Galeria Wschodnia
Galeria Wschodnia is a gallery in Łódź, presenting art of various disciplines, including action art, performance art, installations, video art, multimedia, photography, film, object art.
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The name East Gallery (Galeria Wschodnia) comes from the name of the street in Lodz – ulica Wschodnia – where the Gallery is located. The history of this space goes back to 1981. It consists of two large exhibition rooms and a living space where visiting artists often stay while preparing their work. In Poland the Gallery is regarded as a continuation of the history of specific places related to the Lodz and Polish avant-garde (with its beginnings between 1919 and 1939) that have helped to consolidate the reputation of the city as the center of progressive and experimental art movement.
Right from the beginning the Gallery has been supported entirely by the artists themselves (Adam Klimczak, Jerzy Grzegorski) and various grants for individual projects. We focus on non-commercial, experimental and alternative work created and displayed either at the Gallery or other unconventional spaces such as streets, shops, factories or public places. Our work involves joined projects together with individual artists, galleries, and art groups in Poland as well as abroad. The East Gallery is a focal place for exchange of ideas, experiences, projects and information about progressive art anywhere not just in Lodz or Eastern Europe. We hope that this internet site will stimulate exchange of new ideas and projects between artists here and in other places. Please let us know if you would like to know more about us our work and possibilities of joined projects.
Jozef Robakowski is an author of the idea of the Katarzyna Kobro Award which is being admitted to one chosen artist by other artists. The aim of the project is, as he says, „to honor a progressive attitude of the Artist that is open for exchange thoughts and unselfish initiator of cultural events”. This kind of exceptional distinction will be annually admitted by the council of representatives of various art branches. The award is funded by two brothers, Dariusz and Krzysztof Bienkowski. (2022)
Publications[edit]
- Galeria Wschodnia. Dokumenty 1984–2017 / Documents 1984–2017, eds. Daniel Muzyczuk, Tomasz Zatuski and Anna Wiśniewska-Grabarczyk, trans. Katarzyna Gucio, Maciej Świerkocki, and Elżbieta Wysakowska-Walters, Łodz: Galeria Wschodnia, Fundacja In Search Of..., and Muzeum Sztuki w Łodzi, 2019, 916 pp. Bibliography. Chronology. Photographs. Figures. Tables. Maps. Publisher. Excerpt. Reviews: Zboralska (ArtMargins), Bryzgel (Slavic R), Banasiak (Szum). (Polish)/(English)
