FOOLS AND PRIESTS

Three decades of expressive painting in Wroclaw

Work by Krzysztof Skarbek © Dorota Kabiesz

The “Fools & Priests” exhibition examines the vibrant yet relatively unknown art movement referred to as “Polish New Expression”. This movement dominated the arts – painting, in particular – in the 1980s in Poland. As members of the international trans avant-garde, New Expression artists developed an approach to art that was concurrent and entirely on par with the more well-known styles and groups of that era, including Germany’s Neue Wilde, Italy’s Arte Cifra, France’s Figuration Libre and the United States’ New Image Painting.

Zdzislaw Nitka and Krzysztof Skarbek are two of the most important representatives of Polish New Expression. Since the 1980s, they have maintained close connections to the Breslau Art Academy and today manage their own studios for painting there.

In preparing for “Fools & Priests”, Nitka and Skarbek suggested some of their own works, but also selected a number of pieces by former students as well as up-and-coming artists who will no doubt shape and enrich the art scene in Breslau in the coming years.

Artists: Zdzislaw NITKA, Krzysztof SKARBEK, Yolanta NIKT, Piotr SAUL, Michał GATAREK, Jagoda DOBECKA, Natalia ŁABĘDŹ, Michał WĘGRZYN

The artists Zdzislaw Nitka and Yolanda Nikt will be present at the Opening in Berlin. Free entry

Music: Karsten Troyke

In celebration of Breslau’s tenure as European Capital of Culture 2016, curator Dorota Kabiesz will showcase the “Fools & Priests” exhibition in Berlin starting this summer, after which time it will move to other German cities.