is yet another testament to the significance of Igor Mitoraj’s accomplishments for European and Polish art history. It demonstrates how the IGOR MITORAJ sculptor re-uses and draws on the European culture based on its ancient and Judeo-Christian roots. It makes visible the incessant process A Dialogue Between of dialogue between Christian and classical elements in Mitoraj’s figurative sculpture, Art and History showcasing the evolution of the contents and iconography of the artist’s agenda: from mythology to Christian theology, through the A documentary exhibition showing photographs Christianisation of pagan myths. of sculptures by the internationally-celebrated Polish artist Igor Mitoraj (1944 – 2014), whose Yet the exhibition is, moreover, a works are found in public locations in some 44 vociferous call for the restoration in , in cities throughout the world. Three of his sculptures the Polish art history of the twentieth century, are sited in public spaces at Canary Wharf. An of the artistic achievements of Polish artists artist who has been called ‘A Michelangelo from who, after 1945, were active outside communist the East’, Mitoraj created a body of work that Poland. These artists, overlooked and forgotten combines the antiquity of Greece and with for almost 70 years, find it extremely hard to a postmodern sensibility, creating enigmatic and penetrate not only the general consciousness, haunting sculptures all portraying the human but also official, scholarly studies on Polish figure, at times fragmented, hollow, and on a contemporary art. The exhibition then is a call massive scale as well as in diminutive renditions. to push out of the shadow Polish art created outside Poland – today remaining ‘in the waiting The title and concept of the exhibition, which room of art’ – and to include it in the official was instigated by Professor Bohdan Michalski and bloodstream called ‘Polish contemporary art’. Dr Beata Klocek di Biasio of the Foundation for Dialogue in , derives in large part from Today all the studies in the field of contemporary Ikaro alato 2000 John Paul Olympic Centre, Warsaw Photograph: Szymon Sikora the first monograph on this important artist, Polish art continue to address only the ‘history The Works of Igor Mitoraj, A Dialogue between of art in Poland’, i.e. the art created within the Art and History by Dr Beata Klocek di Biasio. borders of the People’s Republic of Poland (until 1989) and of the Third Republic of The exhibition is supported by the Polish Cultural Centauro 1984 Montgomery Square, Canary Wharf Tindaro screpolato 1998 Old Market Square, Krakow Poland. Writing a complete history of Polish art, Institute, London Photograph: Philip Vile Photograph: Tadeusz Cukier comprising that art created on the River Vistula Based in London, the Polish Cultural Institute is dedicated and the output of exiled artists, including the rich to nurturing and promoting cultural ties between the Ikaria 1987 ,Agrigento oeuvre of Igor Mitoraj is still ahead of us. United Kingdom and Poland, both through British exposure Photograph: Andrzej Kiełbowski Igor Mitoraj: Michelangelo The war dealt a serious blow to the tissue of to Poland’s cultural achievements, and through exposure the artistic community in Poland: this wound Warsaw, 21 February 2019 of Polish artists and scholars to British trends, institutions with Polish Roots would not heal, repeatedly torn open by further and colleagues. Its flagship project is the annual Kinoteka Professor Sienkiewicz is an art historian, art critic, Polish Film Festival promoting Polish film industry by Professor Jan Wiktor Sienkiewicz, Ph.D, D. Litt waves of emigration, in 1956, 1968, 1970, 1980, during martial law 1981-1983, in the years after and university professor in the Department of the showing debut titles and well-known cult movies alike, inviting guests, collaborating with visual artists and well- The artistic accomplishments of the eminent the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and after History of Art and Émigré Polish Culture, Nicolaus recognised musicians. sculptor Igor Mitoraj, an artist of Polish descent Poland’s European Union accession in 2004. Copernicus University, Toruñ, Poland. and with a Polish soul, were still, during his lifetime, After the Second World War, Polish art developed The Institute works with many institutions, galleries widely recognised among art connoisseurs and concurrently at home and in exile, and was and companies in the UK, including Barbican Centre, lovers of his talent. Yet it is only recently that this therefore fed by two bloodstreams. Whitechapel Gallery, British Library, Shakespeare’s oeuvre has been subject to an in-depth evaluation Birthplace Trust, National Gallery, BFI Southbank, and The Globe. in Poland, thanks to many years of research and The art created in what was known as the People’s work on the sculptor’s legacy spearheaded by Republic of Poland was called ‘Polish art’. By For more information visit: polishculture.org.uk Professor Bohdan Michalski and Dr Beata Klocek contrast the art created outside Poland – apart di Biasio. The two Polish scholars, wishing to from some names, especially of artists living in restore Mitoraj’s artistic achievements and assure – was not (for various reasons) a matter their due place in the history of Polish art of of interest to artists or scholars. At present, an the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, knew estimated 18-20 million or people of Polish perfectly well that Mitoraj’s work – like that of descent live outside Poland; among them there other Polish artists and those of Polish descent, are a large number of artists, perhaps as many With special thanks to be they painters, sculptors, graphic artists, as thousands. After 1945, many Polish artists architects, applied art and new media artists, settled mainly in the United Kingdom. Yet there MINISTRY OF CULTURE and NATIONAL HERITAGE of the REPUBLIC of POLAND photographers, art critics, dealers, collectors, were also sizeable diasporas of Polish artists in and musicologists active outside the historical France (where Igor Mitoraj worked for a spell THE POLISH INSTITUTE OF WORLD ART STUDIES too), in the United States of America, in South borders of Poland – is part and parcel of the most EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC of POLAND in LONDON America – especially in Argentina and Brazil – and important phenomena in the history of Polish JAN MATEJKO ACADEMY of FINE ARTS in KRAKOW artistic culture. Due to several waves of migrations in Australia. A large group of Polish artists chose of Polish artists, these phenomena continue to call as their second homeland; this is what Igor for recognition, examination and inclusion in the Mitoraj ultimately did as well. currently incomplete canon of Polish contemporary Dr Beata Klocek di Biasio’s monograph and the art. Through the years, the largest Polish artistic present exhibition of photographs of the artist’s communities outside Poland, of émigrés, exiles or sculptures on display in the lobby of One Canada expats (each of these notions is defined differently Square in London’s commercial centre Canary today), began to emerge after the outbreak of the Wharf, are but the onset of a debate on the Second World War and in the wake of the post- Honorary Patrons oeuvre of this eminent Polish artist who worked Yalta division of Europe into zones of influence. Jarosław SELLIN, Deputy Minister for Culture and National for decades outside Poland. The London show Heritage of the Republic of Poland Torso Ikaria grande 2002 (detail) Old Market Square, Krakow Photograph: Tadeusz Cukier Sir George IACOBESCU CBE, Chairman, Canary Wharf Group plc Krakow luridicum Jagiellonian University, 1991 Collegium image – Luci di Nara Cover Cukier Tadeusz Photograph: Selected Cities, Museums, Institutions and Open-air Spaces where Sculptures by Igor Mitoraj can be seen:

Biographical Notes Agrigento, Valle dei Laval, Ministère des Principautè de Templi Finances Monaco, Fontevieille Igor (Jerzy) Mitoraj was born in 1944 in Oederan, Amsterdam, Philips London, The British , , the illegitimate child of a Polish mother, who Foundation Museum Gewerbepark was displaced as a forced labourer in Germany, and a Andros (Cyclades), London, Canary Wharf Roma, Basilica di French officer, who was a prisoner of war in a German Museum of Santa Maria degli Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, County Angeli e dei Martiri POW camp. Igor grew up in Poland in a village near B. & E. Goulandris Museum of Art Roma, Cassa di Foundation Auschwitz, and spent his youth in Krakow, studying Lausanne, Musée Risparmio di Roma Olympique IGOR MITORAJ Angers, Place Saint-Éloi in the Faculty of and Printmaking at Krakow Roma, Fintermica Academy of Fine Arts in 1966-68. Under the tutelage Atlanta, Coca-Cola Lausanne, Parc Jacorossi Foundation Olympique of , he was introduced to contemporary Roma, Fondazione A Dialogue Between Lugano, Centro storico artists such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Mario , Memmo Internationales Łódź, Muzeum Sztuki Roma, Piazza Monte Merz and Yves Klein. However he remained faithful to Künstlerhaus Villa Grappa Art and History figurative representation in drawing, encaustic painting Concordia, Kunstverein Massa Marittima, Centro storico Roma, Valentino Spa and above all sculpture. Belfort, Place Henry Baudin , Agusta S.p.A. San Francisco, Rosenkranz Berlin, Sammlung Milan, Assicurazioni In 1968 he went to to continue his studies at the Foundation Würth Tirrenia École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Arts (National Saint Louis, The Chicago, Hilton Milan, Barona Gateway Foundation High School of Fine Arts). His first solo exhibition at the International Company Milan, Piazza del La Hune Gallery in 1976 was successful and he received Florence, Cassa di Carmine important awards including the Montrouge Prix de la Risparmio di Firenze Milan, Rusconi Editore Scheveningen, Museum Beelden Sculpture. In the 1970s he visited and Guatemala Florence, Giardino di aan Zee to study South American and Aztec cultures. Returning Boboli Milan, Teatro alla Scala Tivoli, Piazza Trento Florence, Museo degli to France in early 1977 Mitoraj was offered a sculpture Milan, Trussardi SA studio by the City of Paris, where he made his first Uffizi Tokyo, Tokyo Sogo Bank Grand Rapids, Frederik Minneapolis, large-scale sculptures, initially in clay and plaster. From Minneapolis Institute Meijer Gardens & Torino, Seat then on his career gained momentum, with numerous Sculpture Park of Art Angelic Gates 2009 (detail) Jesuit Church of Our Lady of Graces, Warsaw Eros bendato screpolato 1999 Valle dei Templi, Agrigento Monaco, Fontvieille Utsunomiya, Oya exhibitions in France and across Europe, as well as Photograph: Bohdan Michalski Photograph: Andrzej Kiełbowski Hakone, Hakone Open Stone Museum commissions. His first encounters with the sculpture Air Museum New York, The M.& I. Rayburn Foundation Wakefield, Yorkshire of ancient Greece and Renaissance Italy were equally Hokkaido, Abuta, Sculpture Park influential on his own work: ‘as earlier in Mexico, in On a visit to Pietrasanta in Tuscany, Mitoraj discovered in the Old Market Square in Krakow, his sculptures Sculpture Park Osio Sotto, Piazza Papa Giovanni XXIII Warsaw, mBank S.A. Greece and in Italy I felt, so to say, the breath of stone’. marble as an ideal material for his sculptures, in displayed against the backdrop of its fine civic Ivrea, Olivetti S.p.A. Paris, BNP Paribas Warsaw, John Paul II addition to terracotta and bronze. In 1983, he chose buildings. The artist described the architectural Krakow, Academy Olympic Centre of Fine Arts Paris, La Défense to make Italy his home and opened a studio in interior of the square as: ‘arguably the most exquisite Warsaw, National Pietrasanta, while maintaining his Paris atelier. It was exhibition space in Europe, a space to be used in Krakow, National Paris, Ministère de la Museum Museum Défense Nationale here that the exhibition Mitoraj. Mito e musica, was the most artistic way possible’. Warsaw, Polpharma Krakow, Collegium Pietrasanta, Chiesa held in 2015. Initially conceived to commemorate his Iuridicum, Jagiellonian di Sant’Agostino Warsaw, Jesuit Church In 2004, important exhibitions included the Tuileries University of Our Lady of Graces 70th birthday it sadly became a posthumous homage Pietrasanta, Palazzo paid by the city to the artist, its honorary citizen, Gardens, Paris; Trajan’s Forum, Rome (in collaboration Krakow, Krakow Opera del Comune Washington, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture who died in Paris on 6 October 2014, his funeral with the Contini Art Gallery) and the Royal Palace Krakow, Old Market Pietrasanta, Piazza del Garden of Warsaw, Poland. His monumental sculptures were Square Centauro taking place in Pietrasanta on 13 October. He had Vatican, Musei Vaticani worked between Italy and France until his death. displayed in the beautiful environment of the Valle dei Künzelsau, Museum Poznań, Stary Browar Templi, Agrigento, Sicily in 2011, while in spring 2012 his Würth – Art and Business In the exhibition catalogue, Italy’s culture minister Centre Dario Franceschini wrote: solo exhibition Memoriae took place during the Ravello Festival, in a spectacular location on the Amalfi Coast. His sculptures can be found in museums and squares Up until his death in 2014 important events continued of many cities across the globe, yet a memory of him to take place, including an exhibition to inaugurate the will be permanently tied with the community and the monumental complex in the Square of Miracles in Pisa. soil he chose and whose genius loci preserves the knowledge about processing marble and bronze and In 2016, the exhibition of 30 of his monumental about the magic of sculpture, hark back to the time sculptures in the prestigious archaeological site of Exhibition Curators: Pompeii could be described as the artist’s crowning Beata Klocek di Biasio of Michelangelo Buonarroti. Bohdan Michalski achievement and the fulfilment of his dreams, as he Jan Wiktor Sienkiewicz Igor Mitoraj’s first exhibition in Italy took place in 1984 had intended to display his works in Pompeii yet did Sally Williams at the Galleria Toninelli in the heart of Rome, where not live long enough to see it achieved. The exhibition Essays translated into he met Federico Fellini, becoming close friends with was launched by the President of the Italian Republic, English by Marcin Turski the film director and his wife, actress Giulietta Masina. Sergio Mattarella, in the presence of numerous Beata Klocek di Biasio writes: representatives of Italian culture. In the exhibition Exhibition design catalogue Dario Franceschini wrote: by Tim Harvey It is intriguing to consider what could bind, apart from Photographers: personal interest, a cinematic artist with a sculptor, or After the display in the Valley of the Temples in Tadeusz Cukier film and sculpture. What important and stimulating Agrigento and in the Trajan Forum in Rome, we Tim Harvey 14 October – 22 November 2019 elements did Fellini and Masina notice in Mitoraj’s hit on an idea to hold his exhibition in yet another Andrzej Kiełbowski Lidia Popiel Daily 7am – 8pm sculptures? There is only one answer: a clash of archaeological scenery, with an unmatched charm: Bohdan Michalski ‘antiquity’ and modernity, which can be found both in among the excavations in Pompeii. Today this Szymon Sikora Lobby, One Canada Square, the film Fellini-Roma, and in Mitoraj’s entire oeuvre. magnificent dream has come true; I believe that this Philip Vile Canary Wharf, London E14 5AB is the best way to pay homage to this great artist Testa addormentata 1983 Bank Street, Canary Wharf In 1986, Mitoraj was invited to participate in the of international renown. The sight of such touching Photograph: Philip Vile XLII International Biennial in Venice. In addition to sculptures on the site of archaeological digs in exhibiting increasingly widely, he was receiving Pompeii triggers intense emotions and creates an canarywharf.com significant international commissions for monumental osmotic relationship between contemporary art An International Conference focussing on the work canarywharflondon Ikaro screpolato 1998, Ikaria 1996, Ikaro grezzo 1998 Ikaro alato 2000 sculptures from both private collectors as well as the and history. of Igor Mitoraj in the context of Public Art in the yourcanarywharf Old Market Square, Krakow. Photograph: Tadeusz Cukier public sector. In 2003 he had an important exhibition 21st Century will be held at Canary Wharf, March 2020. Organised by the Foundation for Dialogue.