Concrete and Experimental Poetry in Poland – A collection of original works curated by Stanisław Dróżdż.
A substantial collection of Polish concrete and experimental poetry, with over 50 original artworks and 37 books by artists such as Zbigniew Makarewicz, Marzenna Kosińska, Wojciech Sztukowski, Zbigniew Jeż, Hubert Koryzna, and Krzsystof Soliński, among others. The collection includes original works of concrete poetry, artist books, vintage photographs documenting poetic actions, theoretical texts, as well as exhibition catalogues. The collection was assembled by the pioneer of concrete poetry in Poland, Stanisław Dróżdż (1939–2009), with most works traceable to his curatorial or publishing activity. Self-published books of experimental and concrete poetry by a variety of artists who collaborated with Dróżdż over the years are also part of the collection, with many books signed and inscribed to him by the authors. Item #54669
Widely considered one of the most significant personalities of the Polish Neo-Avant-Garde, Dróżdż studied philology at Wrocław University (1959–1964) and started making his “concept-shapes” in the late 1960s. Dróżdż first presented his visual poems alongside the work of Zbigniew Makarewicz at the Pod Moną Lisą Gallery, laying the foundation for the growth of concretism in Wrocław. Their works emphasized the visual dimension of language, implicitly critiquing the devaluation of language through sloganeering as well as the linguistic ruptures of WWII. Further exhibitions at the Wrocław Kwartał Gallery, Zakład nad Fosą Gallery, and Kalambur Student Theatre enabled the growing interest in conceptual art and concrete poetry among a new generation of artists. Dróżdż would go on to represent Poland at the Venice Biennale in 2003.
The present collection follows Dróżdż’s organisational work, with most materials traceable to specific curatorial or publishing projects. To mark ten years of the development of concrete poetry in Wrocław (1967–1978), Dróżdż curated a comprehensive exhibition of Polish concrete poetry at the Central Student Club at Wrocław University in 1978. An exhibition catalogue and a separate anthology of Polish concrete poetry was published in the same year, with the work of most of the artists in this collection appearing in the catalog and anthology. The anthology “remains the most comprehensive presentation of Polish concrete poetry” (See Grzegorz Maziarczyk, “The Letter and/as Sense: A Short History of Concrete Poetry in Poland, in SLAVIA, nr. 88, 2019). The collection contains publications of the first theoretical sessions of concrete poetry, organized by Dróżdż in 1979 as well as concretist works of Mary Ellen Solt, whose exhibition he curated in Wrocław in the same year. Finally, the collection includes works of other major figures in the Wrocław concrete poetry scene such as Marianna Bocian and Wojciech Sztukowski among others.
Dróżdż’s connections to other centers of concretism in Poland are represented by materials of Bogusław Michnik, who organized the first exhibition of concrete poetry in Poland in (Klodzko) in 1976. Galeria Autorska Jacka Solińskiego i Jana Kaja in Bydgoszcz, was another major Polish center of visual poetry, with the collection containing many of their publications. The personal dedications in many of the works in the collection are a testament to his central role as an animator of the cultural life in Wrocław, as well as a document of his personal networks.
I. Zbigniew Jeż
A collection of artist books and exhibition brochures of the Polish conceptualist artist Zbigniew Jeż (b. 1948), with most materials with handwritten dedications to Stanisław Dróżdż. Born in Wrocław in 1948, Jeż was active in the arts since 1966, making work at the intersection of concrete poetry, experimental poetry, bookplate art, and performance, creating numerous artist books, mostly using the cellorite and intaglio techniques. From 1969 he was part of Wrocław group of graphic designers “RYS”. Founded in 1969, the group’s goal was to popularize exlibris design by including the Association of Amateur Artists into its ranks. In the early 1970s Jeż also collaborated with Zbigniew Makarewicz and the Emotional Composition Studio (Studio Kompozycji Emocjonalnej), a group which played an active role in Wrocław performance art scene. In 1978 his work was included in the exhibition Wrocławska poezja konkretna (Wrocław Concrete Poetry) alongside Marianna Bocian, Stanisław Dróżdż, Barbara Kozłowska, Zbigniew Makarewicz among others. He was also included in Dróżdż’ seminal anthology “Concrete poetry: a selection of Polish texts and documentation from 1967 – 1977” published in the same year. Jeż left Poland in 1978, initially for Italy, eventually settling in Germany.
Experimenting with typed writing, next to handwriting, and stamps or prints is typical for Jeż, with many satirical comments on individuality, reproducibility, and authorship/ownership likely stemming from his work in exlibris design. Each page of his artists books is signed, with some pages containing nothing but the signature, while some of his artists books are stamped with the words “exlibris for nobody”. Sexuality and slapstick humor are also common features of his work, with one print supposedly made with the artist’s sperm. His last exhibition in Poland, held in 1979 at the Pod Jaszczurami Gallery in Kraków was curated by Adam Rzepecki, a founding member of the Łódź Kaliska group. The group would go on to develop some of the same aesthetics and sentiments as Jeż, theorizing the extreme minimalism and slapstick as “nonsensical art” or “embarrassing art”.
Several artist books by Zbigniew Jeż are held by MoMA, which also holds an artist file with his ephemeral materials (brochures, invitations, reviews etc.). His work is also present in the collection of AAP (Archive of Artists Publications) in Munich. Despite these holdings, and likely because of his early immigration and loss of context, the work of Jeż remains understudied.
II. Hubert Koryzna
A collection of fourteen works by the Wrocław-based poet and translator Hubert Koryzna. Stanisław Dróżdż curated an exhibition of Koryzna’s work in 1978 at the Jatki Gallery, with this material likely coming from that exhibition. Little is known about Koryzna, though his name appears as a translator on a variety of artistic materials, such as the exhibition brochures of Zbigniew Jeż. He was also featured in the group exhibition and catalog of Polish concrete poets (Polska poezja konkretna) in 1979 and the Wrocławska poezja konkretna anthology published by Dróżdż in 1978.
Koryzna, Hubert. Collection of fourteen typescript concrete poems 1972–1977. Single leaves of various sizes 9 × 7.5 cm to 29 × 21 cm with each leaf printed, type written, stenciled, or hand-drawn to rectos. Signed and dated to reverse.
III. Marzenna Kosińska
A collection of vintage photographs and original works of visual poetry of a Wrocław-based “textual artist” Marzenna Kosińska (b. 1939), with the photographs documenting her work taken by a prominent Polish photographer Jan Bortkiewicz (b.1945). A graduate of the painting department of the Wrocław Higher School of Fine Art (1965), Kosińska would go on to work primarily with text and typography, as well as with geometric shapes, playing on the transformation of the latter into the former. In 1978, her concrete poetry appeared alongside Stanisław Dróżdż and Wojciech Sztukowski in a group show at the Jatki Gallery. Her work was also featured in the group exhibition and catalog of Polish concrete poets (Polska poezja konkretna) in 1979 and the Wrocław concrete poetry (Wrocławska poezja konkretna) anthology published by Dróżdż in 1978. Most recently, she was featured in the 2020 anthology “Women in Concrete Poetry: 1959–1979” edited by Balgiu and de la Torre, with “elegant pieces by under-acknowledged Eastern Europeans” such as Kosińska noted as one of the “special delights” of the volume.
IV. Wojciech Sztukowski
A collection of six typographic works by the poet and performance artist Wojciech Sztukowski. In addition to producing works of concrete poetry, Sztukowski was active in the Wrocław performance scene and was a member of the group Emotional Composition Studio (with Jerzy Ryba, Grzegorz Kolasiński, Zbigniew Jeż, Jerzy Mańkowski). From 1972 – 1984 he also served as an editor of the group’s eponymous self-published journal. In 1978, his concrete poetry appeared alongside Stanisław Dróżdż and Marzenna Kosińska in a group show at the Jatki Gallery curated by Dróżdż, with these materials likely coming from this show. His work was also featured in the group exhibition and catalog of Polish concrete poets (Polska poezja konkretna) in 1979 and the Wrocław concrete poetry (Wrocławska poezja konkretna) anthology published by Stanisław Dróżdż in 1978.
V. Kryzstof Soliński
Collection of fourteen typescript concrete poems by the Bydgoszcz poet and publisher Krzsystof Soliński (1950–2006). A professional publisher, Soliński also wrote and exhibited concrete poetry, especially at the gallery co-run by his brother Jacek Soliński (Galeria Autorska), which was one of the major centers of concrete poetry in Poland. Several books of Krzsystof Soliński published by Galeria Autorska are also part of this collection, signed and inscribed to Stanisław Dróżdż. It is not clear if the present collection of poems was ever exhibited by Dróżdż, but it was likely sent to him for this purpose.
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Price: €29,500.00