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4/2/2010

KwieKulik

Zak / Branicka, Berlin

The ZAK BRANICKA gallery is proud to present Activities with Dobromierz (1972-74), a work by the artistic duet KwieKulik, one of the most important phenomena of the eastern European neo- avant-garde 1970s movement. Activities with Dobromierz has already had much international publicity including showings at Documenta XII in Kassel and the XI Biennale in Istanbul (2009). KwieKulik was the duet of an artistic working couple Zofia Kulik and Przemyslaw Kwiek, active in the years 1971-1987. In this period KwieKulik carried out countless performances, artistic demonstrations, objects, films and photographs.

They placed a private gallery in their own private home – Atelier of Activities, Documentation and Popularisation, in which they organized lectures, exhibitions, and embarked on the documentation of artistic life in the 1970/80s. A lot of art events have been archived by them. Their creativity had a radical, social and political dimension, it was a laboratory form of contemporary art. Among the series of activities realized by KwieKulik belongs: Chaltury (Day Job), Earn and Create, Visual Games, Political Spectaculars. Also belonging to this series is Activities with Dobromierz, which features at the ZAK BRANICKA gallery.

After the birth of their son, Dobromierz, KwieKulik incorporated the child in their art activities for two years (1972- 74). “By combining parent’s responsibilities with artwork, we achieve the most variable compositions of our son with subjects of everyday utilities, containers, and surfaces – in situations that inquire our home or outdoor walks – all such compositions are captured on photo slides.” The work Activities with Dobromierz presents hundreds of pictures taken of their son in different situations. These comprise of both everyday realities and arrangements made by the artists. Sometimes the child is lying among vegetables, on the floor amid a circle of knives and forks, or sits in a toilet bowl or cardboard box.

Art for KwieKulik was the extension of everyday activity. Similar to other art duets of this era such as Abramovic/Ulay (1976-89) or Gilbert&George (from 1968), KwieKulik worked on the boundaries of private life, performance and body art. KwieKulik developed an alternative form of artist’s work within the reality of Socialism. The Actions with Dobromierz, where the parents manipulate as if using a doll, have a strong political overtone (oppression of the authorities). They are the artists’ response to omnipresent manipulation and censorship as well as introducing the absurd to reality (even though the reality of Socialism was absurd enough). Simultaneously, the aim of Activities with Dobromierz was to create a visual equivalent of mathematical and logical operations, which Kwiek and Kulik were interested in at the time.

For many years, the activities of KwieKulik were known only among a limited audience, they functioned neither within “the safety of the avant-garde” nor – quite clearly- within “official” art. In the year 1987 Zofia Kulik and Przemyslaw Kwiek parted company and the duet KwieKulik came to an end. From this point on, both artists work independently.

Opening: February 5 , 2010, 6 - 9pm

ŻAK - BRANICKA
Lindenstr. 35, 10969 Berlin
Tue-Sat 11am-6pm
free admission

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