https://doi.org/10.52652/e.4.23.2The text attempts to diagnose the hierarchical relations regulating visibility within visual arts institutions. Despite processes that increase the declarative inclusivity of art institutions, referred to by the author as the Global Museum, the reality of art circulation remains conditioned by relations to hegemonic entities. Using the concept of ideological apparatuses of the state, the author treats the institutional circulation of art as a complex, historically and socially conditioned system. Presenting the topic in a historical context allows for a better understanding of the processes shaping the division between centre and periphery within the globalised art world. The article also asks the question about possible scenarios to move beyond the closed circuit of hierarchical relationships which regulate who, within the institutional framework, becomes visible and who will remain marginalised.
https://doi.org/10.52652/e.4.23.3The article addresses issues related to the interesting phenomenon of two overlapping artistic interpretations present in information books for children and young people. The first one is the primary interpretation, resulting from one’s own sensitivity, applied by artists in their creative processes, the final result of which is the creation of works of art. The second interpretation consists in the processing of these works by an illustrator. The effects of the latter co‑create the graphic layer of books dealing with contemporary art, both Polish and foreign, intended for non‑adults. The author of the article looked at five examples from the Polish publishing market. These are: Zachęta do sztuki. Sztuka współczesna dla dzieci Zofii Dubowskiej‑Grynberg, with the graphic design by Natka Luniak (2008) and Kto to jest artysta? by Zofia Dubowska and Jan Bajtlik (2013), S.Z.T.U.K.A.Szalenie Zajmujące Twory Utalentowanych i Krnąbrnych Artystów with a text by Sebastian Cichocki, illustrated by Aleksandra and Daniel Mizieliński (2011), Bałwan w lodówce written by Łukasz Gorczyca and illustrated by Krzysztof Gawronkiewicz (2017) and Ewa Solarz’s Wszystko widzę jako sztukę illustrated by Robert Czajka (2018). The graphic unification, applied in these books, brought forth the effect of distillation, which in turn allowed extraction of the most important features of the strategies chosen by contemporary artists presented in the discussed publications.
https://doi.org/10.52652/e.4.23.4The article is an attempt to diagnose the current status of street art and graffiti. It strives to describe the processes of evolution of the phenomenon and the moment of the emergence of urban art which, as the currently most popular name of the trend, paved its way to the world of contemporary art. The article introduces several original definitions for the discussed phenomena and attempts to name and structure the factors occurring at the intersection of art, politics and cultural policy. In addition, it points out two symptomatic phenomena which are an important context for the development of street art: its commercialisation and management of legal disputes over the use of works that function in urban space.
https://doi.org/10.52652/e.4.23.5On the face of it, art inspired by beliefs is in constant decline. Curiously, however, metaphysical motifs continue to emerge in many contemporary artistic movements. In the Polish circumstances, we are able to recognise artists who, having adopted attitudes critical of tradition, go on to define the sphere of the sacred in their own post-Christian way. There is also a significant milieu of artists positively disposed towards Christianity, who either accept the dual nature of reality or, recognising the existence of metaphysical longings in man, explore the various ways of satisfying them. Artists who declare their commitment to Christian values are supported by a number of institutions of culture, a group of art critics, and some editorial boards of sector media. Initiatives are undertaken aimed at consolidating this community and taking advantage of the potential represented by the institutions of culture and associations linked to religious institutions.
https://doi.org/10.52652/e.4.23.7The paper presents selected issues in mathematics and algorithmics as an illustration for understanding the social changes occurring as a result of to the emergence of the medium of communication and expression: the Internet. The main themes of the paper touch on the formal definition of dimension, distance and neighbourhood, however, their development relates to themes such as the mystery of cognition, blurring in space, survival strategies, loneliness and the associated curse – more contact can paradoxically mean more silence in response to the call of the network. The text refers to literature, from E. Abbott’s 1884 science fiction text to L. Scott’s publication on contemporary social issues, as well as the strategy present in the Game of Life – a cellular automaton that simulates an individual’s survival depending on the number of neighbours – and practical issues such as web positioning and publishing news on social networks.
https://doi.org/10.52652/e.4.23.8This article is a reflection on the critical and curatorial activities of Jerzy Ludwiński, one of the leading animators of artistic life in Poland in the decades of the 1960s and 1970s. The reflections focus on the critic’s activities, which were in opposition to the official standards of Polish artistic culture at the time: directed towards a model of action that was on the move, geared towards lively debate, active participation and constant change. Ludwiński, interested in artists who bring in new, original values, was at the same time fascinated by the disintegration of hierarchies, canons of all structures in art. He was particularly involved in the construction of experimental institutional models, but also in the symposium and plenary movement, in which he saw the idea of a mobile artistic centre as a place for artistic manifestation as well as confrontation and dispute between artists and theorists. It was in these spaces of activity, based on ephemerality, aiming to decentralise the field of art and artistic confrontation, that Ludwiński emerged most fully with his theories, passions, preferences or artistic choices.
https://doi.org/10.52652/e.4.23.9The aim of the article is to analyse critical texts devoted to the works of Jerzy Duda-Gracz. I present the current state of research on his painting; I show the changes in the assessment of the Silesian artist’s achievements in subsequent decades, from his debut in the early 1970s to 2004 (the artist’s death). I quote enthusiastic opinions of critics about his work, which prevailed in the 1970s, through Duda-Gracz’s ambivalently perceived relations with General Wojciech Jaruzelski’s regime in the 1980s, to finish with the label of an arte polo hero, attributed to him by a group of critics gathered around ‘Raster’ magazine in the 1990s. I try to diagnose the decline in popularity of this artist, pointing to the combination of various factors: political, social, generational, and artistic. Finally, I reflect on the discrepancy in the assessment of his painting today; from recognised critics’ unfavourable opinions, to the still unflagging popularity and demand for his works among a wide range of people interested in contemporary art.
https://doi.org/10.52652/e.4.23.10Honza Zamojski’s artistic practice is truly transdisciplinary: it encompasses drawing, installation, graphic design and curating, in addition to the activity of a publisher and university lecturer. For its interpretation, I propose the notion of artistic monadology as a way of creating worlds, containing further worlds. The aim of Zamojski’s work is to confront what can be called the unsocialisation of reality and the art world in particular. I refer to the set of strategies the artist employs to achieve this goal as the infrapolitics of humoresque.
