THINGS ARE GOOD BETWEEN US
The collective exhibition of photographers associated with PIX.HOUSE: Michał Adamski, Mariusz Forecki, Adrian Wykrota and Mariusz Stachowiak, is the first look at their archives in the context of complicated social relations. It is also the first attempt to combine different perspectives and points of view.
The title of the exhibition refers to the drama by Dorota Masłowska – one of the greatest hits of TR Warszawa, directed by Grzegorz Jarzyna. A polarized society, overwhelmed by the weight of history, lost individuals, faith, pride and prejudice. All this, combined with the sharp language of the author of the play, creates a portrait of Polish society.
This reference encourages us to look carefully, but also at times ironically, at the photographs presented at the “Things Are Good Between Us” exhibition. Gestures, symbols, bonds, relationships – the narrative revolves around them. What is noteworthy is the way the photographers look, as well as what situations involving individuals and groups were captured in the frames. “Things are fine between us” is an exhibition about scenes from the life of Polish society from the early 1980s through the time of transformation and change to modern times.
The exhibition consists of individual works and fragments of cycles. Photos and texts were compared, but also their form of exhibition. Also important are books whose closed form complements the photographers’ statements. Publications designed by Andrzej Dobosz focus on topics important from the point of view of Polish society. They are also a complex analysis of behaviors and tendencies that photographers closely observe and document.
The presented works include a fragment of the series “Close to Earth, Far to Heaven”, photographs taken during women’s protests by Michał Adamski, as well as photos from the projects “No”, “Nothing Interesting”, “Wesele” by Adrian Wykrota and “Mechanism”, “Blue Box” by Mariusz Forecki and “Bo Żyję” by Mariusz Stachowiak (published by PIX.HOUSE).
Monika Szewczyk-Wittek, curator
Curator:
Monika Szewczyk-Wittek
Visual identity:
Hubert Kielan
This project is co-financed from the budget of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship
Michał Adamski – born in 1976 in Poznań. He co-founded the PIX.HOUSE Foundation and Gallery. He is a member of the Association of Polish Art Photographers and a student of the Institute of Creative Photography in Opava (Czech Republic). He received a scholarship from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage in 2017 and from the Marshal of the Greater Poland Voivodeship in 2015. His works have been exhibited in the USA, Portugal, Germany, Lithuania and Poland. Mainly involved in the implementation of long-term documentary projects. It focuses on creating honest stories, but marked by the author’s interpretation of reality. In his photography, he discusses social topics in which man and his life in the modern world are important. He takes photos for the Public Protest Archive.
Andrzej Dobosz – born born in 1977 in Koszalin, lives near Poznań. He is an independent Polish graphic designer and photographer. Founder of Dobosz.Studio. Collaborates with the PIX.HOUSE photography gallery. He designed several PIX.HOUSE publications that received awards, including: at: Picture of the Year International, Paris Photo, International Book Fair in Krakow, Festival in Bratislava, Athens, Madrid, Grand Press Photo, Award. Józef Łukaszewicz and Photographic Publication of the Year. His field of interest is documentary and social photography. In 2011, he released the album “Dobosz New Photography Book”, which was awarded, among others, at the European Design Awards in Helsinki.
Mariusz Forecki – born in 1962 in Poznań. Photographer, documentarian. A graduate of the Institute of Creative Photography at the University of Silesia in Opava (Czech Republic), author of many projects recording changes taking place in Poland after 1989. He also photographs extensively in the former USSR (Armenia, Belarus, Chechnya, Lithuania, Russia, Ukraine). He is the winner of many awards in press photography competitions and the winner of the Medal of Young Art (1993) and the Artistic Award of the City of Poznań (2010). In 2004, he was awarded by the Association of Polish Art Photographers for his achievements in documentary photography. In 2010, he received a scholarship from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. In 2016, for the book “Man in dark glasses”, designed by Andrzej Dobosz, he received an award in the contemporary photography category during the Bratislava Photomonth, the book “Mechanism” won the title of Grand Press Photo book of the year (2020). Mariusz Forecki is the co-founder of the PIX.HOUSE Foundation and a lecturer at the Wrocław School of Photography. Until 1991, he worked for the Wprost weekly, then for the Poznaniak weekly, the Polish Press Agency, the Photographic Editorial Office and Gazeta Wyborcza. He is a member of the Association of Polish Art Photographers.
Mariusz Stachowiak – born in 1956 in Gniezno, died 2006. In the years 1982-1990 he worked as a photojournalist for “Wprost”, significantly creating the photography brand of this weekly. Later he moved to Dziennik Poznański (1991-1993). From 1993 he worked as a freelance photographer and became involved with the theater. While taking photos in the theater, he impressed directors with formal solutions that showed a keen sense of the specificity, atmosphere and language of individual performances. He left behind a huge, mostly unexamined archive.
Adrian Wykrota – born in 1988 in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, living in Poznań. Photographer, documentarian, originator and co-founder of the PIX.HOUSE Foundation. He graduated with honors from the Institute of Creative Photography at the University of Silesia in Opava, Czech Republic, as well as cultural studies – media studies and English philology. ITF SU PhD student. Scholarship holder of the Ministry of Culture, ZAIKS, the Marshal of the Greater Poland Voivodeship and the city of Poznań. Participant of Magnum Photos agency workshops in Birmingham and Belfast. In 2014, he was selected as one of the world’s 30 best photographers under 30 by Magnum Photos. Winner and finalist of competitions including: IPA, Grand Press Photo, BzWBK Press Photo, Lumix Festival, Leica Street Photo, Photojournalist of the Year. He presented his works at exhibitions in Poland and around the world. His book “No” is included in the collection of Tate Modern in London, curated by Martin Parr.
3.03, 6pm
opening
4.03, 12pm
authory-curator walk
free entrance
17.03, 6pm
Julia Klewaniec “Silent Racism”
meeting / free entrance
12.05, 5pm
Maciej Przemyk + “Balcony Film”
meeting and film show / free entrance
20.05, 4pm-12am
Night of Museums
free entrance
Photo and video: Arek Wołek