Gallery ŻAK | BRANICKA, Berlin

In 2009 the gallery presented an exhibition of works from the first generation of the Polish avant-garde by Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, also known as Witkacy (1885-1939), along with others by Józef Robakowski (*1938 Poznań), which often referred back to his famous predecessor; furthermore there were solo exhibitions by the London sculptor, Kasia Fudakowski (*1985) and the Warsaw painter, Zbigniew Rogalski (*1974). At Art Basel the gallery presented works by the painter and video artist,Paweł Książek (*1973 Andrychów) who lives in Kraków. The Berlin gallery then presented solo art exhibitions by the painter and media artist, Dominik Lejman (*1969 Gdańsk) who works in Poznań and Berlin, and the painter and object artist, Szymon Kobylarz (*1981 Świętochłowice) from Katowice. In 2010 the exhibitions included those by Agnieszka Polska and the photographer, Krzysztof Zieliński (*1974 Wąbrzeźno) from Berlin. These were followed in 2011 by an exhibition by the multimedia artist, Joanna Rajkowska (*1968 Bydgoszcz), who lives in London and Warsaw: there then came an exhibition of pencil drawings by Paweł Olszczyński (*1985 Kraków), self portraits by the concept artist, Roman Opałka (*1931 Abbeville), and works by the Croatian object artist, Vlatka Horvat (*1974 Čakovec). In 2012 the gallery presented exhibitions by one of the most important Polish artists in concrete poetry, Stanisław Dróżdż (*1939 Sławków), featuring his well-known work, “Forgotten” (1968); and the legendary founder of  experimental avant-garde films in the 1960s and 70s, Józef Robakowski. 

In 2013 the gallery presented international avant-garde art: works by “Gorgona”, a group of nine artists that worked in Zagreb between 1959 and 1966 and whose concept art contradicted Communist society even before the art form began to develop in America; and works by the Austrian concept, action and performance artist, VALIE EXPORT (*1940 Linz). These were followed by exhibitions of young Polish artists currently living in Berlin: the sculptor and installation artist, Marlena Kudlicka (*1973 Tomaszów Lubelski), who studied at the Art Academy in Poznań, and the sculptor, graphic artist, object and installation artist, Natalia Stachon (*1976 Kattowitz), who studied in Hamburg and Zurich. The year 2014 began with an exhibition by the Polish concept artist, Ryszard Wasko (*1947 Nysa), who showed works from the 1970s. There followed exhibitions by some of the above named artists: in 2014, Rajkowska, Jankowski, Kulik, Lejman and Książek; in 2015, Horvat, Polska, Wasko and Kobylarz; in 2016, the artist duo Ivanoska/Calovski, Przemysław Kwiek and Zofia Kulik (aka KwieKulik), as well as Kudlicka and Wasko; in 2017, the Slovenian multimedia artist, Jasmina Cibic (*1979 Ljubljana) and finally, Robert Kuśmirowski. One of the highlights in the programme – arranged by the gallery on the occasion of the Berlin “Gallery Weekends” from 30. April to 4. May 2015 and held in the St. Elisabeth church in the Invalidenstraße – was the first solo exhibition in Berlin by the world famous sculptor, Magdalena Abakanowicz (1930-2017), centred on an installation consisting of 83 sculptures made in 1998/1999 and entitled “Bambini”.