Group exhibition: Resurrected Matter, Museum of Art Timisoara, Romania

Postwar Expressions in the works of Tadeusz Kantor, Shinkichi Tajiri and Jaap Wagemaker 16 October - 16 November 2020 Curated by Maria Rus Bojan

Resurrected Matter explores the prominent tendencies that shaped the postwar artistic climate in Europe through the works of three important artists of different backgrounds and creative expressions: the American-born Japanese artist Shinkichi Tajiri, who lived his life in France and The Netherlands, the Dutch artist Jaap Wagemaker, and the Polish artist Tadeusz Kantor.

Navigating around these artists’ original approaches to the physical “matter” of painting and spiritual “matter” of sculpture, this exhibition proposes an unusual association of works, which emphasise the spirit of the 1950’s: overcoming the postwar malaise through fundamental change, a renewal which announces a full-circle of artistic renaissance through liberation from old conventions. Even though formally these artists have different approaches, it is important to consider their works from this period from an integrated perspective, taking into account that Kantor lived on the other side of Europe, beyond the Iron Curtain, isolated from the West. While Tajiri and Wagemaker have previously exhibited together and even represented The Netherlands at the Venice Biennale in 1962, Kantor has never been associated with the other two. It is nevertheless vital to highlight Kantor’s position as an Eastern European artist in full synchronicity with artists from the West, adapted to the local (problematic) context of that period in his native country, Poland. The exhibition is organized by Triade Foundation, Timisoara in partnership with the Museum of Art Timisoara and the Association Timisoara 2021 - European Capital of Culture, and was made possible by the generous support given by the European Art East Foundation and the exceptional loans from the Artur Trawinski Collection (Portugal/Poland) and Matthijs Erdman (The Netherlands). Special thanks to Timea Lelik, Ph.D, for her contribution to the art historical research for this exhibition.