68. WILHELM
SASNAL
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Girl
Smoking (Peaches)
2001 Oil on Canvas 33 x 33cm |
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Factory
2000
Oil on Canvas
101 x 101cm
2000
Oil on Canvas
101 x 101cm
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Soldiers
2000
Oil on canvas
175 x 175 cm
2000
Oil on canvas
175 x 175 cm
BIO & STEPS
Born:
In 1972 in
Tarnow, Poland
Nowadays:
Lives and works in Tarnow, Poland
Education:
He
studied architecture for two years at the Polytechnic, Kraków, beginning in
1992, and then became a painting student at the Akademia Sztuk Pięknych w
Krakowie, Poland. While there, he helped form an artist's collective that
exhibited together as the Ładnie Group until 2000. Ironically named after the
Polish word meaning "pretty" or "nice," the members made
paintings of their contemporary, often banal surroundings, using a deskilled
aesthetic that countered the style valued by their instructors. Sasnal finished
his studies in 1999, and then worked briefly for advertising companies in
Kraków while also making paintings, graphic novels (his strips are regularly
published in "Machina" and "Przekroj", two Polish
periodicals), photographs, and films.
Themes and
style:
Sasnal
is primarily a painter. He paints a wide variety of subjects: More or less
banal everyday objects, portraits of historical figures, views of his home town
Cracow, snapshots of friends and family members and very often existing images
from the internet or mass media are his starting point. Other sources include
Art Spiegelman's 1973 graphic Holocaust novel Maus, and stills from Claude
Lanzmann's 1985 documentary Shoah as source material. Even if, over the years,
one can make out a number of overarching themes, there are always new paintings
that shift the emphases and connections once again. The same is true of his
painting style. His approach is unpredictable and his methods range from graphic
reduction and a pointedly two-dimensional, illustration-oriented style to
seemingly autonomous gestures with brush and paint.,However, Sasnal makes the
grip of the Communist era on the post-Communist imagination his subject.
Techniques:
Sasnal
produces pencil drawings, ink drawings, photographs, videos and paintings. In
his art he employs a variety of media and cultivates a non-uniform practice
Solo Exhibitions
2010
Johnen Galerie, Berlin, Germany
Anton Kern Gallery, New York, NY
Rat Hole Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Wilhelm Sasnal. Lata Walki / Years of Struggle, Sara Hildén
Art Museum, Tampere, Sara Hilden Art Museum, Tampere, Finland (Travelling
Exhibition)
Rochester Art Center, Rochester, MN
2009
Sadie Coles HQ, London, UK
K21 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany
Fundacja Galerii Foksal, Warsaw, Poland
Presentation in the Collection Rooms: Wilhelm Sasnal.Works
from the Collection Martin, Neues Museum, Nürnberg, Germany
Wilhelm Sasnal. Lata Walki / Years of Struggle, CAC – Centro
de Arte Contemporàneo, Malaga, Spain (Travelling Exhibition)
Hauser & Wirth, Zurich, Switzerland
2008
Wilhelm Sasnal. Lata Walki / Years of Struggle, Galleria
Civica di Arte Contemporanea, Trento, Italy
2007
Wilhelm Sasnal. Lata Walki / Years of Struggle, Zacheta
National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland
Johnen Galerie, Berlin, Germany
Hauser & Wirth, Zurich, Switzerland
Fundació la Caixa, Barcelona, Spain
Anton Kern Gallery, New York, NY
2006
Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Netherlands
Wzorzec kilograma, Foksal Gallery Foundation, Warsaw, Poland
Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt, Germany
Sadie Coles HQ, London, UK
The Douglas Hyde Gallery, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
2005
MATRIX Program for Contemporary Art, The Berkeley Art Museum,
Berkeley, CA
Anton Kern Gallery, New York, NY
Wilhelm Sasnal - Chinati Artist in Residence, The Locker
Plant, Marfa, TX
2004
The Band, Hauser & Wirth, Zurich, Switzerland
Camden Arts Centre, London, UK
Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle, Munich, Germany
ZAWA SROD, Johnen + Schöttle, Cologne, Germany
Wilhelm Sasnal – Map Trap, Galerie Raster, Warsaw, Poland
2003
T-ów, Anton Kern Gallery, New York, NY
Wilsa, Sommer Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv, Israel
MUHKA, Antwerp, Belgium
3 o’clock road block, Sadie Coles, London, UK
Westfälischer Kunstverein, Münster, Germany
Kunsthalle Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
Wilhelm Sasnal – Monika Sasnowska, Galleria Laura Pecci,
Milan, Italy
2002
PHO, Galerie Johnen + Schöttle, Cologne, Germany
Show on your hands – Look – Come closer, Foksal Gallery
Foundation, Warsaw
Parel, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2001
Cars and Men, Foksal Gallery Foundation, Warsaw, Poland
Everyday Life in Poland between 1999 and 2001, Galeria
Raster, Warsaw, Poland
2000
Board Game, Galeria Potocka, Cracow, Poland
1999
The Hundred Pieces, Galeria Zderzak, Cracow, Poland
Painting, CCA Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, Poland
The Crowd, billboards of Galeria Otwarta
1998
Private–Public, billboards of Galeria Otwarta
A Natural Holyday, billboards of Galeria Otwarta
Group Exhibitions
2011
Rearview Mirror: New Art from Central and Eastern Europe, The
Power Plant, Ontario, Canada
Kurimanzutto, Mexico City, Mexico
2010
Villa Reykjavik, Reykjavik, Iceland
Schloss Marquardt, ‘XVII. Rohkunstbau’, Marquardt-Potsdam,
Germany
ZKM Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, ‘fast forward 2.
The Power of Motion – Media Art Sammlung Goetz’, Karlsruhe, Germany
Johnen Galerie, ‘Conversation Pieces. A Chamber Play, Act
III, Scene 3’, Berlin,Germany
2009
The Reach of Realism, MOCA Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami,
FL
Wilhelm Sasnal. Werke aus der Sammlung Martin, Neues Museum,
Nürnberg, Germany
Hellwach gegenwärtig - Ausblicke auf die Sammlung Marta,
MARTa Herford, Herford,Germany
Monument to Transformation, City Gallery, Prag, Czech
Republic
Invasion of Sound. Music and the Visual Arts, Zacheta
National Gallery, Warsaw, Poland
International Collection of Contemporary Art 5th Edition,
Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw, Poland
Something Else!!!!, MAN, Nuoro, Italy
Sonic Youth etc.: Sensational Fix, Kunsthalle, Düsseldorf,
Germany
Mapping the studio: Artists from the François Pinault
Collection, Punta della Dogana,Venice, Italy
Play, Part 1 – The Game and the Players. Strange and Close,
Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
2008
Family and Friends, Anton Kern Gallery, New York, NY
Life on Mars: 55th Carnegie International, Carnegie Museum,
Pittsburgh, PA
Never let the truth get in the way of a good story, Site
Gallery, Sheffield, England
T2 Torino Triennale, Turin, Italy
Heartland, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Netherlands
I am never at home, Johnen Galerie, Berlin, Germany
Back to black - schwarz in der aktuellen malerei, Kestner
Gesellschaft, Hannover, Germany
Peripherer Blick und kollektiver Körper, Museion, Bolzano,
Italy
Du Dialogue Social, Motorenhalle, Dresden, Germany
Ad Absurdum, MARTa Herford, Germany
Glasgow International 2008, Glasgow, Scotland
Manual CC, uqbar, Berlin, Germany
The Painting of Modern Life, Castello di Rivoli, Turin, Italy
2007
1,2,3… Avant-Gardes, Sala Rekalde, Bilbao, Spain
Playback, Musée d’ Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris,
France
Gesellschaftsbilder. Zeitgenossische Malerei, Kunstverein in
Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Who’s got the Big Picture? Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst,
Antwerp, Belgium
Frisch gestrichen, Museum Franz Gertsch, Burgdorf,
Switzerland
What is Painting?, MoMA, New York, NY
Untitled, Swiss Institute, New York, NY
The Present, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Last News, Laznia Centre for Contemporary Art, Gdańsk, Poland
Very Abstract and Hyper Figurative, Thomas Dane Gallery,
London, UK
Painting Now!, Kunsthal Rotterdam, Netherlands
Airs de Paris, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
Old School, Hauser & Wirth, London, England
Bare Life, Museum on the Seam, Jerusalem, Israel
The Weasel: Pop Music and Contemporary Art, South London
Gallery, London, UK
Lights, Camera, Action: Artists Films for the Cinema, Whitney
Museum, New York, NY
Polish Painting of the 21st Century, Zacheta National
Gallery, Warsaw, Poland
2006
Grey Flags, Sculpture Center, Long Island City, New York, NY
Infinite Painting: Contemporary Painting and Global Realism,
Villa Manin Centre, Coidropo, Italy
Imagens em Pintura, Havekost, Kahrs, Plessen, Sasnal, Museu
Serralves, Porto, Portugal
Sammlung Marx in Hamburger Bahnhof, Hamburger Bahnhof,
Berlin, Germany
1,2,3… Avant-Gardes, Center for Contemporary Art, Warsaw,
Poland
Melancholia, Sommer Contemporary Art, Tel-Aviv, Israel
The Vincet 2006, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Essential Painting, The National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan
The Triumph of Painting, from the Saatchi Collection, Leeds
City Art Gallery, Leeds, UK
Imagination Becomes Reality, Pt. V: Fantasy and Fiction,
Sammlung Goetz, Munich, Germany
2005
What’s New Pussycat? Museum for Modern Art, Frankfurt,
Germany
ATOMICA – making the invisible visible, Esso Gallery and
Lombard Freid Fine Arts, New York, NY
Material Time/Work Time/Life Time, Reykjavik Arts Festival,
Reykjavik, Iceland
It takes some time to open an oyster, Centre Cultural
Andratx, Mallorca, Spain
The Triumph of Painting, The Saatchi Collection, London, UK
Prague Biennale 2, Prague, Czech Republic
2004
Some Forgotten Place, Matrix, Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley,
CA
Nowa Huta, Westfälischer Kunstverein, Münster, Germany
Werke aus der Sammlung Boros, Museum für moderne Kunst,
Karlsruhe
MUHKA de collectie, MUHKA, Antwerp, Belgium
Time and again, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Biennale de Sao Paulo, Brazil
2003
4ever Young, Sommer Contemporary Art, Tel-Aviv, Israel
Hauser & Wirth Gallery, Zürich, Switzerland
Creeping Revolution 2, Rooseum Center for Contemporary Art,
Malmö, Sweden
Hidden In A Daylight, Hotel pod Jeleniem, Cieszyn, Poland
2002 Painting on the Move, Kunsthalle Basel, Basel,
Switzerland
Pause, 4th Gwangju Bienniale, Gwangju, South Korea
Urgent Painting, Musée d’art moderne de la Ville de Paris,
Paris, France
Raster – aktuelle Kunst aus Polen, Museum Viadrana –
Junkerhaus, Frankfurt, Germany
A Need For Realism. Solitude In Ujazdowski, Centre for
Contemporary Art, Warsaw, Poland
Pod Brunatnym Jeleniem, Hotel, cur. Joanna Mytkowska, Andrzej
Przywara, Adam
Szymczyk, Cieszyn, Poland
2001
Painters’ Competition, Galeria Bielska BWA, Bielsko-Biala,
Poland
The Good, Galeria Raster, Warsaw, Poland
1st Tirana Biennial, Tirana, Albania
Bureaucracy, Foksal Gallery Foundation, Warsaw, Poland
In Between, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL
Popelita/Pop-elite, Bunkier Sztuki, Cracow, Poland
Rybie of Fisheye, BWA Gallery, Slupsk, Poland
2000
Scena 2000, CCA Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, Poland
100% Painting, BWA Gallery, Poznan, Poland
Visual Art – Simple Life, Edit-Russ Haus, Oldenburg, Germany
Paint Me, BWA, Zielone Góra, Poland
1999
What you see is what you get, Medium Gallery, Bratislava,
Slovakia
1997
Seven Young Painters, French Cultural Institute, Cracow,
Poland
In his own words:
"I don't know if being a mature
artist is a positive. Being mature means that you have lost interest in
different things, it's like the difference between being professional and being
amateur," he says. "I would like to keep my passion."
Representative
Galleries:
Saatchi Gallery
Anton Kern Gallery
Hauser & Wirth
For
more Information: