The Archaeology of Presence
We search for traces. We open archives. We reconstruct the histories of artists and their works. What is absent is not always lost. “Archeology of Presence” is an ongoing series by the Sztuka Obecna Foundation that presents research and documentation projects dedicated to artists, works, and histories that, for various reasons, have disappeared from view.
We draw on photographs, exhibition catalogs, correspondence, documents, press articles, and personal memoirs. We search for works, trace their history, organize scattered information, and compare surviving materials with eyewitness accounts. We present not only the results of our research but also the very process of acquiring knowledge: from the first clue, through the verification of sources, to the reconstruction of an artist’s biography or the history of a specific work.
The Anatomy of a Work of Art
“Anatomy of a Work of Art” is an ongoing series by the Sztuka Obecna Foundation dedicated to artistic practices and ways of developing one’s own artistic language. In each installment, we examine the work of selected artists through the materials, techniques, gestures, forms, details, and recurring motifs they employ. We highlight the processes, decisions, and experiments that underpin their bodies of work, as well as the meanings that emerge only when we view their work as a whole.
The series combines documentation, digitization, historical knowledge, and interpretation. It is neither a catalog of individual works nor a simplified biography. It is an evolving archive of artistic practices that helps to better understand art and to reintroduce important, often underrecognized artists into the contemporary art scene. The first series, “Krzysztof Pęciński: Matter, Sign, Figure,” explores his body of work through experimental techniques, the properties of matter, forms, and recurring motifs across different periods of the artist’s career.
Art rental
Art Rental offers the opportunity to rent original works of art for an office, hotel, restaurant, private practice, or home without having to purchase them. In this playlist, we present paintings, sculptures, and other objects available through the Art Rental program of the Sztuka Obecna Foundation. Each video allows you to see a specific artwork, its scale, character, and how it might function within a space. We help you select art that suits the interior and its users. We provide curatorial advice, transportation, professional installation, insurance, and care for the artworks throughout the entire rental period. It is also possible to periodically change the exhibition and purchase a selected work.