24.04–15.05.2021
opening day: 24.04.2021, 2–8 p.m.
events:
– 15.05.2021 (Saturday), 17:00 – meeting by the Pole with Andrzej Tobis within the May Weekend in Muranów
– 15–16.05.2021 (Saturday–Sunday), 12:00–19:00 May Weekend in Muranów
Galeria Jednostka
Andersa 13
Warszawa
You can visit Jednostka Gallery on Fridays and Saturdays from 14.00-18.00 (except for May Weekend in Muranów) or by appointment: +48 502 22 55 22, gallery@jednostka.com.
You are kindly invited to the second One Work Show. OWS a series of exhibitions featuring single pieces selected from the oeuvre of Jednostka’s artists. Each item on display is unique and has not been shown in the Gallery previously. Every One Work Show offers an opportunity for you to focus on the details of works and the underlying concepts, as well as to learn the stories behind their creation.
The second work, selected for this spring, is the North Pole, Andrzej Tobis’ 2021 photograph from his famous A-Z (Educational Cabinets) series. The picture was taken last winter, the severity of which again ‘surprised snow removal companies,’ as the Polish saying goes. And not only them. The sight of snow was a novelty for quite big children, those who can already talk but have not yet learnt to sledge. At a time of growing awareness of the dangers of climate change, the sight of show provokes many questions.
Andrzej Tobis’ A-Z (Educational Cabinets) is a contemporary, ‘photographic reissue’ of a German-Polish illustrated dictionary published in 1954 in the GDR. The artist has been working on it since 2006, when he embarked on a linguistic and visual journey across Poland in search of the objects and situations from the dictionary. Tobis’ action is utopian in nature – his endeavour continues, even though it can never be fully completed. To date, the artist has illustrated 1,300 from more than 17,000 entries.
An educational trail FROM THE GLOBE TO THE GLOBE will also be prepared for viewers within the gallery space.
ANDRZEJ TOBIS ABOUT THE NORTH POLE, 2021:
“I learned about the existence of this globe in October. It stands outdoors in Pabianice. It is huge and beautiful, made with passion. I badly wanted to include it in the A-Z. Unfortunately, all the entries from the dictionary that could be easily illustrated by the image had already been taken. ‘Globe,’ ‘Earth,’ ‘sphere’ – everything had already been included. In January, when a snowfall and cool air that we had not seen for a long time reached Poland, I saw an image in my head that perfectly illustrated the entry North Pole. I chose the moment that was potentially most suitable in weather terms, and I went to Pabianice. I had to be there at dawn, right after the snowfall has subsided. I left when it was still dark. The distance from Katowice to Pabianice is 188 kilometres. I was riding the white motorway slowly, in a snowstorm. Indeed, the snow removal companies were taken by surprise. As was everyone. We had not seen such a winter for a long time. I was riding and thinking about the climatic turbulences. The polar ice is melting, with the cold spreading in unpredictable directions. Last winter there was hardly any snow in Poland. This year, the tongue of cold from the deregulated North Pole has reached as far as Spain. People are skiing in the streets of the centre of Madrid. I am wondering what will happen next year. While I was driving, it started to lighten, the snow stopped falling. I drove into town. I reached the spot, driving a narrow, dead-end street. Standing in front of the globe at daybreak, I was admiring the beautiful, fresh snow blanket. I was wondering if I was looking at an anomaly. Will it be possible to see snow in Pabianice in a few years? I took the picture and was about to fold the tripod when I heard someone behind my back. An elderly gentleman, a neighbour from across the street, came to ask what measurements I was taking there. He got very worried when I told him that I was just photographing the globe.
– I thought they would finally asphalt the street end.
Indeed, the street ended with a dirt section of several dozen metres.
– It’s not bad today, because there is frost. But it will be over soon. The ground will thaw and we will drown in mud.”
Andrzej Tobis (b. in 1970) is a photographer and painter. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow (Katowice branch). He has been working at his alma mater since 1996, and currently runs one of its undergraduate painting studios.
All the works on display at a One Work Show (as well as other works by the featured artists) can be purchased at the Jednostka Gallery.
Next One Work Show:
Weronika Gęsicka, Untitled #5 from the series Traces, 2015–2017 (date TBA soon)
to be continued.
Partner: Artesola Gallery
May Weekend in Muranów – galleries:
HOS gallery
Jednostka
LETO
Fundacja Pamoja
Polana Institute
Szydłowski
Andrzej Tobis, ‘North Pole’, 2021 from the ‘A-Z (Educational Cabinets)’