Friends from the Seaside

The project “Friends from the Seaside” was initiated in October 2002 on the premises of the former Gdańsk Shipyard, in a U-boot assembly plant built by the Germans – hall 89 A. A direct impulse for an exhibition in that space came with an ephemeral show of Galeria Bezdomna (Homeless Gallery) created by Tomasz Sikora and Andrzej Świetlik. For the artistic scene of Gdańsk, or at least for the part of that scene that represented a critical approach in art, that period became a time of major changes – the rector of the Academy of Fine Arts closed Galeria Wyspa (Island Gallery) after Dorota Nieznalska’s exhibition “Passion” by virtue of the decision of the senate. Kolonia Artystów (Artists’ Colony) was still in its early days, while Modelarnia (Model Workshop) had had just two shows. Apart from Galeria Koło (Circle Gallery), there were virtually no venues that took interest in and exhibited works by students and young artists.

That situation encouraged a group of students and fresh graduates of the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk to pursue activities that was completely independent of the academy and official institutions. An artistic collective was organised by friends from a painting studio: Tomek Kopcewicz as well as Ania and Adam Witkowski. The first edition of the show “Friends from the Seaside” gathered works by Kuba Bielawski, Monika Dętkoś, Andrzej Karmasz, Tomek Kopcewicz, Marcin Laszczak, Sławek Lipnicki, Mateusz Pęk, Piotr Rubiecki, Michał Szlaga, Malina Tomaszewska, Adam Witkowski, Ania Witkowska, Sebastian Woźniak, Karolina Wysocka. Concerts were performed by Rafał Dętkoś, Dj Decay, Krzysztof Arszyn Topolski alongside Piotr Rubiecki as Dębia Góra and Uniform (Krystian Wołowski, Adam Hryniewicki, Norbert Walczak). All involved artists were keen to present their own work and the work of their friends in a brand new place and context. They found independence on the premises of the former shipyard. “Friends from the Seaside” had no programme by principle, and spontaneity was a key feature of their show. The second edition was organised in the Aula gallery at the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznań. It offered a much more specific narrative that revolved around the post-German and tourist threads related to Gdańsk. New artists included Alicja Karska and Ola Went as well as Wojtek Zamiara. Each of the “Friends from the Seaside” projects (Bydgoszcz, 2003; Cieszyn, 2014) was laid-back, open and based on friendship. The distance, informality, “less official” settings and frequency of the activities within the project combined to form an underlying definition of the artistic formation.

This year’s exhibition “Friends from the Seaside” at Gdańsk City Gallery 2 is another opportunity for Friends to meet and an attempt to restore a specific format of collective artistic activity. The first part of the exhibition (1st – 31st of August) features archival works: paintings, films, murals, photographs made between 2002 and 2004. During the show, a plein-air is planned by the Motława (1st – 7th of August). Works created during the plein-air are exhibited in the second chapter of the exhibition that runs between 11th of September and 11th of October 2015. The project culminates with a panel discussion (11th of October 2015) that concerns institutions and independent initiatives in Gdańsk focusing on the ways they develop their programmes, and therefore – the ways they support the artistists in Gdańsk.

The majority of the participating artists are former students of the studio run by Witosław Czerwonka. Sadly, that great man, artist and teacher passed away prior to the opening. His disciples wish to honour the memory of their master (a word that is by no means far-fetched in this context) by dedicating the exhibition to him and incorporating one of his films into the show.