Exhibitions & Events

Andrzej Wróblewski (1927-1957) In the First Person
Collateral Event of the 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia
 April 20^th–  November 24^th, 2024
Procuratie Vecchie, Piazza San Marco 139 – 153/A 30124 Venice
Starak Family Foundation
curator: Ania Muszyńska

 

            Anna and Jerzy Starak own one of the largest and most important private postwar art collections in Poland. For over 15 years, as patrons, they have been actively supporting cultural institutions and significant events. For over 10 years, as part of the activities of the Spectra Art Space of the Starak Family Foundation, they have been promoting exhibition programs at the Foundation's headquarters in Warsaw, at 6 Bobrowiecka Street. Since 2017, the Starak Family Foundation has regularly organized exhibitions of Polish art within the International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. The exhibition of Andrzej Wróblewski will be the fourth exhibition of Polish art resulting from the efforts of the Starak Family Foundation in Venice and the third one, after the individual exhibitions of Ryszard Winiarski in 2017 and Ewa Kuryluk in 2022, to become an official Collateral Event of the Biennale Arte 2024. The exhibition will be presented from April 20th to November 24th, 2024 in the historical and higly prestigious venue of the Procuratie Vecchie in St. Mark's Square, in the heart of Venice.

          Andrzej Wróblewski (1927-1957) In the First Person is a monographic exhibition of Andrzej Wróblewski, one of the most important Polish painters of the second half of the XX century who was born in 1927 and died prematurely before he turned 30. His personal experience included the extreme hardships of war, the death of loved ones, brutality, extermination of the excluded, as well as the post-war conflagration, displacement, estrangement, and a sense of loss. Persistently wandering on the border of life and art, Wróblewski certainly escapes easy definitions and categories. His work, though historically complete, remains timely and, generation after generation, many young artists have become his heirs. They see in him not just a classic, but a genuine and symbolic patron; they see him as their contemporary in his twenties, full of rebellion, courage and emotions. Wróblewski became a challenge, having set an example not only as an artist but also as a man. He represented modern painting of a realistic ascendant, the new formula of which easily carried the burden of the abstract and ambiguous content while it’s form never lacked respect for the achievements of the avantgarde. He was keen on the discipline of figuration and gave strength and importance to each person and object. He left behind a courageous, revolutionary and bold legacy, including undeniable monuments of Polish contemporary art represented by series such as “Executions”, “Chauffeurs”,”Queues”, “Chaired”, “Tombstones”. Together they constitute a nearly monumental image of an artist overtaken by post-catastrophic and dystopic visions; the apologist of the light blue dead, whom he would soon be joining, full of doubts, explorations, defeats and resurrections.

Andrzej Wajda (1926-2016), the eminent Polish film director and Wróblewski’s friend considered him the most outstanding artist of their generation and frequently paid tribute to Wróblewski’s genius in his films.

The exhibition “In the First Person” tells the story of art in times of captivity, of being on the leash and hobbled by orders. It’s a dialogue with contemporaries on the price and consequences of one’s choices. It’s a lesson of art suspended between abstraction and figuration.  It’s a story of an outsider, an outlaw, who aimed for unrestricted creative freedom. It’s a young artist’s postmortem cry for courage, intransigence and social responsibility.

It shall be the second presentation of Andrzej Wróblewski’s work in Venice. The first was the collective exhibition „Mostra di Pittura Polacca Contemporanea” in Sala Napoleonica (now part of Museo Correr) in St. Mark’s Square in 1959 curated by the eminent Polish art historian and curator Ryszard Stanisławski (1921-2000) and the Venetian art historian and critic Guido Perocco (1916-1997)

            As emphasized by Elżbieta Dzikowska, the President of the Starak Family Foundation: „We hope that the exhibition in Venice, in the very heart of it in St. Mark’s square, visited yearly by about thirty million people, will open new ways of understanding the extraordinary work of Andrzej Wroblewski. His genius merits a fixed place in the canon of world art of the second half of the XX century; it deserves new interpretations and should be confronted with the biggest names of that time.”

The exhibition would not be possible without the unique selection of works, consisting mainly of oil paintings and gouaches from the private collection of Anna and Jerzy Starak. It is currently the most extensive collection of the artist's work in Poland. The collection, consciously built with personal engagement, can be admired for capturing the insight and vision of the young painter. The exhibition will be complemented by works from other private collections, as well as the collections of the National Museums in Warsaw, Wrocław, and Lublin. 

 

Exhibition under the Honorary Patronage of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. 

 

Andrzej Wróblewski (1927-1957) In the First Person
Collateral Event of the 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia
20^th April – 24^th November 2024

Procuratie Vecchie, Piazza San Marco 139 – 153/A 30124 Venice
Summer opening hours: 11 am - 7 pm (from 20 April to 30 September)
Autumn opening hours: 10 am - 6 pm (from 1 October to 24 November)
Closed on Mondays (except 22 April, 17 June, 22 July, 2 and 30 September, 18 November)
Free admission

Founders: Anna and Jerzy Starak

Promotor: Starak Family Foundation
Elżbieta Dzikowska - President of the Board of the Starak Family Foundation
Curator: Ania Muszyńska
Team: Magdalena Marczak-Cerońska, Kama Kieremkampt

Press contact: info@starakfoundation.org
Press kit | download: Info_press, Artist’s biogram, selected images:
www.starakfoundation.org/en/spectra/downloads

Copyright to the art works of Andrzej Wróblewski: © Andrzej Wróblewski Foundation / www.andrzejwroblewski.pl

 

EXHIBITION INFO GUIDE | download