The collector’s passion of Irena Hochman and Tadeusz Mysłowski materialises in the collection of works depicting important phenomena in Polish graphics and world art of the 20th and 21st centuries. The idea of the exhibition is to present the collection from the perspective of the dialogue that Mysłowski, the artist and co-creator of the collection, conducts with the works of selected authors. By building a topography of references that define artistic identity, the exhibition broadens the perspective of his work through the prism of inspiration and historical relations. By including selected works and artistic phenomena in a series of narratives, he emphasises the importance of mutual dependencies and inter-image meanings. The “inner language” of the collection is determined by the evolution of Mysłowski’s artistic activity, related to the search for his own place in the world of art – starting from a poetic metaphor, through the experience of geometric abstraction and a symbolic return to the universe of the human figure.
The shape of the collection was influenced by, among others, the idea of exchanging works, possible thanks to the personal relations of the Collectors, supported by the exchange of letters. The correspondence included in the exhibition, which is a source of reflection on art, outlines these relations and relates to the history of the collection’s creation.
An action that reflects the “correspondence” nature of Mysłowski’s work is his intervention in the object by J. Johns, Target. Responding to Johns’ provocation, which encourages the viewer to participate in creation, Mysłowski enters into a dialogue with him and defines the idea of his own art with the language of geometric abstraction. This object, which is a kind of artistic manifesto, is of key importance for understanding the idea of an exhibition involving works of 20th-century classics of art in the space of mutual relations, including: J. Beuys, P. Cézanne, M. Chagall, W. Kandinski, Malewicz, A. Modigliani, P. Mondrian, P. Picasso, A. Warhol, as well as works by outstanding Polish artists, including: J. Berdyszak, Z. Dłubak, M. Jarema, R. Opałka, H. Stażewski , M. Wejman, which were juxtaposed with objects by T. Mysłowski.
Exhibition curator: Anna Hałata
Coordinator: Krystyna Rzędzian
Cooperation: Małgorzata Kozieł, Klara Sadkowska
Arrangement: Michał Fronk
Duration of the exhibition: 6 March – 31 December 2021