AVANT-GARDE SPECTRUM

In 2023, 50 years have passed since the photography gallery was established in Domek Romański in Wrocław. At that time, there were 4 galleries implementing various exhibition programs: Wrocławska Galeria Fotografii (1973-1978), Foto-Medium-Art (1978-1996), Lower Silesian Center of Photography (1996-2016) and Galeria FOTO-GEN (2017-2023).

The Lower Silesian District of the Association of Polish Art Photographers (ZPAF) and the FOTO-GEN Gallery are organizing an exhibition recalling the most important exhibitions and photographic activities exhibited in this place distinguished for the history of photography. The most clear was the trend of elementary photography promoted by Jerzy Olek at the Foto-Medium-Art Gallery.

ZPAF is the largest Polish organization of artists treating photography as a means of creative expression. It has existed since 1947 and continues the traditions of the Polish Photo Club, which had among its ranks the most outstanding artists of interwar Poland. After World War II, they, led by Jan Bułhak, became the founders of ZPAF. The most outstanding Polish photographic artists were active in the union, including: Benedykt Jerzy Dorys, Tadeusz Wański, Jan Sunderland, Edward Hartwig, Zofia Rydet, Zbigniew Dłubak, Wiesław Prażuch, Zbigniew Łagocki.

The exhibition will present the most important trends created since 1973 in the headquarters of today’s Foto-Gen Gallery, combined with the achievements of members of the Lower Silesian District of ZPAF. The exhibition will also include archival materials from the gallery and works borrowed from private collections. As Adam Sobota writes in the text for the catalog accompanying the exhibition:

The appearance of WGF was related to the significant revival in Polish contemporary art that took place from the end of the 1960s. In the then new conceptual approach to the issue of creativity, intermedial and processual activities were preferred, with greater use of the potential of new media and the use of analytical procedures there. This contributed to stimulating activity among young people, mainly from the academic community, where numerous creative groups interested in photography and film appeared and where student galleries and festivals were established as a forum for presenting various types of research. The activities of the Association of Polish Art Photographers were also important, which in the 1970s led to the establishment of several photography galleries in Poland, run or co-run by ZPAF according to the original concepts of their managers. One of such galleries was the Wrocław Gallery of Photography, subordinated to the Culture and Art Center of the Provincial Office, which began operating in May 1973.

Exhibition participants:
Patrycja Basińska, Marek Bułaj, Andrzej Dudek-Dürer, Alek Figura, Grzegorz Gajos, Ewa Gnus, Barbara Górniak, Zenon Harasym, Roman Hlawacz, Daria Ilow, Piotr Komorowski, Grzegorz Kosmala, Krzysztof Kowalski, Stanisław Kulawiak, Lila Len, Adam Lesisz, Marek Liksztet, Michał Pietrzak, Przemek Piwowar, Magda Podsiadły, Wacław Ropiecki, Andrzej Rutyna, Andrzej Ślusarczyk, Marcin Wiktorski, Waldemar Zieliński.

Curator: Alek Figura

Organizers: Association of Polish Art Photographers, Lower Silesian District, Center of Culture and Art in Wrocław – Cultural Institution of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship Self-Government, FOTO-GEN Gallery of the Center of Culture and Art in WrocławGaleria FOTO-GEN Ośrodka Kultury i Sztuki we Wrocławiu

Curatorial and substantive cooperation: Paweł Bąkowski, Michał Pietrzak, Andrzej Rutyna, Andrzej Saj, Adam Sobota

Special thanks for helping with the exhibition and lending materials from their collections to: Stanisław Kulawiak, Anna Kutera, Adam Sobota, Zenon Harasym, Wacław Ropiecki i Łukasz Zdęba

The exhibition and the accompanying catalog were financed by the Wrocław Commune and the budget of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship Government