.

The art installation refers to universal values and general cultural heritage, it is a metaphor for the continuity of shared fates despite differences and distinctiveness of religions, roots and identities. It does not impose obvious, unambiguous interpretations, but allows the audience to find their own paths of associations so that they can individually address the issues presented in the Monument Hall (the history of individuals) through a general reflection on humans – their goals and aspirations, their possibilities and limitations.

Description and location:
The installation consists of about 200 (to be determined, depending on the load capacity of the floor) vertical, transparent solid polycarbonate plates – made from a modern polymer plastic, which is an excellent substitute for glass. Each plate has a height of approx.3 meters, width about 1 meter, thickness 10 mm (1 cm), weight 36 kg (according to the data, a solid polycarbonate plate of this thickness weighs 12,000 g / m2) The entire composition is arranged on the axis of symmetry, running from the banded, panoramic windows of the Monument Hall to the opposite wall with the entrance door. Solid polycarbonate panels refer to the scaled, enlarged figure of a human being. Entering the room, on the left side, at some distance from the wall with the entrance, we see large, in the first part of the exhibition scattered, plates, which are arranged parallel to each other and to the window. One by one, they gradually overlap with one another and finally merge into an even, monolithic block. Through each plate, at a proportional height as if at a human heart (in this case at a height of about 2 meters, slightly to the left), drilled is a hole of about 2 cm diameter. A red thread is pulled through the hole of each vertically standing panel – a delicate element of the connection. The red thread flows freely at both ends of the installation, and a knot is tied at the first and last plate of the row through which it passes.

Interpretation:
The plates that make up the multilayered installation “Obecność” symbolize the multitude of human lives, a component of the experiences of individuals in their shared heritage. Initially scattered like separate beings, disordered, they gradually begin to merge, overlap and complement to form a whole, a community. Such coexistence requires dialogue and understanding, symbolically understood here as a red line (thread), an integral and, at the same time, a very subtle part of this monumental sculpture. It also illustrates continuity, unity and connection, and the knots tied at its ends speak of the infinity of shared life and the hardships of coexistence.

The planes are also a metaphor of successive layers of history, overwritten one on top of another, like a huge palimpsest of space, connecting us, despite our differences, with a red line, into a uniform “mass” of shared experiences.
Transparent plates can also be interpreted as cliches of memory which, apart from experiences and values, constitute our collective consciousness. The transparency of the used material brings to mind parchment tracing paper used for copying images. In this case, tracing paper is used to symbolically preserve the legacy of people who have passed away. We can discover it only with science, history and art, which provide context and give meaning. They unite and self-organize like a red line.

The use of transparent material to create a work in the Monument Hall emphasizes the need for a multidimensional transfer of its content. It allows for looking inside the structure and seeing what is inside. Further layers pierce, so they are also open and allow the audience to find further, deeper levels of interpretation.

The Monument Hall may be enriched with biographies and achievements of outstanding individuals, additionally presented on appropriately designed audiovisual electronic media.

In creating the description and execution plan of the installation, the problem of the weight of the art and the force with which it presses on the floor of the Monument Hall arose. As it turned out that the floor is not adapted to take such a load, I decided to reduce the number of boards to safe values, which will be agreed upon after the project has been presented and consulted at the Museum. It will probably also involve the necessity to keep some spacing between the plates, especially in the part where, in the original assumption, they were supposed to fit tightly together. This will ensure less pressure per square meter of the floor.

In the original assumption, in the place of the highest density, where the plates adhere tightly to each other, there were supposed to be about 100 pieces per this space: 100 plates 1 cm thick and 100 cm long.

After breaking this homogeneous block by reducing the number of plates to about 70 pieces and moving them apart, we are within safe values.
Another possible solution is to place a plate on the floor under the vertical planes of solid polycarbonate, which will distribute the weight over a larger surface.

Graphics and visuals: Andrzej S. Bieniek

Travelling exhibitions after the 14th International Painting Symposium Mark Rothko
Riga Central Library, Riga (LV) | Belarus National Centre of Contemporary Arts, Minsk (BY) | Vytautas Magnus University Gallery, Vilnius (LT) | MM Gallery, Brussels (BE)
07/01/2019 - 21/04/2019

The Latvia-Lithuania-Belarus Cross-border Cooperation Programme invites you to visit the travelling exhibition ‘Painting Our Future Together’ showcasing the artworks created by 10 international artists who have drawn inspiration from the art of the world-renowned artist Mark Rothko and from the charming atmosphere of his birthplace in Daugavpils, Latvia.

Like the cross-border cooperation itself, the artworks are remarkably diverse in terms of artists’ geographical backgrounds, preferred materials and techniques. Each painting reflects the artist’s individual style and his/her perception of cooperation across borders.
Artists: Árpád Forgó (Hungary), George Meertens (Netherlands), Edeltraut Rath (Germany), Pawel Wasowski, Katarzyna Kowalska (Poland), Agra Ritiņa, Inga Brūvere (Latvia), Diana Copperwhite (Ireland), Andrew Colbert, Elizabeth Barenis (USA).
Curator: Tatjana Černova
Photo and graphic: social media of the organizer

Riga Central Library, Brīvības ielā 49/53, Riga (LV) | 07 – 19.01.2019

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‎Belarus National Centre of Contemporary Arts, Nekrasowa 3 str, Minsk (BY) | 23.01 – 23.02.2019

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Vytautas Magnus University Gallery, T. Ševčenkos g. 31, Vilnius (LT) | 12 – 27.03. 2019

MM Gallery, Place du Jeu de Balle 68, Brussels (BE) | 04 – 21.04. 2019

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Opdagelser 2018
Galleri Heike Arndt DK Kettinge | Rågelundevej 9, 4892 Kettinge (DK)
20/10/2018 - 30/01/2019

PAINTING | DRAWING | SCULPTURE | MIXED MEDIA | VIDEO

Anne Louise Blicher (DK) Ornella Orlandini (IT) Ian Liddle (UK) Marcus Gestré (SE) Katarzyna Kowalska (PL) Ivan Arkhipov (RU) Oscar Angel Rey Soto (ES) Lisa Rytterlund (SE) Philipp Haucke (DE) Johan Reisang (NO) Attila Schwanz (IT) Katharina Schellenberger (DE) Simone Hooymans (NL) Martin Gerstenberger (DE) Hannes & Johannes (SE)
Galleri Heike Arndt DK is pleased to present the annual Opdagelser (‘Discoveries’) exhibition, exploring new artistic directions and expressions by the selected artists. Opdagelser offers an opportunity to reflect on present times and the human being itself.

Oscar Rey (ES) and Lisa Rytterlund (SE) work with powerful expressions, their art stands side by side with street art and political statements. Discover the social criticism in the works of Johan Reisang (NO) and explore the interesting versions of modern life by Hannes and Johannes (SE), Simone Hooymans (NL), Ornella Orlandini (IT). Attila Schwanz (IT) and Marcus Gestré (SE) present refined technical skills with influence from street art. Anne Louise Blicher (DK), Philipp Haucke (DE) and Martin Gerstenberger (DE) comment on the values of the modern society. The colorful drawings of Ian Liddle (UK), Katharina Schellenberger (DE) and the video work by Ivan Arkhipov (RU) examine human relations, including loneliness and fragility, and invite to contemplation. Furthermore, Katarzyna Kowalska (PL) presents her sensible abstract landscapes. In the artworks, the spectator is confronted with urban vibrations, poetic coloring and playful humour. It will be a journey full of surprises and discoveries – a unique opportunity to become inspired, excited and involved!

The exhibiting artists guide the audience through an artistic landscape of sculpture, painting, drawing and digital / time-based media. Every artist has a special connection to the Nordic countries and the Berlin art scene, where they have either lived or worked. You will be able to meet some of the artists at the opening!

Photo and graphic: social media of the gallery and private archives of the artist

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14th International Painting Symposium Mark Rothko
Mark Rothko Art Centre | Mihaila iela 3 | Daugavpils (LV)
08/09/2018 - 21/09/2018

Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Centre invites artists to participate in the International Painting Symposium „Mark Rothko 2018”organized in the framework of Rothko Centre’s Residence Program. The “Mark Rothko 2018” Symposium will take place in Daugavpils – the city known to the world as the birthplace of Mark Rothko, a world-renowned artist, founder of abstract expressionism.
On September 21, the exhibition of artworks created during the Symposium will be opened at the Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Centre.

Aims of the Symposium:
⦁ By recognizing the artistic heritage of Mark Rothko, to draw attention to Daugavpils, as the birthplace of the artist.
⦁ To foster interest in Daugavpils creative environment.
⦁ To increase the collection of Art Centre by artworks of symposium participants.

Participants of the symposium: 10 professional artists will take part in the symposium. The selection of participants will be competition-based, taking into consideration the submitted materials (application form, CV, and visual information which satisfies the  requirements).

Artists: Árpád Forgó (Hungary), George Meertens (Netherlands), Edeltraut Rath (Germany), Pawel Wasowski, Katarzyna Kowalska (Poland), Agra Ritiņa, Inga Brūvere (Latvia), Diana Copperwhite (Ireland), Andrew Colbert, Elizabeth Barenis (USA).

Curator: Tatjana Černova

‘Painting Our Future Together’
On the occasion of the European Cooperation Day 2018, the Latvia-Lithuania-Belarus Cross-Border Cooperation Programme and Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Centre present the travelling exhibition “Painting Our Future Together” showcasing the artwork by 10 international artists who have drawn inspiration from the art of the world-renowned artist Mark Rothko and from the charming atmosphere of his birthplace during the 14th international painting symposium “Mark Rothko 2018” in Daugavpils, Latvia.
The name of Mark Rothko and his 115th anniversary have brought artists from seven countries to Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Centre to express their feelings and transform them into outstanding works of art.
Like cross-border cooperation itself, the artwork is remarkably diverse in terms of artists’ geographical backgrounds, preferred materials and techniques. Each painting reflects the artist’s individual style and perception of cooperation across borders.

Photo and graphic: social media of the organizer and private archives of the artist

event on rothkocenter.com

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photo relation from the vernissage

As part of the Mark Rothko International Painting Symposium, I gave an artist lecture entitled ‘Utopia – space for the imagination’. This lecture outlined the background of the concept I was working on as part of the symposium.

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27. Internationales Landschaftspleinair
Kunstverein Schwedt e.V. | Galerie am Kietz | Gerberstraße 2 | 16303 Schwedt (DE)
16/07/2018 - 27/07/2018

Artists experience the Lower Oder Valley National Park.
Theme: SCHWEMMLAND.

Participants: Inga Carrière (DE) Simone Distler (DE), Julia Gutkina (R / DE), Tineke Hoogendam (NL), Susanne Hoppe (DE), Masuko Izo (JP / DE) Katarzyna Kowalska (PL) Simona Ledl (AU), Petra Lehnardt Olm (DE), Xue Liu (CN / DE) Ewa Moeller (DE), Klaus Muller (DE), Agnieszka Pakuła (PL), Cora Vries (NL).

Kunstverein Schwedt / Oder e.V. is organising the symposium for the fourteenth year in a row, in cooperation with long-standing partners.
The theme chosen for this year’s international meeting of artists is “alluvial soil”. For 27 years the main theme and concern of our event has been the artistic exploration of the unique beauty of the landscape in the Lower Oder Valley National Park, in the immediate surroundings and around the city of Schwedt/Oder, which is also an important industrial location.

For thousands of years the Oder River has been flowing slowly towards the sea. It is the last stage on a long journey, from its source in the mountains, through the wide landscapes of Poland, later as a border river, before the valley opens up and its waters pour into the Oder Lagoon. In the Lower Oder Valley, which gave its name to our national park, the Oder has only a slight slope. The floodplain valley is dependent on the river, which supplies it with water and constantly changes its appearance. The land by the river is itself an element of this river. Old, meandering branches have been cut off from the main course and now form special biotopes in polder areas. It is easy to recognise places where the river has thrown material ashore during periods of flooding. The artists are to trace these landscape elements and represent them in their art, question them and interpret them in their works. Finally, during the exhibition visitors can interact with the artists through talks and artworks.

On 16.07.2018. The Kunstverein will welcome artists from Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, China, Austria and Japan. For 2 weeks, Galerie am Kietz will again be their home and workspace.
For the opening ceremony at Galeriehof Kunstverein Schwedt eV, we have invited the mayor of the city and symposium patron Juergen Polzehl, the director of Nationalpark Unteres Odertal – Dirk Treichel – and all interested guests.

One of the objectives of the symposium is to bring together artists working in different techniques, to establish contacts and to promote their work in the local community. We work mainly with painters and graphics, but experimental art is also welcome. The gallery also offers printmaking workshops for etching, lithography and typography. Selected artworks created during the symposium will be displayed in an exhibition that will run until the end of August 2018. In addition, a catalogue with the works created during the symposium will be published at the end of the year.

Photo: private archives of the artist and the organizer’s website

information about the event on kunstverein-schwedt.de

 

Fresh Legs 2018
Galleri Heike Arndt DK Berlin | Voigtstrasse 12 | 10247 Berlin - Friedrichshain (DE)
06/06/2018 - 01/08/2018

“Fresh Legs” is our annual exhibition which includes various types of media, such as drawing, street art, illustration, animation, video art, painting, photography, as well as similar fields open for all professional artists to apply, regardless of whereabouts or theme. With this annual exhibition we wish to create a platform for the public to meet, exhibit and discuss art, and inspire newcomers and established artists in this field alike.The 2018 edition of the annual Fresh Legs open call exhibition proudly presents 22 emerging international artists with their unique styles, techniques and materials. The end result is an exciting group show with figurative and abstract artworks and a large variety of techniques for the viewer to discover.

Over 100 artists from all around the world applied with more than 500 artworks. After a long and thorough screening process, 22 artists were chosen. The Fresh Legs exhibition highlights a curated selection of these artists, and we are excited to follow their journey. Experience the sharp social criticism, perfectly captured contemporary life and refined technical skills. Through the different use of materials and techniques – from drawings and colourful paintings to animated videos – they amaze and pull us in to examine them closer. The key concepts include portraying aspects of humanity as well as showing concern for the current development of our society, as interpreted by the artists’ individual expressions. Here human relationships, loneliness and the fragility of the fleeting moment are explored through the artworks. Many take us on a journey, delving into the environment and the difficulties of being an individual in today’s world.

 

FEATURED ARTISTS: Xecon Uddin (BD), Ian Liddle (UK), Johan Reisang (NO), Katharina Schellenberger (DE), Anne Louise Blicher (DK), Karmen Kraft (ES), Philipp Haucke (DE), Tuomas Korkalo (FI), Konrad Peszko (PL), Loïc Saulin (FR), Katarzyna Kowalska (PL), Line Schjølberg (NO), Attila Schwanz (IT), Lisa Rytterlund (SE), Jaroslaw Lisicki (PL), Ornella Orlandini (IT), Marcus Gestré (DE), Georg Bothe (DE), Oscar Rey (ES), Hannes & Johannes (SE), Ivan Arkhipov (RU), Simone Hooymans (NL)

 

The “Fresh Legs” exhibitions have been of great success since 2013. What is common between the artists is the discussion of humanity and our current way of living, and the reflection of it through completely different media and techniques.
Several of the artists will be selectet from this exhibition for the great opportunity to be shown also in Denmark in the fall.

 

Photo: private archives of the artist

Graphic: Galleri Heike Arndt

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Invisible Cities
Wejście przez sklep z Platerami Gallery | Ogrodowa 7 | Warsaw (PL)
01/02/2018 - 26/02/2018

“Invisible Cities” is an exhibition opening a new project by Katarzyna Kowalska, dealing with the subject of thinking about the contemporary city.
For the artist, the city is a training ground for experiences, her natural environment, a source of inspiration, a place of observation of the processes taking place in it. She sees the city as a historical, philosophical, cultural and sociological phenomenon, as a changing organism, as well as a code that we have within us. In Kowalska’s paintings we can find a specific difference, the simultaneous use of rigorous geometry and expressive gesture. The geometry is created by the climbing blocks of skyscrapers, it is the business-oriented, cold world of steel and glass. The gesture symbolizes the human factor, a spontaneous, expressive and warm trace of everyday life.

The artist was particularly inspired by the intriguing contrast presented in the book by Italian writer Italo Calvino “Invisible Cities”, where the described phantasmagorical civitates are both credible and imaginary, beautiful, fascinating, alluring and sad, repulsive, depopulated, ruined, happy and damned. The artist, fascinated by the book, decided to transfer this complex way of thinking about a city onto a canvas. She also set herself the goal of showing what is invisible and tissue-forming in metropolises: relations, experiences, memories, dreams, desires and aspirations, without which every city would be just a collection of concrete buildings.

In Kowalska’s new paintings, we will see the quintessence of these thoughts, inspirations and means of artistic expression. Her intuitive perception of space and experience in the world of architectural abstraction will certainly become an intellectual and aesthetic feast for the audience.

Curator: Agnieszka Jachym

Photo: Marta Kammbach

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information about the event on warszawa.dlastudenta.pl

blog post on bitememartha.pl

Experiencing Space
BWA Sanocka Gallery | Rynek 14 | Sanok (PL)
08/09/2017 - 13/10/2017

SPACE – mysterious emptiness, which starts to vibrate after you experience it profoundly. It’s the effect of our presence and concentration that fill it with energy. Specific moods appear – emotions able to change our perspective and the reception of reality. With right sensitivity we can become possessed by melancholy and distinct sensation of floating which may not be pleasant for everybody, but which allows us to switch to sensual reception of everything that’s real and imaginary. That’s why the study of space for me is the indicator for what is IN BETWEEN.

Numerous vanishing points, connected by the lines are placed in the perspective diagrams on the axis of symmetry; similarly, the present time connects different possibilities, variants of events or decisions which we subconsciously consider when we approach a specific situation in our lives and quietly contemplate it. Reality and fiction interpenetrate each other on many different occasions creating their own, distinct world where anything is possible – things that are seemingly impossible happen as well as possible yet unlikely situations which are merely a game of spaces.

In my art I am mainly interested in the feeling of being suspended in space, the image of consciousness “here and now”. Visual representation of this state, speaking about the moments of internal halt, moments we sit and contemplate in some place special for us, looking somewhere far ahead of us – it’s a tremendous challenge I am willing to take. Catching and understanding internal time of halt, when we grasp the horizon with our thoughts is like meditation. It fascinates me. At the same time it’s motivating and relaxing. Therefore, the recipient looking at numerous vanishing points scattered in my paintings, may find most of all a distant metaphor of these moments, when contemplation, silence, peace and metaphysical stillness where the most important. This vanishing point which is particularly important for me is almost like a visualised flash of self-consciousness, a short crack in the everyday routine which allows me to discover imaginary spaces, and apart from that, depicts the tension, internal discrepancies and unconscious aspirations.

Also in architecture I look for sensations, after approaching which, we are unable to create the moment of hard to define excitement, fuelled by short and elusive sensation of eeriness. We open ourselves to a completely new, sensual experiencing of spaces, where it resonates. We feel the vibrations it produces, which in turn create strong experiences, just like it was the catalyst of emotions.

Katarzyna Kowalska

Photo: Andrzej S. Bieniek and private archives of the artist

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blog post on bitememartha.pl

 

27 paintings for Lublin | Night of Culture 2017
Lublin city (PL)
03/06/2017 - 04/06/2017

Night of Culture, one of the biggest Lublin festivals, is a few hundred events taking place in the city space, for just a few hours. It’s like a fern flower – it blooms only one night and disappears. Only memories and beautiful photographs remain. It is impossible to see everything what is happening in this unique time, because the program of the Night of Culture has been filled with so many events related to culture in urban space.

Night of Culture is also a festival that encourages the experiencing of art and makes it easy to meet with her. To the entrance encourage late open cultural institutions with a special program. In the streets and squares film screenings, concerts and vernissages are held. You can not go without any impression beyond the unusual artistic installations that make Lublin even more beautiful than ever. It is also an event that animates unknown, forgotten, or badly celebrated places. It can be said that it will charm them and it is that they get tame this night!

Event on Facebook: 27 Obrazów dla Lublina | Inside-Outside / Noc Kultury w Lublinie

Photo: private archives of the artist

information about the event on lublin.wyborcza.pl

information about the event on lublin.eu

information about the event on onet.pl

 

International Art Symposium Art Circle
Medana | Nova Gorica | Slovenia (SI)
14/05/2017 - 20/05/2017

ART CIRCLE is an international art symposium, which will be held in different locations around the sunny Brda region in Slovenia from May 14th till May 20th 2017.

Brda, the land of invigorating moments has magic powers which reflects on land, people and consequently on art. Excellent wine and culinary in combination with fairy tale landscape and warm people make this land a very inspirational environment.
Art Circle is an improtant project where different art symposiums will be held at the same time at the following locations :
– Art Embassy Republic of Poland
– Art Embassy Republic of Slovakia
– Art Embassy federal Republic of Germany
– Art Embassy of Russian federation
– Japan Art Embassy
– Art Embassy France Republic
– Art Embassy Spain
– Art Embassy of Kazakhstan
– Art Embassy of Hungary

Art Cirlce is expected to host around 50-60 artists.
Exhibition of all works will happen on May 19th at the newely renovated renaissance villa Vila Vipolže. Exhibition will be held in villa and open for public through the whole summer.

Photo: private archives of the artist and the organizer’s website

Not Random Art | interview

Not Random Art. – The contemporary art review was created to present contemporary emerging artist; restless dreamers, who – both individually and collectively, explore themes inextricably linked to modern society most significant issues. Journeys, displacement, loss, memory and identity, evoking powerful and sometimes unexpected juxtapositions and responses – these will be our central points of interest.

It’s not easy to be an emerging artist. There is a whole competitive world of contemporary art scene, and sometimes it’s not easy to figure out what is the best path toward success for an artist. We aim at bridging the gap between viewers, curators and artists, creating a common platform of cooperation and exchange. Because, today, almost everything is about art market. How to sell your artwork, how to make it visible? In Not random art. we believe emerging artist can make a breakthrough on international contemporary art platform!

link to the interview

pages: 102 – 111.

Didaskalia
Lublin Museum | Zamkowa 9 | Lublin (PL)
03/02/2017 -

“Didaskalia” is a collective exhibition of nineteen members of the “Open Studio” association: Tomasz Bielak, Oliwia Beszczyńska, Maksymilian Cieslak, Lech Mazurek, Michał Mroczka, Flora Nastaj, Pawel Korbus, Piotr Korol, Katarzyna Kowalska, Sławomir Plewko, Sebastian Smit, Kamil Stańczak, Piotr Strobel, Sławomir Toman, Grzegorz Tomczyk, Kamil Zaleski, Ewa Zarzycka.

The title of the exhibition symbolically reflects the idea of ​​the association itself, which is an additional activity, constitutes a disinterested, life-long necessity of each member’s life. However, these marginal actions often, like the medieval voices, are of real value. Paradoxically, they bring newness, originality, freedom, make sense. It is the same with art in general. For a very long time only “great” art history, history created by the most eminent artists, history of their most outstanding works was noticed. The same applies to music, literature, politics. Although this tendency has been woken up before, it was not until the 20th century that attention was drawn to the periphery of art – less known artists, less creative centers, early “immature” works of giants, works that escaped standards or classifications. Peripherality has become and still is a valued and desirable feature as it combines such features as originality and elitism. Over time “great” art history has been replaced by the history of the art of margins as interesting, free, real and valuable. In this way, there was a complete reversal of the perception of art.

Curator: Izabela Bartkowiak

Graphic: Kosma Ostrowski

Photo: private archives of the artist

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Bestiality
Lublin Breweries | Bernardyńska 15 | Lublin (PL)
06/06/2015 - 07/06/2015

Night of Culture in Brewery: Bestiality – exhibition of contemporary art.

The exhibition presents works of twenty young generation creators. Each artist speaks through one work of art, and all of them connect the theme of the exhibition. The aim of the presentation is to clash various artistic and personal attitudes within a single thematic area.

For the purpose of the exhibition, each artist creates or selects from his collections one work that directly or indirectly refers to the concept of bestiality. Interpretations can be multiplied; treat the subject literally, metaphorically, figuratively, satirically, or in a way that is appropriate only for the reasoning of the individual.

Referring to the title of the exhibition, I appealed to brutalism – a trend in architecture of late modernism, which was created in the late 1940s. I put the semantics of brutalism and bestiality on the subject, and under the first I hid my fascination with architecture. In addition, this painting I chose is very raw and frugal, and at the exhibition was packed in stretch, resulting that all of nuances of painting remainins invisible. Only the strongest, contrasting parts of compositions were visible. This “bestial” way I treated my work, which somehow suffocated under the foil.

Artists taking part in the exhibition:
Marcin Błach / Bartek Cebula / Seweryn Chwała / Jolanta Gmur / Ticathrow Headogun / Tomasz Jakubowski / Katarzyna Jarosz / Agatka Kędra / Katarzyna Kowalska / Paulina Litwin / Wojtek Łysiak / Lech Mazurek / Michał Mroczka / Ewelina Prażmo / Marcin Proczek / Jan Tuszewski / Konrad Wróblewski / Miłosz Zawistowski / Franciszek Znamierowski / Jędrzej Żwiruk

Curator: Marta Ryczkowska

Photo: private archives of the artist

 

Katarzyna Kowalska | painting
Katarzyna Napiórkowska Gallery | Puławska 17 | Warsaw (PL)
15/05/2015 - 29/05/2015

 

 

 

 

Photo: Marta Kammbach

Senses of Art
Museum of the King John III Palace in Wilanow, Kitchen Restaurant | St. Kostki Potockiego 10/16 | Warsaw (PL)
26/02/2015 - 10/04/2015

February 26, 2015, at the first meeting of the series “Senses of Art”, in the Museum of the King John III Palace in Wilanów we will host Katarzyna Kowalska – painter and Bartosz Kowalski – composer, arranger and instrumentalist.

During this meeting we will discuss, among other things about the search for our own means of expression in both: painting and musical compositions, about abstract geometry of space, experimenting with color and composition, originality and tradition.

The historic royal residence in Wilanow is known for its outstanding works of ancient art. Discovering and explaining the secret of their origin is part of the programs of the Museum of the King John III Palace in Wilanów. The past artwork can be better understood by learning also sources of inspiration and motivation of contemporary artists. Participants of the “Senses of Art” series will find out how and where inspiration is sought and what a creative workshop looks like. Meetings that take place in a relaxed café atmosphere are a platform for the free flow of thought between artists and the public. They are moderated by the project curator who is also an artist.

The director of the Museum of the King John III Palace in Wilanów, Pawel Jaskanis invites on the 26 th of February (Thursday) 2015, 7 p.m., to the Kitchen Restaurant, on the grounds of the Palace of King John III in Wilanow, ul. St. K. Potocki 10/16.

Additional information about the meetings is provided by the creator, moderator and curator of the project Andrzej S. Grabowski.

 

blog post on zmyslysztuki.blogspot.com

 

Fot. Marcin Grzebyk

Surfaces as a record of space. Between the perspectives.
022 Gallery | Dom Artysty Plastyka | Mazowiecka 11A | Warsaw (PL)
05/02/2015 - 19/02/2015

The art of Katarzyna Kowalska is stretched between two extremes: discipline of geometric forms and expression of the action painting. Two worlds and two approaches to reality: hyper-rational approach which reduces the multitude of forms to what’s the most simple and primal, minimalist and being the effect of cool calculation and on the other hand full of emotions, based on a premonition, intuition and free gestures. Katarzyna Kowalska easily moves between these seemingly extreme poles of showing the world. Geometry in her paintings is trembling, pulsating and saturated with colour. The gesture on the other hand is disciplined by a perspective grid, spatial projection of a solid in tangible concreteness.

One of the crucial categories, the artists relates to is location. Vivid colour patches on her canvases bring up elements of an urban landscape with emphasis on architecture, often on the verge of reality, occasionally almost completely abstract. Raw modernism, Crystal Palace made from iron and glass prefabricated materials, adaptation and transitions of post-industrial buildings are the source of constant inspiration for the artist. The city is our natural habitat, the closest living space, which we encounter in a specific form. It’s dynamic with new buildings appearing next to the old ones, constructions building up and changing.

In Katarzyna Kowalska’s paintings they lose their weight, the outline of the construction of the building loses its functional nature and becomes a linear equivalent of the architectural original. The city as a collection of permanent forms is not homogenous and breaks into elementary particles. The surfaces start in different points, create bends which do not originate from a logical arrangement of the whole and composition. However, it is not chaos caused by expressionist explosion of the painter. You can sense the discipline of geometric forms and studies of solids, remnants of reality. Kowalska creates phantasmagorical cities, like Italo Calvino in his famous poetic work Invisible Cities. Calvino Called imagined cities made from experiences, desires and premonitions women’s names: “After crossing the river and the pass, one unexpectedly stands before the city of Moriana with transparent alabaster gates in the sunshine, coral columns supporting facades decorated with serpentine. With villas made entirely from glass resembling aquariums, where shadows of dances in silver scales float under chandeliers in the form of medusas”. In these non-cities reality is an echo while the whole construction is generated by imagination and emotions. Katarzyna Kowalska processed urban architecture in a similar manner. Surfaces and solids isolated from the architectural order become autonomous through the colour – saturated, put in the forefront or delicately mentioned and hidden behind perspective projections which form the grid for individual surfaces.

It’s the colour patch that arranges the space, creates new order and defines it in the surface of the painting. The place seems like something abstract and intangible, but at the same time it is still rooted in physicality. It serves as an alternative space, where the vanishing point ceases to be an univocal term. Perspective paintings of Kowalska can also be treated as a meta commentary to modern architecture. Solid, outline, shape, fabric, construction are all interesting, visual signs for the artist. They become the basis for the composition. In the end it looks like a place from a dream. We know that during sleep, experiences are put away, but the remembered images change completely in contact with subconsciousness. Watching Perspective Landscapes by Katarzyna Kowalska it’s hard not to wonder if that’s how walking around Calvino’s invisible cities would look like, with their nature and dynamics that are not fully revealed, which can only be seen when you take the trip. She’s a modern flaneur observing and recording the pulse of the city.

The artist practises layered painting which is reminiscent of matter painting with emphasis on the matter being transferred to the canvas using various, often non-standard tools. In her art she combines different painting techniques, studies the characteristics of paint and substance, observing their congealing process in different temperatures etc. The surface of the painting isn’t sterile – the artist allows it to come into contact with different external agents. As a result the structure of the painting is complex and thick. Therefore, Katarzyna Kowalska’s painting is a parallel space for experiencing world, where memories and imaginations are recorded and translated into essential painting values.

Marta Ryczkowska

Photo and graphic: Andrzej S. Bieniek

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Art INN Lublin
Labyrinth Gallery | ks. J. Popiełuszki 5 | 20-052 Lublin (PL)
17/01/2015 - 18/01/2015

On 17-18.01.2015, in one of the most interesting gallery in the Lublin region will be ART INN – Young Art Fair. This is a new release, a project refreshment, which was successfully held twice in Warsaw, where each time dozens of interesting young artists were presented. Winter ART INN LUBLIN is planned with even greater momentum.

For two days from 12 a.m to 8 p.m. the Labyrinth Gallery will be teeming with art in almost every aspect of it. ART INN LUBLIN is an alternative to commercial galleries and fairs: combining cultural events with the promotion of artists as well as leisure activities. This new formula of the overview allows you to combine works by artists using a variety of techniques: from painting, through graphics, sculpture to video art, and installations. This allows interesting artists, who are not exactly familiar with traditional shows, to showcase their work.

Photo: social media of the organizer

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information about the event on lublin.eu

information about the event on dziennikwschodni.pl

Interferenzen
Secondhome Projects | Reinickendorferstraße 66, Oudenarderstraße 29 + 31 | 13347 Berlin-Wedding (DE)
28/11/2014 - 12/12/2014

Interfernce / Interferenzen is an exceptional art event, involving artists from Poland and Germany. Its purpose is to provoke discussion on the topic of art creation in modern Europe. What kind of influence do geographical, financial, political, genealogical and historical conditions have? How big a role does the artist´s place of birth, financial status, state backing play? What are the motivations and inspirations? Is it possible to keep one´s creative independence in a modern world flooded with information and visual media, with an overabundance of art?

The choice of Poland and Germany is not coincidental, they are geographically close but diverse in terms of history and culture. Are the artists living within their boundaries different in their approach to art creation and reception? We pose questions while avoiding imposing interpretations, because Interferencje / Interferenzen is primarily a platform for exchanging views, experiences, and a pretext for confrontation between artists and viewers. A blank card that is waiting to be filled with content.

The works featured in the exhibition may at first seem unrelated. The more we view them, learning about the authors emotion and fascinations, the more evident the similarities become. These can be found on a variety of planes. A fascination with nature can be found in the works of Ryan Hays as well as Ina Sangenstedt, though each has a unique way of describing the theme. A love for ethereal forms, redefining them can be found in the works of Beata Bajno, Edith Kollath or Laurence Grave. There are those who find their inspiration in urban subjects, such as architecture and the teeming world of the street art underground, such as Katarzyna Kowalska, Magdalena Łazar-Massier i ToFa (Chris Noelle). The human emotions, memories and dark secrets, the delicate and the sensitive are fields of interest of Regina Nieke, Agata Czeremuszkin-Chrut and Nina Märkl, who put great stock into the creation process, the role of painting mediums and materials. The impact of a difficult history on humankind is the theme chosen by Agnieszka Pakuła and Agnieszka Pietrzykowska. Anna Lasik, who specializes in unique costumes, takes us on a journey through past times, toying with fashion and convention.

Poland and Germany are two different countries, 16 artists with 16 different personalities, individual histories and ways of expressing oneself through art, meeting to experience the distance and the proximity to each other. Regardless of their place of origin, they are bound by an extraordinary curiosity and creative passion.

Photo: social media of the gallery

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event on art-in-berlin.de

 

 

Topography of colour
Piękno Panie Gallery | Jezuicka 17 | Lublin (PL)
25/10/2014 - 07/11/2014

TOPOGRAPHY OF COLOR is the second exhibition of the “4×4” series carried out in autumn by the Open Studio Association in 2014. It is an attempt of capture painting topography, physically existing places and phantasmagoric places. The exhibition presents different ideas: maps of the wars in the future, attempts to capture the transformation of architecture, abstract shots of places. It is attended by artists from the Association “Open Studio”: Michał Mroczka , Katarzyna Kowalska and guest Joanna Szostak, Dawid Kędzierski.

Curator: Marta Ryczkowska

Graphic: Kosma Ostrowski
Organizer: “Open Studio” Association, Lublin

Photo: social media of the gallery

The project was financed with financial support City Hall of Lublin.

photo relation from the vernissage

 

Interference
Fort Sokolnicki Art Center | Stefana Czarnieckiego 51 | Warsaw (PL)
06/12/2013 - 05/01/2014

Fort Sokolnicki Art Center and the Institute of German Studies at Warsaw University WELCOME TO:

  • Vernissage of the Polish-German Interference / Interferenzen exhibition
    6.12.2013 (Friday) – 7 p.m., Stefan Czarniecki 51, Warsaw.

Artists: BEATA BAJNO, AGATA CZEREMUSZKIN-CHRUT, LAURENCE GRAVE, RYAN HAYS, EDITH KOLLATH, KATARZYNA KOWALSKA, ANNA ZUZANNA LASIK, MAGDALENA ŁAZAR MASSIER, NINA MÄRKL, REGINA NIEKE, TOFA (CHRIS NOELLE), AGA PIETRZYKOWSKA, AGNIESZKA PAKUŁA, ANNE PLAISANCE, INA SANGENSTEDT, LAURA WASILEWSKA

  • 2nd International Scientific Conference:
    Contemporary Cultue Interferences, – within the Inter.Intra.Trans project.
    6.12.2013 (Friday) – 8.12.2013 (Sunday), Dobra 55, Warsaw
    6.12.2013 (Friday) – 12 a.m. Inauguration and portfolio of Polish and German artists presentation. (room 1008)
  • A debate with the participation of artists, theoreticians, critics and recipients of art during the Contemporary Cultue Interferences Conference.
    Dec. 7, 2013 – Saturday 11 a.m.,Dobra 55, Warsaw (room 1.008)

Interference / Interferenzen is co-financed by the Foundation of Polish-German Cooperation.

Organizers:
Fort Sokolnicki Art Center, the Institute of German Studies at Warsaw University, Inter. Intra. Trans

Partners:
Oki Doki, L&A Curators, Winsor&Newton

Media Partners:
kulturaonline.pl, Rynek i Sztuka, Imperium kobiet, Gallery store, Czytaj nie pytaj! pl, DobraPolskaSzkola.pl, Creative Poland, Babski londyn, Modessque

Photo: social media of the organizer

photo relation from the vernissage