Collection

Burying Books was a planned, deliberate action, inspired by Granary Island – a kind of no man’s land in a country without public space. Klaman called Granary Island ‘ex-territorial’ – a kind of space beyond the jurisdiction of power and ideology. However, he did not carry out archaeological excavations or grew nostalgic for the traces of history. Klaman inverted the archaeological activity – instead of discovering, he buried, disturbing the chronology of the layers.

Both the gesture of burying books and the accompanying Inverted Archaeology artistic manifesto seem to be crucial for Klaman’s 1980s art, but also influence his later practice – different in form and created in a completely different political and artistic and institutional context. The point is not to know for sure what happened in the past and how the past can be depicted, but to know how to disrupt the order of things, infuse them with meaning and insert oneself there without becoming history’s hostage.

In many of his works, Grzegorz Klaman refers to the current changes to employment regulations, the erosion of the myth of Solidarity and alternative historical narratives. It deals with the effects of the Polish transformation, the pros and cons of modernization, economic exclusion and various ideas regarding the future of post-industrial regions.

In Solidarity Guerilla, the artist tells a story about a hypothetical anarchist quasi-terrorist organization that could arise in Silesia as a result of a rebellion against the methods of privatization of large industry, restructuring and closing down mines, and finally the way in which the entire area – workplaces and post-industrial cities – was destroyed. Klaman creates a vision of a revolt that might arise in the coming years. He derived his idea from observing current events in Silesia, supported by the memory of the experiences of Great Britain, where, as a result of Margaret Thatcher's actions in 1985, nearly two hundred and thirty thousand miners lost their jobs, one hundred and sixty coal mines were closed down, and the rest were privatized.

In many of his works, Grzegorz Klaman refers to the current changes to employment regulations, the erosion of the myth of Solidarity and alternative historical narratives. It deals with the effects of the Polish transformation, the pros and cons of modernization, economic exclusion and various ideas regarding the future of post-industrial regions.

In Solidarity Guerilla, the artist tells a story about a hypothetical anarchist quasi-terrorist organization that could arise in Silesia as a result of a rebellion against the methods of privatization of large industry, restructuring and closing down mines, and finally the way in which the entire area – workplaces and post-industrial cities – was destroyed. Klaman creates a vision of a revolt that might arise in the coming years. He derived his idea from observing current events in Silesia, supported by the memory of the experiences of Great Britain, where, as a result of Margaret Thatcher's actions in 1985, nearly two hundred and thirty thousand miners lost their jobs, one hundred and sixty coal mines were closed down, and the rest were privatized.

Line of Fire is a work that – alongside Burying Books and his activities on the city’s modern-day fortifications – clearly indicates Klaman’s fascination with land art. It is motivated by the need to react to the abandoned, but architecturally and historically valuable spaces in Gdańsk and stems from the act of discovering new, non-institutional spaces for art, testing the limits of what is possible in the absence of conditions for unrestricted action within the public space.

Klaman’s explorations sought to address the question of space in a way that would go beyond the dominant environmental aesthetics of the time. The northern part of Granary Island, today built up with residential buildings and hotels, was a gaping wound since the end of WWII, and the dramatic remains of the burnt granaries provided the backdrop to Klaman’s activities. The latter, not unlike projects carried out together with Kazimierz Kowalczyk on the modern-day fortifications in Gdańsk (drawings in the snow, drawings made of planks), were unlike anything else created in Poland at that time.

The work was created on Granary Island located on the Motława River, in the centre of Gdańsk, where in the second half of the 1980s and the first years of the following decade, Klaman ran the open-air Wyspa Gallery. Man Carrying a Turtle is the last in a series of figurative wooden sculptures made by the artist in 1985–1989. These sculptures, sometimes embedded directly on the Island in the ruins of former granaries, were a form of intervention in the neglected and forgotten part of the city. Such interventions were characteristic of Klaman’s work in the 1980s. The historical context in which they were created influenced their brutal aesthetics, reminiscent of skinning the body. Klaman’s new-expressionist sculptures symbolically reflect the position of an individual confronting martial law, which dramatic events were felt particularly strong in Gdańsk.

Simple Traces is a large muslin fabric dyed using the shibori technique. Królikiewicz builds upon this traditional method by adding metal moulds and tools that – when wet – share their rust with the muslin. These rigid objects with strong, linear edges were taken from the dilapidating shipyard in Gdańsk – a space that embodies the memories of labour, political

events and economic objectives. It is a kind of portrait in which the energy of departure spills over the last existing traces.

The Notebook is an artistic book complementing the dyed fabric, showing the process of creating the work and revealing its conceptual and material history.

Simple Traces together with the accompanying notebook is a work full of internal contradictions. It was given its form by angular objects, and yet it is soft. It fits in a small box, and yet, when unfolded, it can fill an entire room. The work is abstract, and yet can be treated as a portrait. When hung up, like a map of mysterious, never visited territories, it surprises its viewer with its organic forms. 

Simple Traces is a large muslin fabric dyed using the shibori technique. Królikiewicz builds upon this traditional method by adding metal moulds and tools that – when wet – share their rust with the muslin. These rigid objects with strong, linear edges were taken from the dilapidating shipyard in Gdańsk – a space that embodies the memories of labour, political

events and economic objectives. It is a kind of portrait in which the energy of departure spills over the last existing traces.

The Notebook is an artistic book complementing the dyed fabric, showing the process of creating the work and revealing its conceptual and material history.

Simple Traces together with the accompanying notebook is a work full of internal contradictions. It was given its form by angular objects, and yet it is soft. It fits in a small box, and yet, when unfolded, it can fill an entire room. The work is abstract, and yet can be treated as a portrait. When hung up, like a map of mysterious, never visited territories, it surprises its viewer with its organic forms. 

Feminist painting is born from the sweeping movements of the broom, everyday ordinariness, in the space of an empty studio. In this conceptual photography, there is a large dose of staging and stage-like performance. Because the camera was placed below eyesight, we – the viewers looking at the photographs – get the impression of sitting in the front row, right next to the author, as if she was creating her abstract composition just for us. This perspective also evokes the point of view of a small child, and perhaps the artist's son, who appears here for the first time, on the other side of the camera, observing his mother-artist at work.

Malarstwo feministyczne is one of Kutera’s early works, in which the question of the relationship between art and life comes to the fore as an indication of themes appearing in subsequent series, such as Sytuacje stymulowane [Stimulated Situations] (1975-1989) that explore the role and impact of coincidence, circumstances, and staged and real events for the social reception of art.

The view is more beautiful from above is a recording of a performance realized in real time. Martin balances on the edge, the borderline state between life and death, and subjects the viewer to the torture of fearing for her life. The piece was created while Martin reflected on theories of being. The artist rejects the idea of a world order based on an organized system – for example a religious system, which she sees as obsolete and empty – in favour of developing her own world view – a closer consideration of nature and its rules, questioning the primacy of man and testing to what extent she is the agent of her own fate.

Balconies is a recording of a performance created among high-rise residential buildings in various parts of Gdańsk. The artist has personal connections with these places; they define her identity and conjure up strong emotions. The artist’s gesture of risking her life is like hiding from the family that has remained behind closed doors, a form of a definitive solution. She resembles the falling Icarus in a painting attributed to Pieter Brueghel, disappearing unnoticed among the chaos of everyday life.

The social and political moods of the second half of the 1980s were a point of reference and inspiration for attempts to establish and find one’s place within the existing reality. The activities of Totart provided a sharp commentary on the atmosphere in the Polish People’s Republic at the time. Happenings in uniform constituted, according to their authors, a kind of mockery of the strategies promoted by the authorities, which aimed at unifying and uniforming all public services, such as the militia, fire brigades or forest guards.

The group’s activities were usually collective in nature, as evidenced by sztrajfy – the painted fabrics, collectively prepared by Totart members, often spontaneously during public performances.

The social and political moods of the second half of the 1980s were a point of reference and inspiration for attempts to establish and find one’s place within the existing reality. The activities of Totart provided a sharp commentary on the atmosphere in the Polish People’s Republic at the time. Happenings in uniform constituted, according to their authors, a kind of mockery of the strategies promoted by the authorities, which aimed at unifying and uniforming all public services, such as the militia, fire brigades or forest guards.

The group’s activities were usually collective in nature, as evidenced by sztrajfy – the painted fabrics, collectively prepared by Totart members, often spontaneously during public performances.