EXHIBITION WITHIN THE ARTIST RESIDENCE / PAWEŁ ALTHAMER & ARTUR ŻMIJEWSKI

Meeting with artists
PAWEŁ ALTHAMER & ARTUR ŻMIJEWSKI
within the artist residence
Project curator: Adam Mazur

3 October, 2018 / 6 p.m.
Centre for Creative Activities / ul. Gen. Zaruskiego 1a /Ustka

 

Exhibition / Collages
within the artist residence
10.10 – 4.11.2018
Centre for Creative Activities / ul. Gen. Zaruskiego 1a /Ustka

Documentation
PAWEŁ ALTHAMER I ARTUR ŻMIJEWSKI

 

“We sit at the table to paint, draw and glue things. We start at around 11 and finish after midnight. We show our work immediately, then hang it to dry. Same thing for 10 days. We draw inspiration from illustrations found in books and albums, we cut them out, and include them in our composition. That’s why we call it Collages,”say the artists describing the suggested activity and exhibition. The project run by Paweł Althamer and Artur Żmijewski in the Centre for Creative Activities in Ustka has become a tradition. It involves joint trips and joint work. During their residence in Japan, the artists started using delicate graphic papers, mascara and stamps. At some point, they all began to read poems by dead poets including Bukowski, Miłosz, Kawafis, Staff, Celan, Grochowiak and Wojaczek. After years of struggle for the freedom of critical expression, the artists continue to surprise critics and audiences alike. The works are small in size, and require concentration, sensitivity and the ability to penetrate the context. Politics gives way to poetry, teaching makes room for contemplation, at least for the duration of the exhibition.

 

Paweł Althamer and Artur Żmijewski are a couple of leading contemporary artists. Born in the 1960s, they both debuted in the ’90s. Both sculptors by training, they don’t shy away from video art, photography, drawing, painting and, of course, spatial art. In spite of different temperaments and styles, Althamer and Żmijewski have stuck to each other since their university years when they studied under Grzegorz Kowalski. And when they work together on a joint project, which happens from time to time, they never give up on their individuality. Few people know it, but this is an important experience for both of them.

Adam Mazur – art historian, curator, lecturer at the University of Arts in Poznań.