Warsaw Gallery Weekend 2016
Welcome to the sixth edition of Warsaw Gallery Weekend – an annual festival of
contemporary art held over the last weekend of September by 23 of the city’s independent
galleries. The international programme of exhibitions and special events, organized in
collaboration with high-ranking cultural institutions, reveals the most interesting and
relevant currents running through Warsaw’s art scene.
With some two dozen exhibitions and a packed events schedule to start, participating galleries and
partners are set to offer audiences a wide range of experiences and perspectives. There is the
debate organized by Frieze Magazine and Polish webzine Culture.pl, titled Learning from Berlin,
which honours 25 years of partnerships in the arts between Warsaw and Berlin. Another major
stop on the programme is the inauguration of the 9th annual Futurological Congress – a project
initiated by Mareika Dittmer and Julieta Aranda. The collaboration with Art Collection Telekom
brings the works of Czech artist Eva Koťátkova and Ukrainian artist Maria Kulikovska to the
Xawery Dunikowski Sculpture Museum at the Królikarnia art centre – a preview of a broader show
planned in the autumn of 2017. Guests can also take advantage of special curatorial tours,
meetings and workshops organised by major cultural institutions, including the National Museum of
Art, Museum of Modern Art, Zachęta Gallery, and the Centre for Contemporary Art.
This year, in cooperation with the Artsy online database of contemporary art, virtual access to the
works is provided to anyone who can’t make it in person.
We welcome you to spend this event-filled weekend with us, while extending its impact through all
the other days of the year.
Galleries
In consideration of the current mood of geopolitical unrest, several galleries have put together
exhibitions that deal with thematic issues rooted in history. Several generations of artists, who
represent, respectively, the art of the avant-garde, neo avant-garde and the art of today, analyse
and treat the most significant events of human existence through a variety of media.
From the first inklings of the universe, the primal matter of all things, is the stuff that inspires
Gdańsk-based painter Marcin Zawicki – showing his most recent Homoiomerie series at m².
The gap between what once was and what is yet to be is at the heart of Rafał Dominik’s show at
the Kasia Michalski Gallery. The Warsaw-based artist, who’s also the frontman for the disco-polo
group Galactics, presents ten relatively little-known stories about the transformation of human
nature from prehistoric times up through the era of robot domination.
The 18th-century vision of the world of New Athens, declared by Father Chmielowski and detailed
in what is widely considered the first Polish encyclopaedia, forms the foundation of Irena Kalicka’s
newest series of photographs, presented at the Profile Foundation. The Krakow-based artist
stages scenes that build up a scale of stereotypes and word-play at the most colloquial level.
Asymetria Gallery brings back the history of neo-realism through the work of its legends Zdzisław Beksiński, Jerzy Lewczyński, Marek Piasecki and Zofia Rydet. The exhibition is
accompanied by the photographs of Błażej Pindor, an artist of today’s generation, which reveal the
deconstruction of Jerzy Lewczyński’s studio.
The show at Biuro Wystaw forms a commentary to the political reality of evolving ideologies on a
local and global scale. The artists on show include Hubert Czerepok, Monika Drożyńska, Weronika
Ławniczak, Slavs and Tatars, Władysław Strzemiński, Mieczysław Szczuki, Piotr Wysocki, Jerzy
Ryszard Zieliński (Jurry) and Rafał Żarski.
The status quo of Poland and Europe is represented in the abstract through the works of Zuzanna
Czebatul at Piktogram. Her latest series of concrete paintings depicts people and objects in a
variety of situations against the backdrop of a natural landscape.
Another sort of political commentary, not reserved to the Polish experience, is the joint installation
by Wiktor Gutt and Waldemar Raniszewski at Pola Magnetyczne, which stand in opposition to the
system of global culture – referring to both the capitalist and communist systems. The two artists
first showed The Destructive Culture in 1977 at the then-famous Repassage Gallery in Warsaw,
known for its ties to the countercultural movements of the Polish neo avant-garde. The
juxtaposition of portraits of Auschwitz victims during the Holocaust together with those of tribal
societies dominated by other cultures reflects a common vein of inhumanity. “We wanted to show
that two crimes had been committed, but only one of them was being acknowledged by the west,”
Gutt explained in conversation with gallery owners Gunia Nowik and Patrick Komorowski.
At BWA Warszawa, Karol Radziszewski digs into lesser-known facts of the 20th century. The
latest project from the creator of DIK Fagazine and the Queer Archives Institute is titled Ali. Its
subject is the only Black member of the Warsaw Uprising effort. After originally coming to Warsaw
from Nigeria as a jazz musician, August Agbola O’Brown took up arms in the fight against the
Nazis during World War II.
The intimate histories of women in a world dominated by men and the private lexicon that they
devised in this context is at the heart of the Arton Foundation show. The international group of
artists includes pioneers of feminist art working within various political and social contexts
throughout the 1970s and ‘80s. Sanja Iveković, Natalia LL, Jolanta Marcolli, Letícia Parente, Ewa
Partum, Martha Rosler and Lisa Steele consider the status quo for women in society, taking a
critical approach to the ascribing of traditional roles to women by default and the objectification of
their image in popular culture.
Private life, the everyday, politics, history and philosophical-religious systems are points of entry
for the abstract compositions of painter Zuzy Ziółkowska-Hercberg at the Le Guern Gallery. This
artist explores themes of memory and corporeality together with issues related to the general
concept of identity and human identification with a particular place.
The theme of transformation – its needs, weaknesses and its very course of action – forges a link
between three individual shows at lokal_30. Filip Berendt depicts the mythical journey of a the
traveller in a modern guise, while Ewa Juszkiewicz brings lost works pillaged during World War II
back to life by painting them anew. Katya Shadkovska presents her film Julia, which takes up the
problems faced by homosexual and trans-sexual individuals in Russia.
The topic of change and an initiation into adulthood is also apparent in the works of Japanese
artist Nampeia Akaki at the Czułość Gallery. The gallery’s second individual show presents
Ukraine’s Vova Vorotniova and her depiction of the act of experiencing something for the first time.
Minimal, virtually invisible, changes that occur in our world are at the centre of Spanish artist’s Pep
Vidal’s art. The Poznan-based Rodríguez Gallery hosts the artist’s first shown in Poland, sharing
his unique exploration of the laws governing nature.
The natural processes that shape the artificial reality of machines, structures and systems that slip
out of human control are the subject of Adam Jastrzębski’s show at the Propaganda Gallery.
The dark realm of today’s virtual societies is revealed by Wrocław-based painter Alex Urban at the
LETO Gallery in works that take bits and pieces from the web to create compositions that serve as
a testament to the realities of the weakness of human sensibility and intellect, cruelty, propensity
for trolling, commercial and political manipulation and sexual obscurity.
The subject of unruly human truths – equally rooted in curiosity as in prudishness – pervades the
show of works by Łukasz Korolkiewicz and Krzysztof Zarębski at Monopol. Korolkiewicz’s realistic
paintings depict the interiors of a home inhabited by a mysterious Peeping Tom of sorts, who leaps
between surveying the viewer in hiding, while also offering sudden glimpses of his own naked
flesh. Krzysztof Zarębski, one of the pioneers of Polish performance art, has constructed his
objects out of spoons, vibrators and cassette tapes. These two modern-day tricksters and
unabashed social commentators take great satisfaction in the discomfort they inspire their public.
The Lux exhibition at the Archaeology of Photography Foundation urges viewers to consider
significant issues with regard to the history of photography and research practices in the field. The
artists in the show - Karolina Breguła, Przemek Dzienis, Magdalena Hueckel and Szymon Rogiński
– have taken the subject of light as their joint theme, weighing its ties to the ontological essence of
photography.
The subject of light also shines within the works of American artist Bill Jenkins, who presents a
site-specific piece at the Stereo Gallery. Jenkins sets himself up as a mediator who controls all
access to light and space.
Rafał Bujnowski takes a look at various ways that works of art function in the public space, taking
up a constant discussion with the primary values of painting. In his latest works shown at the
Raster Gallery, he returns to the subject of the human body, while his minimalist approach to the
medium of painting serves to forge reflections tinged with existential questions. Raster is also
showing Hungarian photographer’s Peter Puklus’ first show in Poland, presenting works that link
the traditions of contemporary photography with the cultural-political context of Central Europe.
The Wschód Gallery is hosting an international show that revolves around British artist Martin
Creed’s statement “I don’t know what I want to say…” The Turner Prize-winning artist is known for
such works as a crumpled ball of A4-formatted paper. A clean sheet of paper is the inspiration
behind the diploma project of Mateusz Choróbski, who is also part of the show, with his ephemeral
depiction of the smoke and smog above the city of L Łódź – with the help of two jets flying across
its sky. The exhibition also includes the works of Jan Domicz, Samuel François, Daniel Koniusz,
Mikołaj Moskal, Anna Orłowska, Olve Sande and Łukasz Sosiński.
The nature of illusion, physicality and three-dimensionality is part of the works by Magdalena
Karpińska and Alicja Bielawska on show at the Starter Gallery. The third solo show at Starter is
devoted to the photographs of Michał Grochowiak, in which he references sacral art – in particular
the elaborate altars constructed for the holiday of Corpus Christi.
The history of mankind, its relics and memories, are among the strongest themes at this year’s
edition of Warsaw Gallery Weekend. As are a number of discomfiting issues, dealing with societal
taboos, and the presence of the “other” within our realm. At the Foksal Gallery Foundation, Artur
Żmijewski, one of the most radical artists of the critical art genre, exhibits his most recent work
relating to human existence as a handicapped individual.
Dawid Radziszewski presents artists afflicted with Lyme disease, with works by Agata Bogacka,
Sebastian Buczek, Radosław Gajewski and Agnieszka Polska.
Collateral events
The calendar of accompanying events at WGW has been put together by participating galleries
and some of Warsaw’s most prominent cultural institutions, in partnership with corporate sponsor
T-Mobile Electronic Beats and strategic partner Ergo Hestia. The programme includes special
exhibitions at the Centre for Contemporary Art at Ujazdowski Castle and the Zachęta National
Gallery of Art, along with a preview of next year’s show of works by Eva Koťátkova and Maria
Kulikovska from the Deutsche Telekom collection at the Królikarnia National Gallery. Other events
include an artist breakfast at lokal_30, panels and workshops at the National Museum, a
performance by Cara Benedetto at the Museum of Modern Art, an ongoing 50-hour art party at the
Palace of Culture, and the Not Fair of international galleries taking part at the same location. The
international element is extended into the Stereo Gallery’s show at the Dom Słowa Polskiego, and
artist Rafał Dominik takes audiences on an uncanny tour of the Arkadia shopping centre.
Jan Smaga is debuting his album at Raster, Propaganda screens a film by Gilad Ratman, while
Ryszard Grzyb recites poetry for Alex Urban at Leto’s “Finnish House”.
Frieze Magazine and Culture.pl are hosting a discussion panel titled “Learning from Berlin” to
celebrate 25 years of partnership between Warsaw and Berlin, moderated by Mareike Dittmer,
Gabriele Horn, Dr. Thomas Köhler, Hili Perlson, Rainald Schumacher and Anne Schwanz. The
halls of Ufficio Primo host the official inauguration of the 9th edition of the Futurological Congress,
with artists, art historians and philosophers among its guests, including Natasha Ginwala, Antonia
Majaca, Anda Rottenberg, Rory Rowan and Markus Steinweg – who will take part in a series of
lectures and discussion on the fictive possibilities within historical narratives, as well as artistic and
critical threads of history. How should we consider the future? Should we follow the suggestion of
J.G. Ballard that it is the future, rather than the past, that helps to illuminate our present?