In recent years, Warsaw has been solidifying its status among Europe's contemporary art scene. As the new and established galleries make the fair circuit all year round, presenting works from some of the country's top talents, the time has come for Warsaw to host a major art event on its own turf. 17 of Warsaw's most active galleries of contemporary art open their doors to the public on Friday evening with brand-new shows from the youngest generation of art stars - Wojciech Łazarczyk, Grzegorz Sztwiertnia, Christian Tomaszewski, Anna Zaradny, Kama Sokolnicka - alongside works from recognised names on the international scene - Paweł Althamer, Kitty Kraus, Willem de Rooij, Slavs and Tatars, Société Réaliste.
Established players like the Raster Gallery, Le Guern and Foksal Foundation Gallery join the new gallery kids on the block, like Starter and BWA Awangarda. The latter gallery presents a show from one of the most recent discoveries of the season, Kama Sokolnicka and her refined, erudite collages and drawings, coupled with slides found at flea markets and unexpected paintings create a story about the subtle beauty of city gardens, about the subversive power of household plants as witnesses to history. Christian Tomaszewski shows his Erased project, in which he takes films that have achieved cult status and manipulated them, deleting certain parts of the actors' bodies. The corridors, floors or tables set for a meal become the main players instead. The Propaganda Gallery presents a show by Jakub Ciężki, winner of last year's Bielska Jiesień competition, entitled Haven’t We Met Before. Ciężki's realist paintings are nonetheless abstract, creating an unending sense of déjà vu and perpetual ambiguity.
The Foksal Gallery Foundation presents Pawel Althamer's Balloon at the Soho Factory (Hall no 16), the piece realized for the Trussardi Foundation in Milan in 2007 – a gigantic self-portrait of Paweł Althamer.
The Raster Gallery presents the first solo show from the Slavs and Tatars collective in Poland, titled Too much tłumacz (Too much to Translate), which coincides with their major show at the MoMA New York, on through mid-December. On Saturday morning Raster hosts the members of the collective for a lecture and brunch, where members of the group will discuss their hybrid approach to the artistic and linguistic aspects of art on an international and pan-historical scale. The Starter Gallery presents Anna Zaradny's Tongue of Venus, a sound-and-image installation inspired by the works and personality of composer and pianist Tekla Bądarzewska through the visuals and sonic scope of volcanic activity.
Another highlight of the event is the Alphaville group show of works by Ewa Axelrad, Krystian TRUTH Czaplicki, Jarosław Fliciński, Małgorzata Szymankiewicz and Wojtek Ziemilski at the newly-opened Griffin Art Space at the historic Koszyki Hall.
According to the organisers,
September's Warsaw Weekend sets the tone for a new artistic trail on the dynamically-evolving urban landscape, while stoking ambitions to inscribe itself into the pan-European calendar of contemporary art events as an annual festival of art and artists, the galleries and people who support and promote them, as well as a place for new discoveries and interaction, a place for the exchange of vital energies generated by the local community, its creative potential and its ever-widening public.
Visitors at the Warsaw Gallery Weekend also have a chance to meet with two seasoned European collectors of contemporary art: Christian Boros and Wilhelm Schürmann to discuss the business of art at the SoHo Factory space in the Praga district of Warsaw. Some of Warsaw's most important art institutions host special events: the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, Centre for Contemporary Art and the Zachęta National Gallery.