Shortcut to reality. About the collection of Zachęta in Łódź

by Marta Ryczkowska

Works gathered in the collection of Association for the Promotion of Fine Arts in Łódź are connected with historic and artistic context of the Art Museum in Łódź. During the interwar years, Władysław Strzemiński together with “a.r" group postulated creation of the first international Collection of Modern Art in Poland. In 1931, he handed over, as a deposit, a collection of international modern art to the Education and Culture Department in the Municipal Council of the City of Łódź. In this year, gallery of modern art was opened (in the Municipal Museum of History and Art named after Julian and Kazimierz Bartoszewicz) recognized as one of the first permanent avant-garde art exhibitions in the world. This was the beginning of the collection of the Łódź museum. In subsequent years, the collection was gradually expanded by new works, among others, by works of Mateusz Grabowski and Joseph Beuys. Internationally unique character of the collection assembled by the Art Museum and the fact of establishing the first in Poland Department of Photography and New Media in 1977, determined the profile of Zachęta in Łódź. Its objective is creation of a parallel, supplementing collection which would establish a dialogue with the existing one. This strongly specified context significantly affected the selection of authors and works to the collection using spatial and audio forms, as well as solutions offered by digital technology. Acquired works also included those which apparently make references to places or events that happened in Łódź. 

Prolonged vitality of the art of painting

The Łódź collection is composed of works belonging to the canon of Polish art created on the eve of 21 c. We may clearly observe the process of departing from the material aspect of painting and sculpture to the benefit of transitory nature of new media. It is visible owing to the skilful combination of works bordering on classical techniques and those belonging to the areas of photography, installations and videos. Vitality of the art of painting is ensured by its direct influence on the viewer, which results in scarce painting-related projects which focus on critical review of the medium, inspecting whether it fits in to the present times. Magdalena Moskwa, with the use of traditional depicting techniques and methods, conducts a dialogue with the tradition of self-portrait, taking up the issue of openness and covering body parts. Tomasz Ciecierski presents a study of the painting process with the use of photography. The paradox of the art of painting is revealed in the picture by Ryszard Waśko This image has been removed for security reason, which comprises a painted version of the communication displayed on a computer screen. Pixels of the icon were rendered with a photographic precision, whereas the words inform us that the image had been removed for security reasons. The painting does not direct the viewer to any designation, the visual form makes references to dry virtual messages. Status of a work of art turns out to be a hybrid which is replaced by artistic circumstances, a comment, recording of the account, a hunch, which convey nature of the reality in a more complete manner. They turn out to be the leading trend in artists’ experiments who, for this purpose, use media such as photography, light box, slideshow, film. Documentation is a record of the experience of space understood in various ways: as a literal distance between points A and B (Robert Kuśmirowski), historical space (Elżbieta Jabłońska), space-time (Cezary Bodzianowski). Digital record provides considerable possibilities to manipulate the technique, dimensions, time loop etc., which makes the works intangible in its substance, whereas distribution of the collection - more flexible and susceptible to changes. A collection which may be closed in a single room or in a spacious museum, as a kind of shortcut making references to various data, conceals a huge potential and at the same time becomes a symbol of the current artistic production. Innovative approach to the form corresponds to the avant-garde meaning of the pre-war “a.r.” collection of the Art Museum.

Interactions

In their works, artists perceive the world on different levels of reality, establishing connections between those levels, and thus instilling a special kind of experience. A record of such unique relations between the artist and the environment is shown by Joanna Rajkowska in her project Ciężarna panna młoda, fontanna i zimny październik [Pregnant bride, a fountain and a cold October]. She assumed the role of an “artist to let” employed as a model for an original photo session. The event was recorded in photos and provided with the artist’s comment. Thus, Rajkowska challenged the pattern artist-work of art-recipient, replacing it with a relation customer-order-transaction. Another transposition was done by Agnieszka Chojnacka in her video Krótka historia lotu [Short story of flying]. The artist leads the viewer through a number of rooms with showcases presenting stuffed fowl. Jacek Niezgoda made the video entitled Kontestator [Dissenter]. In its assumption, it was a physical campaign devoted to mechanics and the relativity of motion which took on a political meaning, showing how powers which attempt to impose its own order may prove ambiguous. The characteristic feature of all the abovementioned works is treatment of reality as a testing ground for different experiences and adapting its “non-artistic” planes for art needs. 

Recycling of art history

One of the topics permeating the collection is a dialogue with the place and history of art, recording of motifs which have already passed. In this manner, artists prove the value of past and its influence on current achievements in the field of art. Łódź Kaliska arranged a situation on warehouse premises of the Art Museum recorded in photographs entitled Śniadanie w Muzeum [Breakfast in the museum]. By referring to a famous Manet’s painting and its printed variation by Alain Jacquet, the group entered into discussion with the work belonging to the canon and which continues of evolve. Subsequent transformations have elevated it to the rank of a symbol. Not only did the group accumulate these references, but it instilled them in the context of the place. This context is of equally high importance in the project by Cezary Bodzianowski. The artist, during his Unik [A dodge] campaign was reading “Teoria widzenia” [The theory of Vision] by Władysław Strzemiński in a former seat of Państwowa Wyższa Szkoła Sztuk Pięknych [National School of Fine Arts], currently occupied by MPK (Municipal Transport Company). The Zorro Group utters significant words Wszystko już było [All is there] suggesting that all current artistic ideas are based on what had already been conceived before. Thus, art visualizes objectives of postmodern philosophy, especially in Baudrillard’s version, according to which we live in the world of infinite repetitions and reality is reflected in consecutive presentations – simulations.

Journey to the boundaries of our body

Another trend in artistic experiments is determined by the motif related to manifesting identity, functioning of corporeality, journey to the boundaries of our body and manners of its presentation. In a series of photographs by Zofia Kulik Ogród – Libera i kwiaty [The garden – Libera and the flowers], a man’s body becomes an ornament accompanied by flowers. Konrad Kuzyszyn in a series Potrójny pokłon „kondycja ludzka”  [Triple bow “the human condition”] duplicates the body of a turned around figure. Dominik Lejman in his video Status (1 HR z Timecodem) [Status (1 HR with a Time Code)] takes up the issue of man’s corporeality and places itself in the aforementioned historic trend through the dialogue with tradition of the nude. A series of severe, black-and-white photos entitled Hermafrodyta [Hermafrodite] by Zbigniew Libera presents body fragments: the scars prove that it underwent a sex-change operation. The artist is fascinated by the phenomenon of transsexuality, where the female-male distinction is blurred, the body presents a strong contrast in a concentrated, existential air. A man is also shown through his non-presence – in large-format photographs of Jadwiga Sawicka. Ubrania [Clothes] placed on hangers appear as a representation, an intermediary between a person wearing them and somebody watching them, a resultant of what we are and what we would like to be. Works of the abovementioned artists depict identity entanglements, ambiguity of body representations, gender identity, sensuality, social and cultural roles related therewith.

Tendencies and perspectives

At the moment, the collection of the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in Łódź is kept in the deposit of the Art Museum in Łódź. In line with program objectives, between 2005-2006 COLLECTION 1 was established comprised of fifty one works created by twenty six artists. On this occasion, in October 2006 an exhibition was organized and a catalogue entitled Śniadanie w muzeum. Kolekcja Łódzkiego Towarzystwa Zachęty Sztuk Pięknych. [Breakfast in the museum. Collection of the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in Łódź] was published. For the years 2007-2009, establishment of COLLECTION 2 is planned. In Łódź collections, the local element harmoniously permeates national artistic tendencies. A clear tendency to capture current issues and a focus on new media makes the collection very representative of Polish art of the recent years. It reflects transformations and trends, it shows major directions followed by artists. Works gathered in the collections display considerable potential, fresh approach and formal innovation, although from today’s perspective they already are classic. A lot of works created at a later time pick up their language and strategy, creating endless retrospective of what was there before.