THE GALERIA STUDIO COLLECTION IN WARSAW
05.02 – 18.04.2021
Curators: Natalia Andrzejewska, Dorota Jarecka, Paulina Olszewska
Exhibition Design: Magdalena Bałycz
Book Design: Jan Diehl-Michałowski (Deal Studio)
Photographs of works from the Galeria Studio Collection: Błażej Pindor
Photo: Błażej Pindor
When Józef Szajna became director of Teatr Studio in 1972, he established an art gallery there and acquired the first works for the collection. Today the Galeria Studio collection comprises around a thousand works by Polish and international artists. It is evidence of the unusual artistic policy of the place and its innovative thinking about cultural institutions.
Galeria Studio, thanks to a special grant from the City of Warsaw, has been undergoing major redevelopment since 2018. In the initial stage the art collection was reorganised, conservation work was done, new storage spaces were rented, and conservation equipment was purchased. In the next stage we will digitise the collection and scientifically systematise both the collection and the archives. This exhibition is a summary of the first stage of the collection care programme.
In the lower space of the gallery, we present a collection of paintings. The method of display refers to the space of a museum storeroom. There are, among others, works by Tomasz Ciecierski, Edward Dwurnik, Wojciech Fangor, Koji Kamoji, Łukasz Korolkiewicz, Alfred Lenica, Jadwiga Maziarska, Erna Rosenstein and Henryk Stażewski. The upper gallery space tells the story of Galeria Studio. We present works on paper, materials from the archive, and photographic documentation of exhibitions by artists such as Mario Merz, Sol LeWitt, Krystyna Piotrowska, Ryszard Winiarski, Zdzisław Sosnowski and Grupa Od Nowa. Moreover, Roman Signer has agreed to make films from his solo exhibition at the gallery in 1981 available, and provided us with a special recording of his memories on the Warsaw show. Historical posters show the richness and dynamic multi-directionality of the programme then. The exhibition is accompanied by the major publication 48: The Galeria Studio Collection in Warsaw.