The Splendour of Textiles
Until 19 May 2013
Performance by Joanna Malinowska and Christian Tomaszewski
Mother Earth Sister Moon
5 April, 7pm
Zachęta National Gallery of Art
pl. Małachowskiego 3
00-916 Warsaw
T (48 22) 556 96 01
The exhibition The Splendour of Textiles presents artistic textiles in the wider context of contemporary art and focuses the attention of viewers on a field of creative work that in recent decades has lain outside the principal zones of interest of leading exhibition institutions. Both the splendour of the title, associated with brilliance, richness and power, and the presentation in a national gallery of art have the goal of returning textiles to their rightful place in the orbits of contemporary art.
With a few exceptions, the exhibition focuses on the works of Polish artists made from the second half of the 1940s up until the present. The art of textiles is considered both from the perspective of the newest artistic practices, as well as in a historical context, as for example in the case of the “Polish textile school.” The project shows the conceptual and communicational potential of the medium, able to convey clear historical, propaganda, critical, religious and patriotic messages.
At the exhibition are interwoven both works which use classic textile techniques and those that make use of fabrics, as well as contemporary works which are not textiles but in which is present a “thinking” in terms of weave or pattern, a visible interest on the part of artists for the materiality of fabrics or other features typical of textiles. The presentation puts a strong emphasis on a recognition and respect for the value and artistic quality of individual objects, for the manual capabilities of artists, and for the diversity of their techniques and methods of work. Another very important aspect is to attempt to inscribe textiles in the so-called new craft movements, which are very clearly marking their presence in contemporary art.
The large-scale installation by Malinowska and Tomaszewski, modeled on Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova’s spacesuit, alludes to the Cold War-era space race between the East and West, while also evoking Niki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely’s 1966 sculpture installation, Hon-en-katedral, at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm. A dynamic fashion show inspired by Soviet cosmonautics and science-fiction cinema is an attempt to test the limits of space-time and defy gravity. The installation and fashion show utilise special choreography, make-up, sound, set design and costumes. This will be the third and final installment of the duo’s work, which premiered at Performa 09 in New York in 2009 and then at Nottingham Contemporary in 2010.
Artists: Magdalena Abakanowicz, Dorota Banaszek, Alicja Bednarczuk, Alicja Bielawska, Emilia Bohdziewicz, Tadeusz Brzozowski, Anna Buczkowska, Maria Bujakowa, Zofia Butrymowicz, Maria Chojnacka, Sarah Crowner, Włodzimierz Cygan, Tadeusz Dominik, Monika Drożyńska, Barbara Falkowska, Jarosław Fliciński, Irena Frączek, Kazimiera Frymark-Błaszczyk, Stefan Gałkowski, Zdzisław Głowacki, Zbigniew Gostomski, Aneta Grzeszykowska, Alicja Gutkowska, Juliusz Hebanowski, Monika Janucka, Maria Jarema, Olimpia Jaroszewicz, Ewa Jaroszyńska, Katarzyna Józefowicz, Łucja Jóźwiak, Jadwiga Juczyńska-Górny, Tadeusz Kantor, Ada Kierzkowska, Alicja Kochanowska, Marta Kodym, Piotr Koltlicki, Krystyna Kosiorek, Honorata Kozłowska, Delfina Krasicka, Aleksander Kromer, Teresa Kruk Bobrowska, Filomena Krupowicz, Barbara Kubik, Zofia Kulik, Lila Kulka, Kobas Laksa, Ewa Latkowska-Żychska, Barbara Levittoux-Świderska, Helena Malewicka, Felicja Malewicka, Joanna Malinowska, Izabela Marcjan, Zofia Matuszczyk-Cygańska, Jadwiga Maziarska, Krystyna Mieszkowska-Dalecka, Teresa Murak, Anna Nawrot, Marzena Nowak, Franciszek Orłowski, Jolanta Owidzka, Beata Palikot-Borowska, Danuta Paprowicz-Michno, Monika Piwowarska, Urszula Plewka-Schmidt, Eleonora Plutyńska, Stefan Popławski, Ewa Poradowska-Werszler, Mariola Przyjemska, Teresa Pryzmont, Danuta Radulska, Józef Robakowski, Jolanta Rudzka-Habisiak, Izabela Rybacka, Franciszka Rybko, Leon Rzepa, Wojciech Sadley, Jadwiga Sawicka, Jan Simon, Cecylia Siółkowska, Maria Słomkowska, Jan Smaga, Kajetan Sosnowski, Marek Stabrowski, Antoni Starczewski, Marian Strzelecki, Władysław Strzemiński, Adela Szwaja, Mieczysław Szymański, Anna Śledziewska, Jerzy Święć, Leon Tarasewicz, Christian Tomaszewski, Bolesław Tomaszkiewicz, Janina Trawińska, Bolesław Utkin, Józefa Wnukowa, Krystyna Wojtyna-Drouet, Olga Wolniak, and Julita Wójcik.
Curator: Michal Jachula
Collaboration: Katarzyna Kolodziej
Projects by Leon Tarasewicz and Marzena Nowak produced by Agnella Rugs & Carpets Factory.
Project Mother Earth Sister Moon was originally realized as a Performa Commission produced in association with the Polish Cultural Institute in New York and Open Art Projects.
For images and press information please contact Olga Gawerska: press [at] zacheta.art.pl.
