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Jan Dziaczkowski. True and Untrue Stories

Jan Dziaczkowski. True and Untrue Stories
Zachęta — National Gallery of Art
Opening: 16 October, 7 pm

The exhibition is the first monographic presentation of the work of Jan Dziaczkowski, demonstrating the full extent of its artistic scope. Dziaczkowski is known to a wider public first and foremost as the author of collages presented at numerous exhibitions in Poland and overseas. Less well known are the remaining areas of his work that encompass painting, drawings and photography, part of which have never yet been exhibited.

In his collages, Dziaczkowski achieved a level of sensitivity to the materiality of paper and image, as well as a technical perfection which, in combination with the quantity of the series he realised, create the impression of being in the presence of a classic of this type of art. The themes that Dziaczkowski dealt with evolved from classic artistic motifs (the series 20th-Century Polish Art and Holiday Greetings), through the numerous architectural themes in his work (the series Keine Grenze) to projects engaging in reflection on his native city (the series Mountains for Warsaw, in which the nation’s capital is surrounded by a mountain range, whereby along with the geographical changes come a series of cultural changes which are humorously illustrated by the artist). A somewhat specific, but at the same time very popular series of collages is that entitled Japanese Monster Movies which Dziaczkowski used to create an alternative reality governed by its own rules.

At the exhibition will also be presented the series 10 Places Worth Visiting initially prepared in collaboration with the club-café Chłodna 25, where it was presented in the form of a changing exhibition in a lightbox arranged in the space of the club. Of the planned 10 places, the author realised 6 which are shown for the first time in a full arrangement at the exhibition in Zachęta.

The second part of the exhibition encompasses less known works by the artist, above all painting and photography which also convey Dziaczkowski’s characteristic montage way of seeing and presenting reality, even though they deal with quite different themes. In comparison to the collages, here one can detect a more serious and personal approach, a turning to those closest to him, to his friends and family histories mixed with icons of pop-culture or myths from road movies. A special place here is occupied by works in the series Return to Nigeria, the place where Dziaczkowski’s grandfather lived and worked. An additional component of the exhibition is photographic documentation of the artist’s studio on Inżynierska Street made by Jan Smaga after Dziaczkowski’s death, which will be shown for the first time in Zachęta.

 

Jan Dziaczkowski. True and Untrue Stories
Zachęta — National Gallery of Art
16 October – 22 November 2015

Curator: Karol Hordziej
Consultation: Aleksandra Dziaczkowska
Cooperation on behalf of Zachęta: Katarzyna Kołodziej
Graphic designer: Pilar Rojo
Exhibition partner: Foundation for Visual Arts