The Pink Phink
Opening date: December 16, 2023, at 8:00 PM
Exhibition duration: Until January 26, 2024
Concept/Performance: Kacper Szalecki
Curator: Magda Milewska
Recreation of the Neoplastic Room and Technical Support: Marek Kubacki
Costume: Paweł Włodarski
Sound: Zuzanna Siemińska
In 1948, in the newly opened headquarters of the municipal Museum of History and Art named after Juliana and Kazimierz Bartoszewicz in the former Poznański's Palace, the Neoplastic Room was unveiled. The project was created by Władysław Strzemiński, a respected artist and lecturer at the State Higher School of Fine Arts. The room was developed according to the concept of presenting collections by the museum's director at the time, Marian Minich, as a Gallery of Modern Art. It featured works by artists such as Jean Arp, Theo van Doesburg, Katarzyna Kobro, and Henryk Stażewski. In 1950, under the decision of the authorities, the Neoplastic Room was painted white, and the exhibited works were moved to storage. Ten years later, Marian Minich commissioned Bolesław Utkin to reconstruct the Neoplastic Room. Since the original plans from 1948 were lost, the layout and color arrangement were largely recreated based on the director's memories.
In an alternative version of events:
In 2021, workers involved in the revitalization of a building at Księży Młyn 7 made an unprecedented discovery in unit U1. Beneath layers of paint, an unusual fresco emerged, featuring vertical and horizontal lines of primary colors. A conservator overseeing the work was immediately summoned, and after a brief inspection, she decided to consult with a prominent art historian. To their surprise, they had uncovered an unknown work by the eminent avant-garde artist Władysław Strzemiński. Only a few remaining local residents remembered that a well-known professor from the academy had rented rooms in the area, but no one knew what he was working on. Meanwhile, amidst neglected buildings once inhabited by workers of the textile empire of Karol Scheibler, an icon of avant-garde art was coming to light.
. . .
Regarding Kacper Szalecki's project in the Portrait Studio, it is conceived as a playful celebration of this year's double anniversary. Exactly 75 years ago, the first visitors entered the Neoplastic Room, a modern exhibition space designed by Władysław Strzemiński for the Muzeum Sztuki (Museum of Art) in Łódź. This year also marks the 70th anniversary of the first episode of the animated short film series "The Pink Panther." To honor both dates, Kacper Szalecki proposes a collage-like blending of motifs, connecting the history of pop culture with the icon of museum culture. Drawing inspiration from cartoon gags where the central theme is the repainting of space, the artist presents the action of covering the Neoplastic Room project with pink paint, previously moved to the Portrait Studio by the head of the Museum of Art's brigade.
The series "Five Exhibitions for the 10th Anniversary of the Pracownia Portretu" is realised thanks to funding from the budget of the City of Łódź.