Unpolished 4 and 5 - Copenhagen

After the presentation of the exhibition at the CODE International Fair, the exhibition will be moved to the Design Center in Copenhagen (BC Design Center), where it will be presented until the end of September 2010 as “UNPOLISHED 5 – young design from Poland”. We first presented the works of young Polish designers in September 2009 at the DESIGN SEPTEMBER festival in Brussels. Polish artistic achievements aroused the interest of professionals, connoisseurs of modern art and the public. It turned out that Polish design is attractive to a European audience. – explains Agnieszka Jacobson-Cielecka, curator of the exhibition. The UNPOLISHED exhibition is a cyclical project – after all, every year new artists appear, there are more and more interesting artistic projects worth showing in Europe. This year, Krystian Kwiecinski (Y parametric table), Kompott group (boxes), Strawberry Kingdom (Good King Henry), Monika Patuszyńska joined the exhibition.

Most of the designers and design groups presented at the UNPOLISHED 4 and UNPOLISHED 5 exhibitions belong to the thirtysomething generation. This is, according to the curators, the most interesting group of Polish artists. Educated already after the change of the political system in Poland, most of them not only design, but also produce and promote their own work.

Some artists are inspired by Polish tradition, material culture or craftsmanship. The raw wood used by Gogo or Malafor, the reference to threaded lace by Aze, Agnieszka Czop and Joanna Bylicka – all use commonly available materials and traditional manufacturing methods. What is new, however, is the scale of the object and its function. Many works are characterized by humor, irony, balancing on the border between design and art, a perverse sense of humor or distance from classic defi nitions of design. Such are the works of Moomoo, DBWT, Agnieszka Bar or Concrete. Yet another theme is the fascination with material and manufacturing technology, especially noticeable in the works of Monika Patuszyńska, Magdalena Trzcionka or Karina Marusińska.

When selecting works and designers, we looked for the most characteristic elements of Polish design, features that distinguish us from other designers. When preparing such exhibitions, we are always faced with the question of what do we actually want to prove? Is it that Poles design like everyone else? Or that they design differently from everyone else? – points out exhibition curator Agnieszka Jacobson-Cielecka. Certainly the process of creation and selection of materials is special. The designers reach for materials that are accessible, inexpensive and natural: wood, osb and mdf boards, felt, or recycled materials. They also most often make their objects themselves or with the help of local craftsmen.

Most of the presented works are prototypes, uniques or limited series.

The exhibitions in Copenhagen will feature works by: Aze Design, Agnieszka Bar, Beton, Joanna Bylicka, Grzegorz Cholewiak, DBWT, Gogo, Agnieszka Kajper, Kompott, Bogdan Kosak, Krystian Kwiecinski, Lapolka, Malafor, Karina Marusińska, Moomoo Architects, Bartosz Mucha, Monika Patuszyńska, Pleców, Puff -Buff Design, Joanna Rusin and Agnieszka Czop, Strawberry Kingdom and Magdalena Trzcionka.

The UNPOLISHED 4 and UNPOLISHED 5 exhibitions were organized through the efforts of the Regional Museum in Stalowa Wola and the Polish Embassy in Copenhagen in cooperation with the BC Design Center in Copenhagen.

UNPOLISHED 4: as part of CODE 2010 fair / August 26-29, 2010 / www.code10.dk

UNPOLISHED 5: August 30 – September 30, 2010 / BC Design Center / www.bcdesigncenter.dk

curators: Agnieszka Jacobson-Cielecka + Paweł Grobelny

AGNIESZKA JACOBSON-CIELECKA – curator of many exhibitions and journalist, expert and popularizer of contemporary design. Artistic director of the Łódź Design Festival 2008-2010 (www.lodzdesign.com). She cooperates with many cultural institutions in Poland and abroad, organizing exhibitions of Polish and international design. She also popularizes design and designers. From 2000 to 2007 she was editor-in-chief of the Polish edition of Elle Decoration. Graduate of the painting department of the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdansk.

PAWEŁ GROBELNY- designer, graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznan. He is the winner of many design competitions including “LVMH Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy for Young Creators 2005/2006”, “Parckdesign 2008”, “Prodeco 2006 – Young Designer”, “Prodeco 2008”, “Machina Design Award 2009” and an honorable mention in the mcompetition “Th e new subjectivity in design” organized by the Zachęta National Gallery in Warsaw and the British Council. He designs furniture, interiors, public spaces, and organizes design exhibitions.