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London: Aneta Bartos, Weronika Gęsicka, Aneta Grzeszykowska, Adam Palenta, Józef Robakowski, Zofia Rydet

May 25, 2018 - July 22, 2018

calvert 22 exhibition

‘FAMILY VALUES: POLISH PHOTOGRAPHY NOW’

Artists: Aneta BartosWeronika GęsickaAneta GrzeszykowskaAdam Palenta, Józef Robakowski, Zofia Rydet.

Family Values: Polish Photography Now is a unique season of photography and events examining Polish visual culture from the second part of the 20th century and the current creative landscape of a nation with deep historical and emotional links to the UK.

At the centre of the season sits the first exhibition devoted to Polish photography in the UK, which amplifies themes of identity, home and family in the context of social and political change to explore how individual freedoms are found within the confines of the home, and how the domestic serves as a trope for the artistic exploration of different, darker questions concerning identity.

At its heart will be a presentation of the work of Zofia Rydet (1911 – 1997), a photographer much admired in Poland who is now coming to wide international prominence. Her work has never been seen in the UK.

In 1978, at the unusually advanced age of 67, Zofia Rydet embarked on a monumental project that was to consume her until she died: she set out to make a portrait of every person in Poland. Over the course of twenty years, she photographed 20,000 people at home, the pace of the project only limited at the end by her increasing physical frailty. The work is known as the Sociological Record (1978 – 1997). She broke her Record into various subcategories such as TV SetsWomen on DoorstepsWindows and Disappearing Professions — and systematically photographed the family in all its parts and possible permutations: men, women, children, married couples, teenagers, grandparents, babies, multiple generations simultaneously, the elderly and the infirm.

In the exhibition, images by Zofia Rydet will be presented alongside contemporary Polish artists exploring similar topics in their work: Józef RobakowskiAneta GrzeszykowskaWeronika GęsickaAneta Bartos and Adam Palenta.

Exhibition curated by Kate Bush.

Venue

Calvert 22 Gallery
22 Calvert Avenue
London, E2 7JP United Kingdom
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