American Dream

The exhibition, organized for the 90th anniversary of the establishment of formal diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Poland, is designed as an artistic and educational event. Authors of the project display and recall diverse phenomenon along with people and notions important to the generation of Poles entering adulthood in the 60s and 70s while confronted with the reality of the Polish communist regime and its propaganda of that time. Aspects of reality that entered into the common consciousness and which strongly influenced the life outlook of Poles of this era will be illustrated in the exhibition AmericAn dream. Aldona Jawlowska’s book Drogi kontrukultury (The Ways of Counterculture) from 1975, in which the author defined the credo of the generation, is the starting point of the show. The book refers to experiences in the field of culture, starting from the 1950s and the beat generation through the protest movements of the 1960s and 1970s until the transformations in the Eastern bloc in the 1980s. The philosophical, literary and cinematic ideas of the ‘road’ start a chain of associations, which lead the public through the world of motion pictures, music, literature, poetry and visual arts. The show will be a type of artistic and multimedia experiment, with different types of installations, including projectors displaying documentaries, photography, and playing specially prepared soundtracks. The core of the exhibition will be the collection belonging to the father of American photorealism – Louis K. Meisel – a collector from New York who in 1969 opened in SoHo a small gallery dedicated solely to promoting photorealism. Louis K. Meisel is one of the most prominent collectors and dealers of this movement, and his gallery is known around the world. He’s also the author of numerous essential publications on the topic. The exhibition will present such prominent artists as Ralph Goings, Richard Estes, Robert Cottingham and Robert Bechtle – to name only few – all of whom are top American photorealist artists. American photorealism has never been presented in Poland before. Currently part of the Louis K. Meisel’s collection is being shown in the exhibition Picturing America. Photorealism in the 1970s, co-curated by Louis K. Meisel and on display at the Deutsche Guggengeim in Berlin. The Berlin show is recognized as the first and the most comprehensive presentation of American photorealism in Europe. Presentation of this prominent collection at the National Museum in Krakow places the Museum among the leading museums in the world in presenting contemporary art of a highest order. The show will be accompanied by two publications – a lexicon containing around 300 entries explaining phenomenon presented and recalled in the exhibition and an album on American photorealism. A rich interdisciplinary education program to be run outside of the Museum is also planned along with the exhibition. Along with this major event other events to be presented include: Weegee – exhibition of the famous American photojournalist, May – August, Art or Advertisement, July – September, Graphic Art from the Collection of the Polish Museum of America, September – December, Jam Session. Amerykanscy Ambasadorowie Jazzu Ruszaja w Swiat, August – September, Andy Warhol, Eric Fischl, Philip Taaffe… – a presentation of contemporary American art within the framework of the exhibition First Step…, until December ’09. Kuratorzy wystawy: Magdalena Czubinska, Louis K. Meisel Koordynator wystawy: Olga Jaros Admission: adults PLN 10, concessions PLN 5, family tickets (max 5 person, 2 adults + 3 children) PLN 20, groups (min. 15 person) PLN 8, groups concessions (min. 15 person) PLN 4.