Podlasie Collection as a reflection of recently created art

by Paulina Zarębska

     The beginnings of contemporary art collection in Białystok are linked with the activity of the Bureau of Artistic Exhibitions operating since 1965. Until 1984, about 100 paintings were gathered, the collection of which was initiated by Mikołaj Wołkowycki and continued by Władysław Sekunda, upon the advice and with the help of a geometric abstraction expert, Bożena Kowalska. This part of the collection, that is the original collection was entitled Trzy nurty. Realizm – Metafora – Geometria [Three trends: Realism – Metaphor – Geometry]. After political transformations, Monika Szewczyk was appointed new director of Arsenał Gallery and it was then that the collection continued to grow owing to new purchases. It was a hard time for numerous collections of contemporary art in Poland. In 1990’s, their major funding source, that is the ministry funds, was suddenly cut off. Art institutions had to face a difficult task of operating under new market conditions and finding other ways of fund acquisition. At that time, nobody thought about a consciously planned collection and new purchases were not linked to what had already been there on the collections, said Monika Szewczyk. On the one hand, we tried to adjust new purchases to the program of Arsenał Gallery, that is we attempted to collect everything that was most representative for art created at that time. As written by Kamil Kopania, the nature of Collection II “was supposed to be parallel to the nature of program objectives adopted by Arsenał Gallery at the beginning of 1990's, according to which the institution in Białystok was obliged to present, as widely as possible, important trends in most recently created Polish and foreign art, as well as search for and support young artists whose careers were only taking off, including those connected with the city of Białystok”. On the other hand, limited funds and the lack of a clear purchasing plan made full implementation of this task impossible and, as a result, majority of works acquired at that time comprised a rather random set. Of course, each of these works might have comprised a part of a larger and more representative whole, however in circumstances of the time, they served only as samples of these important trends. They included about 50 works, among them as significant as Krzysztof Czerwiński II (2001) by Katarzyna Kozyra, Akcja równoległa [Parallel operation] (1991) and Biblioteka [Library] (1993) by Mikołaj Smoczyński, videos by Józef Robakowski made at the end of 1980’s and beginning of 1990’s, a work by Dorota Nieznalska (1999), Mistrzowie [Masters] (2004) by Zbigniew Libera, Supermatka [Wonder Mum] (2003) by Elżbieta Jabłońska, or projects by Konrad Kuzyszyn entitled Obiekty życia [Objects of life] (1999). The collection missed works representing the critical trend: works by Artur Żmijewski or Paweł Althamer, and as far as painting is concerned, works by Paweł Susid or representatives of Ładnie Group. It was only the year 2004, that brought about significant changes. As a result of the “Signs of the time” program implemented by the Ministry of Culture, subsequent regional Zachęta galleries have been established, among them Podlasie Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts which considerably contributed to the supplementation and further development of Białystok collection. An example of changes after 2004 – as mentioned by Monika Szewczyk – may be acquisition to Collection II of a work by Mirosław Bałka, which was unrealistic in 1990’s.

It cannot be said that purchases made after 2004 complement those made previously in 1990’s, as only a fraction of these works comes from the previous decade (those by Barbara Kasprzycka-Łosiak and Mirosław Bałka). We might, of course, deliberate over complementation of this list by names such as Paweł Althamer, Artur Żmijewski, Rafał Bujnowski, Marcin Maciejowski, Wilhelm Sasnal or Jadwiga Sawicka. However, majority of acquisitions comprise works representative of the period following the year 2000, and besides those famous ones, there appear numerous names of artists from the young generation: Laura Pawela, Julita Wójcik, Monika Sosnowska, Jan Simon, Oskar Dawicki, Anna Molska, Kuba Bąkowski, Maciej Kurak, Małgorzata Markiewicz, Robert Kuśmirowski. If we look back to the 1990’s collection, then despite considerable shortcomings, the “emotional compilation” – as referred to by Monika Szewczyk – proved to be an excellent choice. As far as young artists are concerned, it is difficult to foresee what place they will occupy in the pantheon of Polish art celebrities. As we can see, authors of works acquired at that time have become acknowledged artists and they are still active representatives of Polish art. And at this point, there arises another question: will artists whose works have been bought after 2004 be representative of the current trend?  Will art created in the first decade of 21 c. presented in Białystok collection be equally well received? This time the question of financial difficulties will be invalid – though also in this case there appeared some hindrances, which is why the collection features Sasnal’s drawings instead of his paintings. 

At this point, one should ask oneself the fundamental question about condition of Polish art after 2000. We have definitely observed considerable revival in contemporary art which may be linked to a number of different factors. New institutions and galleries have been emerging, whereas those that started its operation in 1990’s and developed its commercial activity at the beginning of 2000, today cherish an established position on the world art market (Foksal Gallery Foundation and Raster Gallery). Considerable animation was also connected with establishment of local Zachęta galleries as a result of the “Signs of the time” program. Apart from collections themselves, new institutional frameworks began to be developed which have functioned differently in different regions. New buildings and institutions, such as the Centre for Contemporary Art “Znaki Czasu” in Toruń, Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, MS2 - new building of the Art Museum in Łódź, began to emerge, and still new are planned to arise, e.g. Museum of Contemporary Art in Wrocław. Numerous art magazines have been published, both virtual and printed: Obieg, Piktogram, Format, Arteon, Numer, or magazines published by institutions, e.g. Bunkier Sztuki in Kraków or CSW Łaźnia in Gdańsk. Discussions about contemporary art are still conducted during session panels, whose number tends to increase, but also – which is a new phenomenon – they are moved to the internet, e.g. blogs of Jakub Banasiak, Izabela Kowalczyk or Tomek Kozak. Promotional mechanisms have begun to be more effective, there are numerous competitions with broad media reach: Polityka’s Passport awards or Deutsche Bank awards. In view of measures of promotion and presentation of works and artists developed after 2000, this period may be regarded as a favourable for contemporary art development in Poland.

Collection of contemporary art which is being gathered by PSEFA to some extent mirrors what used to and what is currently happening in art after 2000. For the most part, it includes works of young artists who completed their art education at the end of 1990’s and their debuts occurred already at the beginning of the year 2000. Some of them were winners of Spojrzenia awards, or received Polityka’s Passport awards (Maciej Kurak, Robert Kuśmirowski, Joanna Rajkowska). We can read about majority of them in art magazines and their projects are presented at art exhibitions in Poland and abroad. Their works are rather diversified and it is hard to speak about some homogeneity. Julita Wójcik makes woollen blocks – facilities and one of them, a woollen model of Arsenał Gallery building, is on Collection II. On the one hand, we see an interest in PRL’s architecture, on the other, entirely different and contrasting technique used by artists from the feminist trend. Similar creations made of fabric are used in the works of Małgorzata Markiewicz, an artist from Cracow, whose colourful flowers also comprise an element of Białystok collection. The artist often refers to the feminist art. This trend in Collection II can also be easily traced in the work by Bogna Burska which refers to threats and phobias, issues related to femininity. Stereotypes of feminine images and social roles as well as hypocrisy are fought by Anna Baumgart, the author of Bombowniczka [Female bomber] who presents a pregnant woman wearing a pig mask. The collection features her sculpture Kobieta z maską [A woman with a mask], a figure of an old woman, bent and hiding before people’s eyes, who is hounded by the society governed by the cult of beauty and youth. Taking a broader look at issues popular after 2000 apart from the feminist trend, we will find projects related to gender issues. The work by Karol Radziszewski, making references to gay circles with the use of pop art photos, may serve as an example. His Madonna found in Białystok collection is a black-and-white androgenic image created in a comic book style.

Architectural issues, problems with creation of new space, mimetism, changes in the way we perceive things are used both by Monika Sosnowska and Maciej Kurak. Mała Alicja [Small Alice] by Monika Sosnowska is a sequence of rooms decreasing in size. Her play with the viewer’s perception invokes deeper reflection on the limits of our cognition and institutionalisation – the multiplying of claustrophobic and suffocating gallery rooms. Czy ważne jest kto się chowa za obrazem?  [Does it matter who’s hiding behind the painting?] is a project by Maciej Kurak in which he takes up issues related to art, creation and role of the artist. These questions also refer to problems related with interpretation of the works of art and accepting or rejecting the artist himself as a point of reference (Ronald Barthes, Michel Foucault wrote about restrictions in the interpretation through the figure of the author). Similar mimetic techniques causing viewer’s disorientation are used by Robert Kuśmirowski. By forging, he creates new elements of reality – artefacts – non-recognizable as artistic pieces. Collection II features his documentation.

Collection II also features works using new media, absorbed by the artistic world. Among older representatives, we can watch the project of Izabela Gustowska It’s a wonderful life, where she uses codes functioning in the culture. In Szkolenie [The Training], Małgorzata Jabłońska took up the topic of education presented in a distorted mirror. We may also experience a scientific whiff in the work by Barbara Kasprzycka-Łosiak Komórka oka [Eye cell] — a piece resembling a kind of scientific exhibit at a Medical University. However, in this use of scientific preparations or new media, we may very often feel a pessimistic note – it is an attempt to draw attention to negative results of technological progress. The gloomiest vision of the future is presented by Kuba Bąkowski in his work Chłopiec i jego pies [A boy and his dog]. This futuristic project shows the world after environmental pollution and a trial to survive in the destroyed reality.

What we may currently watch on Collection II is a fairly broad set of interesting works. What is missing however, is the output of Piotr Uklański, and with regard to the young generation, works by, for instance, Paulina Ołowska. This, of course, is not an end to the list of names and works which, some day, may be included in Collection II.  Some works from the collection had been initially presented at exhibitions in Arsenał Gallery and later included in the collection, which means that their selection was strictly connected with the gallery’s program – which, on the one hand, is compliant with its objectives, but on the other may comprise a restriction. The collection continues to grow and, what is the most important, it is not locked in the basement but it moves on and is shown during different exhibitions.