Wojciech Gilewicz's 'In Practice' video documents a series of oil paintings installed in the neighborhood around the SculptureCenter building in Long Island City, New York. The surfaces and forms of the six canvases are designed to make them appear completely invisible while they are on site. A documentation of the process of placing the works in their environment will encourage visitors to explore the periphery of the building. Using a map prepared by the artist, visitors are invited to search for the hidden paintings in the surrounding city space. Gilewicz is primarily interested in challenging viewers' perception of space, reality, and their surroundings.
(SculptureCenter, "In Practice" group exhibition, January 11, 2009–March 22, 2009: http://www.sculpture-center.org/exhibitionsExhibition.htm?id=10738)
(SculptureCenter, "In Practice" group exhibition, January 11, 2009–March 22, 2009: http://www.sculpture-center.org/exhibitionsExhibition.htm?id=10738)
The work has been reviewed by ArtForum:
"(...) While artists such as Peter Simensky, Carey Ascenzo, and Amy Patton struggle to reinvent site specificity, Wojciech Gilewicz defies its logic entirely in his deadpan installations—painted imitations of everyday surfaces, intended to go unnoticed in public space. In the video documentation of his project, Gilewicz nonchalantly installs the work in broad daylight, thereby performing the slight visual shifts between the trash on the surface of a garbage can and its painted replica, between a construction panel and its crafted double, and drawing attention to the way art can undermine even its own subversive rhetoric to make site both more and less noticeable." — Lori Cole (ArtForum: http://artforum.com/picks/id=22032&view=print)
"(...) While artists such as Peter Simensky, Carey Ascenzo, and Amy Patton struggle to reinvent site specificity, Wojciech Gilewicz defies its logic entirely in his deadpan installations—painted imitations of everyday surfaces, intended to go unnoticed in public space. In the video documentation of his project, Gilewicz nonchalantly installs the work in broad daylight, thereby performing the slight visual shifts between the trash on the surface of a garbage can and its painted replica, between a construction panel and its crafted double, and drawing attention to the way art can undermine even its own subversive rhetoric to make site both more and less noticeable." — Lori Cole (ArtForum: http://artforum.com/picks/id=22032&view=print)
Wojciech Gilewicz (1974) lives and works between New York and Warsaw. He is a painter, photographer and author of installations, performative actions and videos. Drawing on his experience of the painting medium, he creates formally varied works, which seek to investigate the boundaries of art and space. In his recording of reality, Gilewicz remains loyal to the painting tradition. Each frame registered by his camera becomes a painting, the camera itself fluidly transforming into a means of registering social relations, which take place ‘outside’ his actions. Gilewicz’ art provokes reflection on the mechanisms which govern perception and its cultural conditioning. The author actively collaborates with the viewer, whom he involves both in his projects and in polemics about myths and stereotypes concerning the most recent art, its reception and interpretation. Gilewicz takes on board issues related to the role of painting in today’s world, the status of the artist and artistic work in the context of the institution and the circulation of art, as well as a society at large. He is also interested in the role of an artist as a citizen.
In 2009, the Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle in Warsaw published "Them" – an artistic album of Wojciech Gilewicz’ work, presenting a series of photographic double self-portraits, a project started in 2002, which continues to date. In 2017 will be published the book on Wojciech Gilewicz' Asian video works.
Recent selected solo exhibitions include: Awangarda Gallery, Sale, Wroclaw (Poland), 2011; Bunkier Sztuki, Studio, Krakow (Poland), 2012; Flux Factory, Residency Unlimited, New York (USA), 2012; Manggha Museum, Intrude, Krakow (Poland), 2012; Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Painter’s Painting, Taipei, (Taiwan), 2013; Foksal Gallery, Rockaway, Warsaw (Poland), 2015; Cuchifritos Gallery / Artists Alliance Inc., Cuboids, New York (USA), 2015.
Recent selected group exhibitions include: SculptureCenter, In Practice, New York (USA), 2009; Zendai Museum of Modern Art, Starting Point: Intrude Art & Life 366, Shanghai (China), 2009; Museums of Bat Yam, Factory (Israel), 2009; Aspen Art Museum, Monitaur (USA), 2009; Museum of Contemporary Art, BELGRADE: NONPLACES. Art in public space, Belgrade (Serbia), 2009; castillo/corrales, Hello Goodbye Thank You Again, Paris (France), 2009; ISCP Gallery, There Has Been No Future, There Will Be No Past. Challenging Cultural Profiling in Central and Eastern European Art, New York (USA), 2010; National Museum of Contemporary Art / Changdong Art Studio, A Day in the Market, Seoul (South Korea), 2010; FRAC Limousin, Electro Geo, Limoges (France), 2010; Wroclaw Contemporary Museum, The Artificial Fullmoon (Poland), 2012; Beit Ha’air Museum for Urban Culture, Plain, Tel Aviv (Israel), 2013; Queens Museum of Art, Queens International 2013, New York (USA), 2013; The Boiler / Momenta Art, Seven, New York (USA), 2014; The Africa Centre, Infecting the City, Cape Town (South Africa), 2015; IDEAS CITY / The New Museum, The Invisible City, New York (USA), 2015; Roswell Museum and Art Center, New Media New Mexico, Santa Fe (USA), 2015; Constitution Hill, Between Democracies 1989-2014: Commemoration and Memory, Johannesburg (South Africa), 2015; Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Travellers, Warsaw (Poland), 2016.
Video works by the artist have recently been presented in the framework of numerous screenings around the world including: Media Art Biennale WRO, Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin/Madrid, Hors Pistes Japon, CURRENTS New Media Festival. (www.gilewicz.net)
In 2009, the Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle in Warsaw published "Them" – an artistic album of Wojciech Gilewicz’ work, presenting a series of photographic double self-portraits, a project started in 2002, which continues to date. In 2017 will be published the book on Wojciech Gilewicz' Asian video works.
Recent selected solo exhibitions include: Awangarda Gallery, Sale, Wroclaw (Poland), 2011; Bunkier Sztuki, Studio, Krakow (Poland), 2012; Flux Factory, Residency Unlimited, New York (USA), 2012; Manggha Museum, Intrude, Krakow (Poland), 2012; Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Painter’s Painting, Taipei, (Taiwan), 2013; Foksal Gallery, Rockaway, Warsaw (Poland), 2015; Cuchifritos Gallery / Artists Alliance Inc., Cuboids, New York (USA), 2015.
Recent selected group exhibitions include: SculptureCenter, In Practice, New York (USA), 2009; Zendai Museum of Modern Art, Starting Point: Intrude Art & Life 366, Shanghai (China), 2009; Museums of Bat Yam, Factory (Israel), 2009; Aspen Art Museum, Monitaur (USA), 2009; Museum of Contemporary Art, BELGRADE: NONPLACES. Art in public space, Belgrade (Serbia), 2009; castillo/corrales, Hello Goodbye Thank You Again, Paris (France), 2009; ISCP Gallery, There Has Been No Future, There Will Be No Past. Challenging Cultural Profiling in Central and Eastern European Art, New York (USA), 2010; National Museum of Contemporary Art / Changdong Art Studio, A Day in the Market, Seoul (South Korea), 2010; FRAC Limousin, Electro Geo, Limoges (France), 2010; Wroclaw Contemporary Museum, The Artificial Fullmoon (Poland), 2012; Beit Ha’air Museum for Urban Culture, Plain, Tel Aviv (Israel), 2013; Queens Museum of Art, Queens International 2013, New York (USA), 2013; The Boiler / Momenta Art, Seven, New York (USA), 2014; The Africa Centre, Infecting the City, Cape Town (South Africa), 2015; IDEAS CITY / The New Museum, The Invisible City, New York (USA), 2015; Roswell Museum and Art Center, New Media New Mexico, Santa Fe (USA), 2015; Constitution Hill, Between Democracies 1989-2014: Commemoration and Memory, Johannesburg (South Africa), 2015; Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Travellers, Warsaw (Poland), 2016.
Video works by the artist have recently been presented in the framework of numerous screenings around the world including: Media Art Biennale WRO, Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin/Madrid, Hors Pistes Japon, CURRENTS New Media Festival. (www.gilewicz.net)
More info: youtube.com
Wojciech Gilewicz, In Practice, oil on canvas, 2009 (fragment of American flag)
Wojciech Gilewicz, In Practice, oil on canvas, 2009 (fragment of orange-white protection barrier)
