Courtesy of Cherokee Street News
So, this Saturday at 7 p.m., there's an opening reception for "PL/STL: Celebration of Polish Poster and Visual Art 1900-Current," which is April's installment of the yearlong series "IDENTITY CRISIS: ten years of fort gondo." The collection on display, which includes work from Ryszard Kaja, Andrzej Pagowski, Jakob Erol, Andrzej Klimowski, Jan Lenica, Franciszek Starowieyski, Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (Witkacy) and others, belongs largely to local artist and noise musician Chris Smentkowski, though the show also has some loans from fellow Polish poster fan, Jeremy Kannapel (Ghost Ice, New Music Circle).
Smentkowski recommends this link as a great source for historical information on Polish poster art. (This one's good, too.) "Growing up a third generation Polish-American, I've watched many of the traditions my great-grandparents slip by the wayside," he says. "However, these traditions of our great-grandparents have remained the norm and the stereotype for many Polish-Americans. As great as many of these traditions are, they are old school. Much has changed in Poland, especially when one considers World War II and Solidarność. And so it seems to me that there's not much celebration exposing Poland's more recent cultural artifacts, perhaps the most important being how mind-blowing and little known state-side Polish art really is....The accessibility of Polish poster art lends itself well to try to expose some of Poland’s more recent and internationally renowned art."
Smentkowski's also curated a whole month of related programming, including film and music. The film series (all screenings are free), kicks off Friday night. Here's the schedule:
Friday, April 5, 9 p.m.: The Double Life of Veronique, Moolah Mini Theater, 3821 Lindell.
Thursday, April 12, 9 p.m.: The Anthology of Polish Experimental Animation, Apop Records, 2831 Cherokee.
Saturday, April 14, 8 p.m.: Summer Love, Fort Gondo, 3151 Cherokee
Thursday, April 19, 9 p.m.: The Hour-Glass Sanatorium, Apop Records
Thursday, April 26, 9 p.m.: Knife in the Water, Apop Records
On April 14, Nini Julia Bang (who's affiliated with Wroclaw, Poland's Teatr ZAR), plays Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center (3301 Lemp) with Point Reyes (Brooklyn, NY), Smentkowski, and John Buckle-Tamm. Cover is $5, and the show starts at 9 p.m.
Gondo will also celebrate one traditional Polish holiday as part of the show: Śmigus-Dyngus Day, also known as Lany Poniedzialek, or Wet Easter Monday. Traditionally, boys in Polish villages run around throwing buckets of water on people on this holiday, and any girls who get splashed are expected to marry within the year. That means that on Monday, "anytime during the day, anywhere near Fort Gondo, you may get drenched." You have been warned!
If you miss the opening on Saturday night, and would like to see the show, contact Chris Smentkowski at smentkowskica@gmail.com. Fort Gondo is located at 3151 Cherokee.
