film 35 mm, 24'48"
1975
Consisting of individual sequences designed by the featured artists, the film has become an extremely valuable document of the Polish neo-avant-garde of the mid-1970s. Robakowski invited several dozen contributors, offering them roughly 90 seconds each to introduce themselves and present their achievements. Originally meant to feature only artists associated with the Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź, the project (in such a form) was rejected by the institution’s director. Consequently, Robakowski produced his own version of the film, showing artists who, as he wrote, were an ‘element that pushed the limits of art at the time’.* A sort of performative gallery, the work also became a polemical and critical statement on institutional policies and hierarchies. Based on an assemblage structure, Living Gallery is a point of reference for the Exchange Gallery, founded in 1978 and operating as a space to accumulate and distribute knowledge about art.**
Work produced and distributed by Wytwórnia Filmów Oświatowych in Łódź.
* Józef Robakowski, ‘Aspekty motywujące powstanie filmu Żywa Galeria’; in idem, Teksty (1970–1978), Lublin: Galeria Arcus, 1978.
** The Exchange Gallery was founded by Robakowski and his then-wife, Małgorzata Potocka, at their home in Łódź.
