Glorya Kaufman Community Center at the Wende Museum
Muzeum Sztuki is delighted to celebrate the publication of the book The 1982 Cultural Exchange Between Łódź and Los Angeles by organising a discussion at the Wende Museum among its authors Dr. Karolina Łabowicz-Dymanus (Polish Academy of Sciences), David Crowley (National College of Art and Design, Dublin), and Patryk P. Tomaszewski (City University of New York).
The 1982 Cultural Exchange… honors fifty artists who donated their artworks in a transatlantic museum exchange. What this book describes as a “Polish–American exchange” was in fact the initiative of a group of Warsaw-based artists who wanted to establish contact with their counterparts abroad. The art scene in Poland of the early 1980s, which was a Soviet satellite country, had its limitations, to say the least, but there were still exceptional places and people making their mark. The enterprise was based on the idea that Polish artists would offer their artworks to the newly established Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles (MOCA), whereas artists based in the United States would send their work, in turn, to be exhibited as part of Muzeum Sztuki’s collection.
In 1982 the artworks were donated by: Stanisław Dróżdż, Zbigniew Gostomski, Lesław Janicki and Wacław Janicki, Zdzisław Jurkiewicz, Kōji Kamoji, Tadeusz Kantor, Edward Krasiński, Andrzej Łobodziński, Tomasz Osiński, Maria Stangret, Antoni Starczewski, Henryk Stażewski, Zygmunt Targowski, Ryszard Winiarski, Lita Albuquerque, Peter Alexander, Terry Allen, John Baldessari, Chris Burden, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Laddie John Dill, Peter Downsbrough, Frederick Eversley, Jud Fine, Robbert Flick, Sam Francis, Joe Goode, Dan Graham, Douglas Huebler, Richard Jackson, Barbara Kasten, Les Levine, Gary Lloyd, Jay McCafferty, Ed Moses, Eric Orr, Liga Pang, Helen Pashgian, David Rabinowitch, Susan Rankaitis, Joel Shapiro, Paul Sharits, Peter Shelton, Peter Shire, Alexis Smith, Keith Sonnier, Michael Todd, DeWain Valentine and Paul Vangelisti.
The 1982 Cultural Exchange Between Łódź and Los Angeles
Agnieszka Pindera, with Paweł Polit and Natalia Słaboń, editors
(Muzeum Sztuki, 2024)
448 pages, 75 color and 136 b&w images
ISBN 978-83-66696-43-3 (softcover)
ISBN 978-83-66696-44-0 (e-book)
Design: Ryszard Bienert
With contributions by: Agnieszka Pindera, Karolina Łabowicz-Dymanus, Patryk P. Tomaszewski, David Crowley, Christian Berger, Paweł Polit, Filip Lipiński, Małgorzata Jędrzejczyk, Michael Leja, Agnieszka Rejniak-Majewska, and Wojciech Szymański
The 1982 Cultural Exchange Between Łódź and Los Angeles publication is co-financed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland under the Inspiring Culture program, and has been carried out in cooperation with The Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles and the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Los Angeles.
The Muzeum Sztuki’s origins, dating back to the 1920s, would intertwine with the biographies of some of Poland’s most prominent artists (to include also celebrated international artists), and saw significant art donations in the 1930s, the 1980s and 2020s. The most recent gift of friendship was initiated this year to support the institution on its return to the international fold, following a period during which conservative policies were pursued.
This is the list of artists who are taking part in this new initiative of solidarity: Kateryna Badianova, Nairy Baghramian, Monica Bonvicini, Agnieszka Brzeżańska, Jasmina Cibic, Jakub Czyszczoń, Cian Dayrit, Goran Dordević, Cécile Dupaquier, Morgan Fisher, Liam Gillick, Veronika Hapchenko, Thomas Hirschhorn, Agata Ingarden, IRWIN, Zuzanna Janin, Eduardo Kac, Nikita Kadan, Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven, Hassan Khan, Jiri Kovanda, Paweł Kowalewski, Diana Lelonek, Ghislaine Leung, Marysia Lewandowska, Zbigniew Libera, Sharon Lockhart, Kateryna Lysovenko, Marcin Maciejowski, Antje Majewski, Dóra Maurer, Verena Melgarejo Weinandt, Metahaven, Hana Miletić, John Miller, Haroon Mirza, Deimantas Narkevičius, Katja Novitskova, Wendelien van Oldenborgh, Tanja Ostojić, Angelo Plessas, Florian Pumhösl, R.H. Quaytman, Karol Radziszewski, Mykola Ridnyi, Józef Robakowski, Willem de Rooij, Aura Rosenberg, Wilhelm Sasnal, Janek Simon, Łukasz Skąpski, Marek Sobczyk, Michael Stevenson, Hito Steyerl, Gabriele Stötzer, Katja Strunz, Nahum Tevet, Viktor Timofeev, Suzanne Treister, Mona Vatamanu & Florin Tudor, Anton Vidokle, James Welling, Samson Young, Katarina Zdjelar and Heimo Zobering
