Artist Story: Gosia Koscielak

The beginning of my international career in art was established in the 80's at the Rekwizytornia (The Property Room) Gallery, at the Contemporary Theatre in Wroclaw/Poland. At the time I was organizing many international exhibitions including presentations of legendary Richard Demarco, Director of the Edinburgh International Festival of Music, Drama and Dance from Scotland and Jurgen Blum Kwiatkowski, Director of the Museum Modern Art Hunfeld from Germany. I also organized exhibitions of Italian artistic group from Bergamo, and other artists from Germany, Netherlands, and Sweden. In 1989 I organized Hommage a Henryk Stazewski, a traveling exhibition of 125 artists from 18 countries. Henryk Stazewski (1894 - 1988) was the last of the European avant-garde group's member of early 20th century. He was a friend and collaborator of Kasimir Malevich, Piet Mondrian, founder and member of the Blok, A.R. Praesens and Cercle et Carre artistic groups. He died at the age of 94 as last of the constructivists; I visited his studio with Prof. Wanda Golkowska and Jan Chwalczyk a year before Stazewski passed away. He had a big impact on my artistic path, understanding of what an international artistic collaboration is , and how art can influence individuals.

Except curatorial projects in the late 80's, I was active in international mail art movement, and I participated in numerous international exhibitions, and symposiums related to the abstract geometrical art movement in Europe. I participated in PRO Conferences, organized in Dordrecht, Holland and in the Null Dimension exhibitions organized by Jurgen Blum Kwiatkowski at the Galerie New Space in Fulda, West Germany.

Those exhibitions and symposiums connected independent artists, whose works were driven from the constructivist heritage, minimal art and conceptual art. Artists participating in those symposiums came from many different countries, mostly from Europe, but also from the USA, and Canada. Symposiums and exhibitions were huge gatherings of artists from different countries where artists could share their thoughts and ideas on different forums, lectures, and presentations.

Later on I took part in International Plain-Airs: Art and Geometry organized by Bozena Kowalska in Chelm Museum of Art in Poland. And again it was a great forum for artists from different countries who were linked to abstract geometry.

For the last two decades, I have been continuing my dialog with artists from different places around the globe. I curated international exhibitions including Transcultural Visions: Polish-American Contemporary Art: An exhibition that addresses identity in global and American culture by investigating how American artists of Polish heritage relate to their ethnic identity. The exhibit was presented at the Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago, 2001, and later at the Szczecin National Museum in Poland, 2002. The artistic discussion in this exhibition was called "Glocal", from the counterpoint of the Global versus the Local.

In 2004 I collaborated with my sister on curating the solo exhibition of Ed Paschke at the National Museum in Wroclaw, Poland, and I invited Frances Whitehead to collaborate on project Hydrofilia at the Center of Polish Sculpture in Oronsko. This year I took part in the NOVA Young Art Fair in Chicago, the SCOPE Art Fair in New York, and the Pool Art Fair in New York (http://www.poolartfair.com/gallery/ ). Also this year, with my sister, I organized the exhibition: Myths / AntiMyths, where in its first edition we presented American artists: Susan Sensemann, and Bruce Nauman among other artists from 4 countries.
I often collaborate with my sister, Elzbieta Koscielak, on a variety of international projects. Elzbieta Koscielak is an art critic, and member of International Art Critics Association-Greek Section, and is the founder and director of the Forum Plus Gallery in Wroclaw, Poland.

In 2005, I established the Gosia Koscielak Studio and Gallery that represents contemporary American and International artists in all media. Art works shown in my gallery reflect the complexity and variety of current aesthetic practices, spanning cultures and disciplines, creating a bridge between experimental and established forms. My gallery collaborates with many cultural and educational institutions. On October 14, 2005, my gallery presented The Amp exhibition by Prof. Zafos Xagoraris from Academy of Fine Arts in Athens / Greece.
On November 14, 2005 Daria Tsoupikowa, Helen - Nicole Kostis and I present project Virtual Unism at the Electronic Visualization Laboratory CAVE, UIC.

I believe in broader context of art based on very personal, individual approach to the exhibiting, and curatorial processes. I have a transcultural vision of my gallery, which reflects aesthetic and interpersonal communications across time and cultural space. I believe in a fluid transcultural personal dialogue in art, at this moment, in the age of the end of history and globalization.


Gosia Koscielak is an artist, curator and lecturer. Koscielak was born in Wroclaw (Poland), graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Wroclaw, Poland (MFA'86, MFA'87, PhD '92) and from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (MFA'94). Her work is featured in public collections including Calgary University in Canada, Chelm Museum in Poland and the Center of Polish Sculpture in Oronsko.