Kwietniewski, Andrzej.

[POLISH UNOFFICIAL ART – CONCEPTUAL ART] Moja Europa [My Europe].

Łódź: self-published, 1984. Octavo (19 × 13.5 cm). Original blind card wrappers; [25] leaves of photopaper with text and images to rectos. Signed and inscribed by the author to first leaf in felt pen. Very good. Item #55155

This artist book by conceptual artist Andrzej Kwietniewski was created during the Polish Martial Law (1981–1983), which restricted the activities of all art institutions, curtailed publishing, halted international travel, and brought cultural life to a temporary halt. The artist book consists of hand-drawn maps of Europe, territories inaccessible to Polish citizens during this period. Reproduced on photographic paper, the maps are dated 1981–1984 and interspersed with short texts handwritten by the author. The opening text states "Since December 1981, I have been traveling only with my finger tracing the map." A founding member of the performance art group Łódź Kaliska (1979), Andrzej Kwietniewski (b. 1951) would become one of the most active artists of Kultura Zrzuty, a group which gathered clandestinely during the Martial Law in the attic of an apartment building in Łódź. The name Kultura Zrzuty derives from the expression "zrobić zrzutkę" (to pass the hat around) and refers to the fact that the group was completely self-funded and without state resources. Anarchic and self-regulated, the Kultura Zrzuty community positioned itself against art sanctioned by the Communist state, as well as the art of the political opposition affiliated with the Church. Proposing a "third way," it also rebelled against the self-seriousness of neo-avant-garde unofficial art. Other epithets that have been applied to Kultura Zrzuty artists include Punk and Neo-Dada.

A biologist by training, Kwietniewski embraced “amateurism” in art, co-authoring numerous mock-manifestos on “embarrassing art,” “idiotic art,” and “unfocused art” all published in "Tango", the signature publication of Kultura Zrzuty, with each of nine hand-assembled issues serving as an exhibition, a catalog, and an archive in one. Some of the maps from this artist book also appeared in Tango. This artist book is one of a small series made by the artist. Another known version includes a text in German, additional absurdist elements such as a maps dated 1410, 2000, with one map dedicated to Andy Warhol.

Likely produced in a very small run.

As of June 2025, not in KVK, OCLC.

Price: €1,800.00

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