The Wild West. A History of Wroclaw’s Avant-Garde / Labor Relations. From the International Contemporary Art Collection of Wroclaw Contemporary Museum

The Wild West. A History of Wroclaw’s Avant-Garde

Private view: June 16, 8pm

Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb
Avenija Dubrovnik 17
1000 Zagreb
Croatia
 

Wroclaw (Poland) — a city in the “Recovered Territories,” which before the Second World War had nearly one million inhabitants, for decades could not be rebuilt after being destroyed in the Siege of Breslau. Out in these fascinating wild fields situated at the edge of a communist country where various cultures met, in a spirit of freedom and independence, artists have created their own original microcosm with bold experiments and international cooperation with partners from both sides of the Iron Curtain at its heart. The exhibition presents works of art, films, documentary photographs, objets d’art, and recordings—nearly 500 works of visual arts, architecture, urbanism, theatre, film, design, and everyday life of Wroclaw since the 1960s until the present.

The exhibition organized by Wroclaw Contemporary Museum held as a part of the European Capital of Culture Wroclaw 2016 programme has been already shown at: Zachęta — National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland (June 19–September 13, 2015), Kunsthalle/Hala umenia, Košice, Slovakia (October 6–November 15, 2015), and Kunstmuseum Bochum, Germany (March 5–May 8, 2016). After presentation in Zagreb the exhibition goes to Ludwig Múzeum, Budapest, Hungary (September 29–November 27, 2016).

Exhibition commissioner: Dorota Monkiewicz, Head of Wroclaw Contemporary Museum
Exhibition arrangement: Robert Rumas
Curators: Michał Duda, Anka Herbut, Anna Mituś, Paweł Piotrowicz, Adriana Prodeus, Sylwia Serafinowicz, Piotr Stasiowski

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Labor Relations. From the International Contemporary Art Collection of Wroclaw Contemporary Museum

Private view: June 10, 7 pm

Wroclaw Contemporary Museum
Pl. Strzegomski 2a
53-681 Wroclaw
Poland
 

Artists:
Pilar Albarracín, Ed Atkins, Ewa Axelrad, Johanna Billing, Monica Bonvicini, Krystian “Truth” Czaplicki, Jeremy Deller, VALIE EXPORT, Carlos Garaicoa, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Igor Grubić, Ryszard Grzyb, Binelde Hyrcan, Dominik Jałowiński, Zuzanna Janin, Magdalena Jetelová, Laurie Kang, Anna K.E., Jürgen Klauke, Eva Kotátková, Alicja Kwade, Dominik Lang, Klara Lidén, Little Warsaw, Natalia LL, Annette Messager, Anna Molska, Carlos Motta, Deimantas Narkevičius, Antonio Paucar, Joanna Rajkowska, Mika Rottenberg, Gregor Różański, Eran Schaerf, Allan Sekula, Shikeith, Yinka Shonibare, Piotr Skiba, Goran Škofić, Slavs and Tatars, Tatiana Trouvé, Krzysztof Wałaszek, Piotr Wysocki

The first presentation of the international collection of contemporary art that has been built up at Wroclaw Contemporary Museum since 2011 addresses the issue of today’s “labor relations.” The phrase refers to the relations between the employer and the employee whose current dynamics is determined by the very same processes that influence the global markets: colonialism, industrialisation and capitalism. They also shape the political landscape, migrant destinations, and the state of the body and the mind.

The sociopolitical profile of the exhibition makes a reference to Jerzy Ludwiński’s idea. In his 1966 text Museum of Current Art, he called for the creation of a museum that would act as a gentle seismograph and catalyst for detecting changes in the field of art. He viewed this field as part of the world around it, including the heavy industry that sponsored many symposia and exhibitions.

The illumination of the exhibition also refers to the industrial heritage. Made in cooperation with Seva Granik, it alludes to raves—illegal dance parties that were held in abandoned factories in Europe and the USA in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Curator:
Sylwia Serafinowicz

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