Polish poster exhibit draws on the past

JAKARTA (JP): A poster is not merely a series of words and drawings on a piece of paper. It can be a form of art. This is the case at the current Polish Posters exhibition at the Bentara Budaya Gallery which runs until Saturday.

The exhibition attempts to show the development of poster art in Poland during the past 20 years, from 1980 to 1997.

It clearly depicts the interesting stages of the development of poster art and the country's restless years, as portrayed in many of the exhibited works.

Most of the displayed posters reflect their highly artistic values, although many of them are full of political and social subtexts. The exhibition also presents artists of every period.

The artists of the older generation -- Henryk Tomaszewski, Jan Lenica, Jan Mlodozeniec, Franciszek Starowieyski and Waldemar Swierzy-bring together all the achievements of post wars Polish poster art. They had a huge influence on the work of all their successors at home and abroad. The middle generation is represented by Jerzy Czerniawksi, Marin Nowinski and Lech Majewski. The youngest masters presented here are Stasys Eidrigevicius, Wieslaw Rosocha, Wiktor Sadowski, Wielaw Walkusi and Leszek Zebrowksi.

To understand the works of those artists, it is important for Indonesians to look back at the history of poster art in Poland.

In l966, Poland held the First International Poster Biennial, which for many years was the most prestigious event of this type in the world.

Two years later the first Poster Museum in the world was opened in Warsaw. In those days Poland had a reputation for being an interesting center of "wall and board" art.

Its distinct character and artistic values meant that the world soon began to talk about the Polish school of Posters. The poster became an element of mass culture.

According to Krzystof Dydo's Master of Polish Poster Art the art of posters appeared in Poland in the late 19th century.

Polish poster art quickly took on a dynamic of its own; there are interesting achievements to boast of in the years before World War I, in the two decades between the wars, and in the post war era.

During all of these important periods, among dozens or even hundreds of designers, there were poster artists whose works stood out, who influenced others and left their mark on what was to follow.

Painted lines, lightness in conveying the subjects, the free manner of associating theme and image and the very individual poetics were the design approaches that successors of the painters in the period during the wars shared a half century later.

The World War II drastically altered poster art. The political changes plunged commercial poster art into regression, as one element of an undesired past, but as a vast need for political and social propaganda sprang up.

It is characteristic that the field of the most interesting achievements in poster art was an arena, which before the war had been practically beyond the reach of the more ambitious designer -- the film poster.

The next decade began with strikes and the birth of solidarity. Later, martial law and continuing signs of economic crisis left their marks on polish posters, but not on their formal profile.

1989 brought political and social transformations to Poland. This turnaround gradually introduced so many changes in the production and function of posters that there is no way to convey this complicated process in a few words.

In the exhibition, there are some excellent film posters, including Leszek Zebrowski's Man of Iron, Birdy and Wiktor Sadowski's The Pillow Book. Some of the posters belong to Yoedhi Soerjoatmodjo, former curator of Antara photo gallery.

In addition to film posters, Poland has many talented artists who create masterly theater and event posters, known as the country's artistic brand.

Some of the country's best theater and event posters are also displayed at this exhibition.

Zebrowski's poster for William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, a Kilian poster for Stanislaw Grochwich's Beauty and the Beast and Stasys Eidrigevicius's poster for puppet theater Fallen in Love are among some of the best.

More commercial posters for trade promotions, music concerts and even circus performances have also been seriously and esthetically made.

A colorful poster for a circus show by Jan Mlodozenic is inspiring, especially for Indonesian artists who have not yet made any serious ventures into poster art. (raw)