The power of experimentation at the Archeology of Photography Foundation. A new exhibition of abstract photography To Kill White. Photography beyond realism
Archeology of Photography Foundation
20 Chlodna St., Warsaw
26.09-10.11.2024
The opening will take place on September 26 at 6 pm at 20 Chlodna Street in Warsaw. The exhibition will last until November 10, 2024. Opening hours: Mondays and Tuesdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Free admission.
Can photography reject figuration and free itself from the rigors of documentary recording? Exhibition Kill the whiteness. Photography beyond realism presents a turn to abstraction and emptiness in the experimental works of photographers Andrzej Georgiev, Mariusz Hermanowicz and Antoni Zdebiak, as well as the contemporary works of Dominika Sadowska. The exhibition, prepared especially for Warsaw Gallery Weekend, will open on September 26 at the Archeology of Photography Foundation.
Andrew Georgiev (1963-2016), Mariusz Hermanowicz (1950-2008) i Anthony Zdebiak (1951-1991) are photographers whose archives are in the care of the Archeology of Photography Foundation. Each of them sought new means of expression and challenged conventional approaches to photography. In the works presented at the exhibition Kill the whiteness. Photography beyond realism there is a fascinating game with emptiness, which its creators played both on a formal and symbolic level. Works from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s - some of which are being shown to the public for the first time - are juxtaposed with installations Dominika Sadowska (b. 1977), in which the artist explores the limits of abstraction and expands the concept of the photographic medium.
Exhibition Kill the white shows how photography can move away from recording reality, which has always seemed to be the essence of the medium. The works on display approach abstraction through a variety of methods: from surrealistic shifts of meaning to interventions in the very matter of the image. In addition, it will be possible to see what darkroom equipment looks like and how analog photography is created, and thus better understand the procedures through which the presented objects were created.
- Warsaw Gallery Weekend became a motivation to search for non-obvious works, enriching our knowledge of Andrzej Georgiev, Mariusz Hermanowicz and Antoni Zdebiak, says curator, Weronika Kobylinska. - Combined with the works of Dominika Sadowska, their work created a common space for reflection on photography beyond realism, she adds.
Andrew Georgiev is primarily known for his large-format portraits of recognized figures of Polish culture and the music scene. However, in the 1980s he experimented with abstract forms, and these lesser-known works are presented in the exhibition Kill the white. They balance painting and photography, including through artistic gestures, scratching the emulsion or drawing on the negatives.
Mariusz Hermanowicz In his early photographs from the 1960s, he depicted seemingly banal scenes that gained new, unobvious meanings through simple formal procedures. Unusual framing or the extraction of shadows and the very outlines of forms give the teenage Hermanowicz's photographs an unreal, disturbing character. The author's prints are presented to the public for the first time.
Antoni Zdebiak realized a performative action Track In 1975 in Lublin's Labyrinth Gallery. The floor was lined with rolls of photographic paper and the light was reduced to red darkroom light. Those entering the exhibit walked across doormats soaked in developer and left shoe prints on the spread light-sensitive material. When Zdebiak turned on a more intense light, prints and smudges appeared on the paper, creating an abstract composition. The performance was complemented by a sequence of photographs in which a stain of dark liquid gradually covered the white surface of the background. These and other actions by Zdebiak are recalled in the exhibition Kill the white. The key is their processuality, which, along with the blackness taking over the pictorial field, inspired the title of the exhibition at the Archaeology of Photography Foundation.
Dominika Sadowska explores the phenomenon of darkness and its representation in the form of blackness, challenging traditional concepts associated with the color. Instead of treating blackness as the absence of color, the artist sees it as the point at which art reaches its fullness. Using mirrored panes, Sadowska creates striking and mesmerizing objects by drawing reflections of the outside world into new, ambivalent spaces.
The exhibition is accompanied by an interesting program of events. There will be, among others: curatorial tour With Dr. Veronika Kobylinska (translated into PJM), interactive photo-quest game, which is a meeting using the potential of history and photographic technology for gamification, where each round will be interspersed with short demonstrations of photographic objects and equipment and workshop on conscious listening technique during which the history of sound walks will be presented, followed by a joint exploration of the sonic space of the Archeology of Photography Foundation's neighborhood.
The exhibition space will also feature performance by Maciej Tomaszewski, realized with the support of the ING Polish Art Foundation. The artist will invite the question of when an act of destruction becomes an act of creation and whether, in an era of overproduction of goods, destruction becomes a meaningful tool for commenting on modernity.
Exhibition Kill the whiteness. Photography beyond realism is presented as part of Warsaw Gallery Weekend. It is the largest festival of contemporary art in Central and Eastern Europe. This year's 14th edition will present 43 exhibitions in 37 galleries in Warsaw.
Archeology of Photography Foundation is engaged in the development and preservation of the archives of Polish male and female photographers. It was established in 2008 and currently takes care of the archives of more than a dozen male and female artists, which undergo comprehensive work: organizing, digitizing and making them available online. More than 87,000 records are available free of charge in the Virtual Museum of Photography. FAF runs a gallery, research projects, organizes exhibitions, workshops and lectures, and publishes albums and books on the theory and history of photography.