Barbican Art Gallery to host First UK Solo Exhibition for Polish Artist Robert Kusmirowski

Written by Bella Silverman Friday, 14 August 2009 22:40

LONDON.- For his first solo exhibition in the UK, Polish artist Robert Kusmirowski transforms The Curve into a replica of a World War II era bunker. Renowned for meticulous simulations of historical settings, Kusmirowski’s installations challenge the notion of the real. A hybrid of the artist’s imagination and personal memories of actual places and those depicted in films and photographs, these labour-intensive projects bring together found objects with elements constructed out of wood, cardboard, paint and other materials. Barbican’s enlightened approach to contextualised, themed festivals, which exploit the potential of the arts centre to the maximum, has become a model much copied around the world.

For two weeks at the beginning of the exhibition, 30 September till 14 October, the public will have a rare opportunity to view Kusmirowski working alongside three assistants on the final touches of this installation. The entire exhibition will open to the public on 16th  October.

Kusmirowski’s works often respond to the charged historical circumstances of the places where he exhibits. For Bunker, he draws on the Barbican’s concrete architecture and its location on a site devastated by bombing during World War II. Although inspired by London, Kusmirowski’s Bunker is ambiguously situated in Central Europe. Derelict industrial machinery, discarded paraphernalia and the fragments of signage in the space suggest German and Soviet influence, alluding to their political and military presence in wartime Poland.

Kusmirowski’s installations, structures and objects delve into the personal and collective past, unearthing complicated histories and questioning memory. In his recent project The Collector’s Massif , 2009 at Bunkier Sztuki in Krakow, Kusmirowski displayed his vast inventory of objects from previous installations alongside a private collection of toys. At the New Museum in New York, he constructed Unacabine, 2008, a replica of the remote cabin in Montana where Polish-American terrorist Theodore Kaczynski conceived his mail bombing campaign against universities, airlines and other companies. Kusmirowski’s Wagon, 2006, exhibited in the Berlin Biennale, was modelled after train carriages used to transport detainees to Auschwitz.

Robert Kusmirowski was born in 1973, Lodz, Poland and lives and works in Lublin. He has exhibited widely across Europe and the US and participated in major international exhibitions including Of Mice and Men, 4th Berlin Biennale, 2006 and After Nature, New Museum, New York, 2008; Folkestone Triennial, 2008. Solo exhibitions include Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich ,2007; The Ornaments for Anatomy II at Kunstverein, Hamburg, 2006; The Museum of the Last Artwork, Yerba Buena Art Center, San Francisco, 2005 and D.O.M, Foksal Gallery Foundation, Warsaw, 2005.

The Barbican Centre is the largest multi-arts centre in Europe, featuring art, film, music, theatre, dance and education all under one roof and under one creative direction.The Centre comprises the 1,949 seat Barbican Hall, the 1,166-seat Barbican Theatre, the 200-seat Pit theatre, 3 cinemas, the 1,393 m2 Barbican Art Gallery, a 2nd gallery; The Curve, 4,645m2 of foyers and public spaces, the Lakeside Terrace, a roof-top tropical conservatory, 7 conference suites, 2 trade exhibition halls, private function rooms and the 3 restaurants; Searcy’s, Waterside Café and Balcony Bistro. Visit : www.barbican.org.uk/

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