Krzysztof Niemczyk
(1938–1994)

Krzysztof Niemczyk, installation view, Athens Conservatoire (Odeion), documenta 14, photo: Mathias Völzke

Krzysztof Niemczyk, installation view, Athens Conservatoire (Odeion), documenta 14, photo: Mathias Völzke

Krzysztof Niemczyk, installation view, Athens Conservatoire (Odeion), documenta 14, photo: Mathias Völzke

Krzysztof Niemczyk, installation view, Athens Conservatoire (Odeion), documenta 14, photo: Mathias Völzke

Krzysztof Niemczyk, installation view, Athens Conservatoire (Odeion), documenta 14, photo: Mathias Völzke

Was Krzysztof Niemczyk (1938–94) an artist? A revolutionary? A saint? A pervert? A strategist?

And if he was a revolutionary, what was the revolution in question? The one which changes the course of history, or opposes the individual, on a daily basis, to all social codes?

And if he was a strategist, what was the goal of his strategy?

Were they goals in themselves, those public actions undertaken by Niemcyzk under the police regime of 1960s Poland that were repressed under exemplary severity? A strategy without goal is called an anti-strategy. It nevertheless retains the quality of an ATTEMPT.

The absence of a goal does not signify an absence of an adversary, an absence of an enemy to be opposed. In Niemcyzk’s case, the enemy’s name is LIES.

—Anka Ptaszkowska

Posted in Public Exhibition