A Weekend In Warsaw

For the tenth consecutive time, 26 galleries from the Polish capital united forces to present the Warsaw Gallery Weekend from September 22 to 24, 2017. The event confirmed the Warsaw art scene’s reputation as edgy and less market-driven.

The rich gallery programme was reinforced with some interesting institutional shows, like an overview of Maria Lassnig’s work in Zacheta National Gallery of Art and the head-spinning group show ‘Diziness’ in the Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle. Featuring the likes of Ann Veronica Janssen, Joachim Koester, Cameron Jamie and Bruce Nauman, the intriguing theme of the latter sometimes suffered from conceptual vagueness, which however conveniently matches the theme.

The alternative NOT FAIR art fair took place for the second time on the ground floor of the stunning Palace of Culture and Science, a Soviet landmark that looms over the city. The 17 participating artists all presented solo booths. Marcin Dudek’s anti-hooligan fence (LETO Gallery, Warsaw) and Andrew Gilbert’s mesmerising sculptures (SPERLING, Münich) were among the favourites.

Highlights from the gallery shows include a brand-new series of paintings by Wilhelm Sasnal at Fundacja Galerii Foksal. A photographic series by the 1970s feminist artist Natalia LL shows stellar constellations reinterpreted with her naked body at Lokal_30. Dawid Radziszewski presents new paintings by Tomasz Kowalski in the apartment in which he created the sets for Agnieszka Polska’s film Hura! Florian Auer’s ironic take on Bertold Brecht’s not-so-proletarian style of clothing showed at Piktogram and David Krnansky’s abstract, poppy paintings with references to modernist monuments showed at the LETO Gallery.

The gallery exhibitions are still on view for the next few weeks.