The exhibition Artur Zmijewski: The Social Studio presents a selection of recent works by Artur Zmijewski, including videos Them (2007) and Repetition (2005) that could be described as “social studios,” social experiments of sorts documented on film in a provocative and openly confrontational way.

Zmijewski believes that in order for art to regain its value in society, it has to expose societal conflict and disclose the conditions in which social antagonisms are cultivated and maintained by the powers that be. Convinced that the hard-won autonomy of art—in which art is considered independent from the “real” world—has actually disempowered it from acting as an accountable public voice, Zmijewski insistently requires of art that it take responsibility and engage in a dialogue with the current social and political reality around us. In this way, art can contribute to shaping that reality by imagining the world otherwise than we know it.

Publications

Newsletter

Artur Żmijewski: The Social Studio

Acknowledgements

The architectural concept for the exhibition is developed by artist Josef Dabernig.

With thanks to Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven and Foksal Gallery Foundation, Warsaw.