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9 February 2010

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Marek Chlanda
languages: Polish  / English 
 

"Hasta la muerte" - Foksal Gallery 1996
photo. Jacek Gładykowski
courtesy of artist and Foksal Gallery
Draftsman, graphic artist, installations artist, performance artist. Born November 12, 1954, in Krakow; resides in Krakow.

Chlanda studied in the Graphic Arts Department of the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow, graduating from the school in 1978. He went on to teach at his alma mater (1980-1982) and subsequently pursued an experiment referred to as the traveling academy (1983-1984) with students from the university in Bergen (Norway). He also lectured for a time at the branch of the University of Silesia located in the border city of Cieszyn (1986-1988).

He debuted in the mid 1970s as a draftsman. From the very beginning of his creative career, Chlanda explored the concept of process, combining his drawings with art forms like performance, concerts, extensive documentation. A second distinguishing feature of his art was his inclusion of variegated objects in his works on paper. These ranged from pieces of fur, through wooden blocks and strips, to segments of rope, and the like. These experiments eventually prompted him to create installations. One of his first works of this type was "Epifania / Epiphany", created for the Young Artists' Biennale in Paris in 1980. In the 1980s the artist gradually abandoned his beginnings as a draftsman on one hand and action artist on the other, focusing instead on sculpture and on organizing space using a series of signifying elements. For these installations he used
"The Vistula Codex" - fragment of the exhibition in Foksal Gallery 2003
photo. Jacek Gładykowski
courtesy of artist and Foksal Gallery
natural materials like unfinished wood, wax, tar products, iron and the like. His objects were distinguishable for their specific structure: consisting of multiple elements, Chlanda usually spread these across floors or arranged them as crawling pieces, leaning against walls as staircases might. Both their arrangement and in their titles seemed to invite references to literary tradition, history and mythology; however, the works never crossed the line into literal reference. In his series of "kompozycje analogowe" / "analogue compositions" dating from the 1990s, he focused on inter-personal relationships, doing so in the mysterious and allusive manner that was so characteristic of him.

The artist has been exhibiting actively since 1974. He has had several dozen individual presentations, among them an exhibition at the Muzeum Sztuki (Museum of Art) in Lodz in 1985 and the exhibition Miejsca rzeźby. Beuys, Chlanda, Rabinowitch / Places of Sculpture - Beuys, Chlanda, Rabinowitch, at the Muzeum ASP (Museum of the Academy of Fine Arts) in Warsaw in 1988. Chlanda has additionally participated in a vast number of group exhibitions. He is also a recipient of the Nowosielski Foundation Prize.

Selected exhibitions:
  • 1980, 1982 - 12th and 13th Young Artists' Biennale, Paris
  • 1982 - 12th Biennale of Sydney
  • 1988 - "Polish Realities," Glasgow
  • 1991 - "Positionen Polen," Berlin
  • 1992/93 - "Nowoczesna rzeźba polska 1955-1992 / Modern Polish Sculpture 1955-1992", Center for Polish Sculpture, Oronsko 1992/93
  • 1994-1995 - "Rysa w przestrzeni / A Rift in Space", Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin; "Zachęta" National Contemporary Art Gallery, Warsaw
  • 1994 - 22nd Biennale of Art, Sao Paulo
  • 1997 - "Art from Poland 1945-1996," Budapest

Author: Maryla Sitkowska, Museum of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, June 2002.

"Hasta la muerte" - Foksal Gallery 1996
photo. Jacek Gładykowski
courtesy of artist and Foksal Gallery
"The Vistula Codex" - fragment of the exhibition in Foksal Gallery 2003
photo. Jacek Gładykowski
courtesy of artist and Foksal Gallery
"God's Memoirs (excerpts)" - fragment of the exhibition in Foksal Gallery 2004/2005
fot. Jacek Gładykowski
courtesy of artist and Foksal Gallery
"Six Days" - fragment of the exhibition in Foksal Gallery 2006/2007
photo. Jacek Gładykowski
courtesy of artist and Foksal Gallery
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In honor of the Chopin Anniversary Year, 1st Chopin International Piano Competition in Hartford, Connecticut, will be held from February 20-21, 2010.
Tchaikovski Gala with Grzegorz Nowak as conductor - London, Cadogan Hall, February 18, 2010.
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