The Artists of "HERE & NOW" Talk About Painting and Poland

The following is a discussion between the artists of the exhibition, "Here & Now." The exhibition was held at the Zacheta National Gallery in Warsaw, Poland, and the Arsenal Gallery in Blalystok, Poland, from May through August 2001.

Present: Byron Kim, Wojciech Lazarczyk, Robert Maciejuk, Olivier Mosset, Odili Donald Odita, Steven Parrino

Unable to attend: Leon Tarasewicz due to installation duties as Representative of Poland at the Venice Biennale; and Mikolaj Smoczynski due to his residency at the International Studio Program in New York City.

Moderator: Odili Donald Odita

1. How do you see your work placed within the curatorial scope of the exhibition, "Here & Now"?

Steven Parrino: I was interested that a show about painting still engages people. Painting still exists in the 'Now.'

Robert Maciejuk: My paintings owe a lot to the tradition of American art (e.g. Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns). However, despite certain similarities deriving from the same artistic roots, the juxtaposition of my works which deal with the issue of sign and basic emotions with the works of the American artists (Olivier Mosset in particular) revealed different kinds of energies.

Byron Kim: I tried to make modest paintings that address the site, Poland and Bialystok in particular, and contrast with the largeness of the other work in the show. Also, I wanted to have them installed haphazardly, so they could get lost, like guerilla paintings.

Olivier Mosset: I was honored to have been invited to 'Here & Now'. I was interested in the relationship between my paintings and the other works. I knew some of the painters, but was happy to meet the others. My work seemed to fit the overall concept of the show, of course, but I think that it is important to see a group show centered on the idea of abstract paintings, especially at a time when there is a lot of interest in photography, video and object installation. It was also pertinent that some works in that show were dealing with the concept of installation, as others were straight forward painting.

Wojciech Lazarczyk: For many reasons, the exhibition 'Here & Now' was, for me, a unique one. In a clear way, it brought us closer to the issue of the purpose of painting. It created the possibility to cross boundaries of our consciousness by offering situations outside of accepted 'norms'. This exhibition showed us the very moment in which the real space meets its mental projection, which further allowed us to expand our experience of reality.

Odili Donald Odita: I believe my work was situated as a link between the work of Wojciech Lazarczyk and Robert Maciejuk where the metaphysic aspects of painting join with a more obvious socio-cultural space that painting can occupy.

2. Did this collaboration succeed in improving any communication and/or knowledge you might have of the other participating Polish and USA artists?

SP: I just did my thing. I didn't see the show as a collaboration. I'm not a nationalist.

WL: I believe the distinction between Polish and American artists is insignificant. One can hardly notice any differences. To know that each of us is a part of a larger whole helps to understand that the whole and the part are not mutually exclusive. We found a greater meaning, a greater value. There is nothing contradictory in this process; it is just a direct experience of an individual identity with something larger.

RM: It is difficult to speak of a deepened knowledge and communication with the other participating American artists because of the very nature of the exhibition which is neither a large retrospective nor a series of one-man shows which would probably give a better grasp of the presented tendencies. Some barriers in communication, if any, result from lack of my knowledge and familiarity with the works of American artists. While I have no difficulty with situating the exhibited works of Mosset in the context of his whole oeuvre as well as in the concrete tradition of painting, the work of Steven Parrino seems to me more enigmatic because I am not able to visualize his previous works, nor predict his next artistic step.

OM: As I said before, besides knowing some of the painters, and meeting the others, I have great respect for the history of progressive painting in Poland from Traminski, Kobro, Stazeski, Berlevi, to Fangor.

BK: Since I was unable to attend the show, I cannot comment on any communication that might have happened between the artists.

ODO: For myself, it did improve my understanding of things in Poland. I was made aware of the extent and the depth of inquiry into painting as an intellectual/ideological exercise. The tradition of artmaking in Poland is not only very serious, it is contemporary, and that resonates throughout "Here & Now.'

3. What is the most significant thing that you have come to understand through your collaborative efforts in this project?

OM: Having never been to Poland, it was great to be there, and it also felt good to be in an abstract painting show, because that is what we do. I hope to keep in touch with the eastern European art scene and to continue to have contact with other abstract painters there.

RM: The exhibition 'Here & Now' is not another official conjoined project commissioned by the state in order to present the trends in contemporary art approved for international cultural exchange. It is simply a presentation of a chosen aspect of painting and that is its genuine, and even didactic value.
BK: I believe that abstraction is barely able to hold meaning in the present international art context, but this conclusion has nothing to do with the 'Here & Now' exhibition.

ODO: This is what has struck me about this show- the particularization of the concept of Abstraction and what is generally felt as its inability to communicate. Abstraction is something I don't see. For me, all art has the ability to communicate, and this power simply resides in the conceptual and material integrity of its form.

WL: The most significant thing is the understanding that in painting there are no partial solutions or conflicting paths. Every creation changes, reshapes, deepens, affirms or cancels. Everything is always present within the image of its identity.