Dusk [Video Paintings] - Raster

Rafał
Bujnowski

Eye-sockets, 2010, series of five paintings, oil on canvas
exhibition view at Raster, Warsaw

The cool architectural shots depict fragments of an unfinished condominium,
calling upon not only the aura of the crisis-struck construction
industry, but also the genuinely Polish topos of the “unfinished house”,
a symbol of unbridled aspirations confronted with limited possibilities,
passionate enthusiasm and everyday neglect, money and its lack.
Eye-sockets (2), 2010, oil on canvas, 190 x 130 cm

Eye-sockets (1), 2010, oil on canvas, 190 x 130 cm

Eye-sockets (1), 2010, oil on canvas, 180 x 180 cm

Cyparis
Louis-Auguste Cyparis (or Ludger Sylbaris)
was one of two people to have survived the
eruption of Mt. Pelee on 8 May 1902, which
wiped out the entire town of St. Pierre on
Martinique and killed 20 thousand of its
inhabitants. He survived because a few days
before the disaster he had been incarcerated
in a small cell of the local prison. Soon he
became a popular member of Barnum & Bailey
Circus, where he was presented as the “Lone
Survivor of St. Pierre.” When in residence in
Martinique in 2009, Rafał Bujnowski decided to
revive the contemporary memory of Cyparis.
The project will be completed with the unveiling
of a monument – created on the basis of
portrait photographs which have remained – in
the premises of the St. Pierre museum, not far
from the prison cell which saved Cyparis’ life.
The bust is casted in volcanic ash collected on
the beaches of St. Pierre.
Portrait of Louis-Auguste Cyparis, 2010, volcanic sand, resin

Gambler, 2009, 59 digital photographs, slideshow
The photographs depict various metal objects of technical use, their exact scale and function unclear, possibly fragments
of machines or mechanical parts. In fact, these are abstract items of the artist’s own design. Furnishing these shapes
with a pseudo-functional character, Bujnowski plays with the tradition of modernism and minimalism, yet, at the same
time, dematerializes them – we are no longer witnessing objects, but their photographs, presented in a slideshow. The
items, designed by the artist, were manufactured by the relative of Bujnowski. His son borrowed from the artist some
money and turned out to be a gambler. The project was developed to help the gambler’s father in paying son’s debts.

The Fog (3), 2010, oil on canvas, 43 x 58 cm
The Fog (1), 2010, oil on canvas, 31 x 42 cm
The Fog (4), 2010, oil on canvas, 50 x 68 cm
The Fog marks the artist’s somewhat perverse return to one of the most common painterly themes – landscape. Having
made several attempts in the genre, Bujnowski most often approached it as an exploration into the varying structural capabilities
of a painting. This time however, the effect is undeniably nostalgic, though physically palpable the landscape remains
beyond visual grasp. The distance and the staged relationship between the viewer and the landscape vanishes. The
Fog pulls the viewer in, reducing the purely visual pleasure of a painting for the sake of an awareness of incompleteness.

Lead Window, 2007, window, glass, lead, 140 x 65 x 7,5 cm

Lamp Black. Tondo [3], 2008, oil on canvas, 180 cm
All paintings from the Lamp Black series were painted
with Winsor&Newton Lamp Black No.25 oil colour

Lamp Black. Pentagon, 2008, series of paintings, oil on canvas
exhibition view at Raster, Warsaw

Lamp Black. Pentagon (9), 2008, oil on canvas, 150 x 86 cm

Lamp Black. Cubes, 2008, diptych, oil on canvas, [2x] 123 x 176 cm each

Lamp Black. Cave Exit (2), 2007, oil on canvas, 150 x 200 cm

Lamp Black. Coal (10), 2007, oil on canvas, 62 x 62 cm

Lamp Black. Coal (1), oil on canvas, 62 x 62 cm

Miner (09), 2007, charcoal on paper, 57 x 45 cm
Miner (02), 2007, charcoal on paper, 84 x 68 cm

Miner (08), 2007, charcoal on paper, 63,5 x 48 cm
Miner (03), 2007, charcoal on paper, 64 x 50 cm

Miner (11), 2007, coal on paper, 58 x 53 cm
Miner (01), 2007, coal on paper, 79,5 x 60,5 cm

Negative [2], 2007, oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm

Outer Space, 2007, oil on canvas, 180 cm

Outer Space, 2007, subsequent stages of the painting’s execution
Works from the Outer Space series develop the artist’s previous interest in the tension between the mimetic aspect of a painting and its mechanical execution.
The result of the nearly automatic process of covering the canvas with lines of equal length is a view of a starlit sky. As points of view and distance from the painting
changes, the scales of its meaning turn from the material and processual towards the illusionistic aspect of the work.

Time-Worn Jeans [set of 12 paintings], 2003, oil on canvas
3 x 30 x 17,5 cm; 30 x 21 cm; 2 x 40 x 30 cm; 38 x 26,5 cm; 33,5 x 23,5 cm; 3 x 55 x 40 cm; 68 x 50 cm

Time-Worn Jeans - detail

Wrong works, 2006, photographs, object
The characteristic feature of Bujnowski’s working method is a large
number of failed or discarded paintings, rejected by the artist. In order to
avoid the unpleasant feeling of squandering large amounts of materials
(paint and canvas), Bujnowski has ordered a special press which he uses
to perform this peculiar kind of artistic recycling. Hundreds of discarded
canvases are pressed together into a new object - a heavy bar of canvas
being both symbolical and literal record of his artistic failures.

Visa
Selfportrait, 2004,
oil on canvas, 35x35 cm
Artist enclosed photo
copy of the painting with
his U.S. visa application
form. The consulate workers
did not realize the
fact that they had been
manipulated and so, a
visa with a copy of a ‘painting’
found its way into
Bujnowski’s passport.

Rafal Bujnowski’s US visa appliction

Rafal Bujnowski’s passport with U.S. visa, 2004

Visa, 2004, exhibition view - Raster, Warsaw
Flying course, 2004, DVD 47 min, video stills

still from: Zug. St. Michael, 2004, oil on canvas, 30 x 40 cm + DVD 9’13’’
Dusk [Video Paintings]

Landscape with tree and house /Zurich area/, 2004, oil on canvas, 23 x 30 cm + DVD 8’19’’

Zug. Old town, 2004, oil on canvas, 64 x 48 cm + DVD 11’07’’

Five paintings seen at a slight angle, 2003, oil on canvas,
60 x 70 cm, 50 x 56 cm, 40 x 46 cm, 33 x 36 cm, 28 x 30 cm
Paintings Seen at an Angle

Three paintings seen at a slight angle, 2003, oil on canvas, 50x57 cm, 34x37 cm, 24x24 cm
Painting seen at a really acute angle, 2003, oil on canvas canvas, 50x23 cm
Two paintings seen at a fairly acute angle, 2003, oil on canvas canvas, 54x38 cm, 29x21 cm

from Traces of paintings series, 2004, oil on canvas, 70 x 100 cm

from Traces of paintings series, 2005, oil on canvas, 140 x 210 cm

Paintings
for an
apartment
Paintings for an apartment, 2002,
oil on canvas, 160 x 160 cm
Wedding, 2002, oil on canvas,
42 x 30 cm, series of 25 paintings
Glas, 2002, oil on canvas,
25 x 25 cm, series of 25 paintings
Lemons, 2002, oil on canvas,
25 x 25 cm, series of 40 paintings
Boy in water, 2002, oil on cnvas,
35 x 35 cm, series of 25 paintings
Child on beach, 2002, oil on canvas,
35 x 45 cm, series of 50 paintings

Paintings for an apartment, 2002
Glas, 2002, oil on canvas, 2002, 25x25 cm, series of 25 paintings
Lemons, 2002, oil on canvas, 25x25 cm, series of 40 paintings

Paintings for an apartment at IKEA store,
2002, photograph, 100x100 cm
Wedding, 2002, oil on canvas, 42x30,
series of 25 paintings

Last Saved, 2004, wood, 120x65x40 cm, edition of 8
exact copy of an étagere from the collection of John Paul II Museum in Wadowice - the only
piece of furniture saved from the home of the Polish Pope
Last Saved

econstruction of John Paul II family apartment in Wadowice
official letter of agreement for Rafal Bujnowski to execute the copy of Pope’s étagere, signed by cracovian bishop, 10.10.2003

stains on original Pope’s étagere and stains on the copy

How to draw the pope, 2002, pencil on paper, 21 x 30 cm

The Pope, 2001-2002, oil on canvas, 50x40 cm, series of 33 paintings

Untitled, 2005, oil on canvas, 48 cm x 62 cm
Untitled, 2005, oil on canvas, 48 cm x 62 cm

RAFAŁ BUJNOWSKI
Born in 1974; studied at the Architecture Department of Krakow
Polytechnic (1993-1995) and at the Graphic Arts Department of
the Cracow Academy of Fine Arts (diploma in 2000). One of the
founders and a member of Ladnie group (1995-2001). Founder
and curator of Open Gallery in Cracow (1998-2001). Winner
of the Kunstpreis Europas Zukunft 2005. Lives and works in
Cracow.
Rafal Bujnowski is one of the most radical and intelligent
contemporary painters. His works are a brilliant blend of two
seemingly remote artistic disciplines – painting and conceptual
art. The theme of the Bujnowski’s successive projects – paintings,
videos, objects or actions – are the conventions linked to
the social functioning of the artist and the works of art, as well as
the conventions present in the art itself. Rafal’s paintings are an
example of fully aware conceptual painting – his objects, disclosing
and changing meaning depending on the surrounding in
which they are placed, are peculiar models of an artwork. They
reveal a tension between the process of artistic production and
consumption. At the same time, the unquestionable and outstanding
visual talent of the artist causes his works to be treated
as ‘self-sufficient works’ – very good paintings, to put it simply.
selected solo exhibitions:
2010
- Oczodoły / Gambler, Raster, Warsaw, PL
2008
- 85%, Raster, Warsaw, PL
- IBID Projects, London, UK
2007
- Lamp Black, Jiri Svestka Gallery, Prague, CZ
- Wrong works 2005-2006, Daniel Hug Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
- Galerie Johnen+Schoettle, Cologne, D
2006
- Recent works, Center for Contemporary Art, Warsaw, PL
- Norwich Gallery, Norwich School of Art and Design, Norwich,
UK
- Sunset Negative, Raster (at former IBID Projects space),
London, UK
- Galerie Ruediger Schoettle, Munich, D
2005
- Embroider, Johnen Galerie, Berlin, D
- Malen, Kunstverein Duesseldorf, D
- Arndt & Partner, Zurich, CH
- Painting, Bunkier Sztuki Gallery, Cracow, PL
2004
- Visa. Dusk. Museum, Raster, Warsaw, PL
- Paintings and Furnitures, Polish Cultural Institute, Paris, F
- Visa Project, Flying Course, Art in General, New York City, USA
2003
- Rafal Bujnowski, Jozef Robakowski, Galerie Ruediger Schoettle,
Munich, D
- New and recent (with Marcin Maciejowski), IBID Projects,
London, UK
- Paintings.Objects, Galerie Johnen+Schoettle, Cologne, D
2002
- 120 objects, 150 paintings, Raster, Warsaw, PL
- Graboszyce, Kont Gallery, Lublin, PL
2001
- Painting, Renovation, Centre for Contemporary Art Innerspaces
Multimedia, Poznan, PL
- Window, AMS Outdoor Gallery, 400 billboards around Poland
- A very pretty gallery, Kronika Gallery, Bytom, PL
2000
- Kiosk, Galeria 1/2, Academy of Fine Arts, Katowice, PL
- Consumer products and equipment, Goethe Institut, Cracow,
PL
- Consumer products and equipment, Bagatt Showroom, Warsaw,
Bialystok, PL
- Pictures, Zderzak Gallery, Cracow, PL
- VHS 180min, Potocka Gallery, Cracow, PL
- Cheap art from Poland - Export, St. Martin’s School (Window
Gallery), London, UK
selected group exhibitions:
2010
- Rzeczy budzą uczucia / Things Evoke Feelings, Centre for
Contemporary Art, Warsaw, PL
- Fate Away, Raster, Reykjavik, IS
- Rób tak / Do It Like That, Galeria Stereo, Poznan, PL
- Wenn die Nacht am Tiefsten, Bel Etage, Berlin, DE
- Robotnicy opuszczają miejsca pracy / Workers Leaving the
Workplace, Muzeum Sztuki, Lodz, PL
- Polnische Malerei aus der Sammlung Marx, Polnisches Institut,
Berlin, DE
- Dom zredukowany, dom bezdomny - dom w sztuce
współczesnej, Miejska Galeria Sztuki, Częstochowa, PL
2009
- 3 x Tak / 3 x Yes, Muzeum of Modern Art, Warsaw, PL
- Schizma. Sztuka Polska lat 90. / Schisma. Polish Art of the 90.,
Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw, PL
- Kolekcja Bunkra Sztuki / Bunkier Sztuki Collection, Miejski
Ośrodek Sztuki, Gorzow Wlkp., PL
- Slow Magic, Bluecoat, Liverpool, UK
- Like a Rolling Stone, Centre of Polish Sculpture, Orońsko; Appendix2,
Warszawa
- Szczyt Bohaterow / The Summit of Heroes, Bunkier Sztuki and
Stainglass Museum, Cracow, PL
- Wolność od-zysku, Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, PL
- Obrazy Kwartludium, Dom Pracy Twórczej w Wigrach, Stary
Folwark, PL
- Art Boom Festival, Cracow, PL
- Na okrągło, Hala Stulecia, Wrocław, PL
- Take a Look at Me Now, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts,
Norwich, UK
- New Acquisitions – Rarely Seen Works, Ludwig Museum – Museum
of Contemporary Art, Budapest, HU
- Double Hemisphere, Foxy Production, New York, US
- International Collection of Contemporary Art. 5th Edition,
Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw, PL
- Wasser und Wein - Der Katholische Faktor in der Zeitgenössischen
Kunst, Städtische Galerie im Leeren Beutel, Regensburg,
DE
2008
- 5 wystawa kolekcji Małopolskiej Fundacji Muzeum Sztuki
Współczesnej, Budynek dawnej elektrowni podgórskiej, Cracow,
PL
- Pochód sztuki, Pies Gallery, Poznań, PL
- Portret własny. Prace z kolekcji Piotra Bazylko i Krzysztofa
Masiewicza, Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw, PL
- L’artista nella rinuncia 2. Mostra a cura della Galleria Raster,
Instituto Polacco di Roma, Rome, I
- Kolekcja Bunkra Sztuki, Kulczyk Fundation, Stary Browar Gallery,
Poznan, PL
- What kind of painting?, Sprüth Magers Projekte, Munich, D
- Back to black. Black in recent painting, Kestner Gesselschaft,
Hannover, D
- Efekt czerwonych oczu / Eye effect. Fotografia polska XXI wieku
/ Polish photography of the 21st century, Centre for Contemporary
Art, Warsaw, PL
- Carte Blanche I: Alpha 2000 - Art prize “Europas Zukunft”,
GfZK, Leipzig, D
2007
- Montaż Atrakcji, Zderzak Gallery, Cracow, PL
- At Last, Something New!, The National Museum, Cracow, PL
- Druga odsłona. Kolekcja Galerii Arsenał w Białymstoku i
Podlaskiego Tow. Zachęty Sztuk Pięnych, GCK, Galeria Sektor I,
Katowice, PL
- Anti-Photographs, Biennale of Photography, Arsenal Municipal
Gallery, Poznan, PL
- Betonowe dziedzictwo. Od Le Corbusiera do blokersów, Center
fot Contemporary Art, Warsaw, PL
- White Out, Kuenstlerhaus Palais Thurn und Taxis, Bregenz, A;
Stadtgalerie Saabruecken, Saarbruecken, D
- Several Dozen Seconds of a Badly Developed Film, Raster,
Warsaw, PL
- Re(ko)nesans malarstwa, Górnośląskie Centrum Kultury,
Katowice, PL
2006
- A Night of Cutting-Edge Contemporary Art from Poland: Video,
Performance and Other Media, Consulate General of Poland in
New York, New York, US
- RIFT/GAP/HINGE A, Galerie Naechst St. Stephan, Vienna, A
- The Polish Paitning of the 21th century, Zacheta National Gallery
of Art, Warsaw, PL
- What will happen to us now?, Potocka Gallery, Cracow, PL
- Is it better to be a good artist or a good person?, Raster at
Rental Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
- Gut und billig. Aktuelle polnische Malerei aus der Sammlung
Cyganek, Museum Junge Kunst, Frakfurt/Oder, D
- Broniewski, BWA Gallery, Zielona Gora, PL
2005
- Poles Apart: Contemporary Polish Art, Rubell Family Collection,
Miami, USA
- Broniewski, Raster, Warsaw, PL
- Hommage a Tomasz Struk, Sektor I Gallery, Katowice, PL;
Klima Bochenska Gallery, Warsaw, PL
- Views 2005. Deutsche Bank Cultural Foundation Award, Zacheta
National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, PL
- Collection of the Foundation of Malopolska Museum for Contemporary
Art, Miedzynarodowe Centrum Kultury, Cracow, PL
- Urbane Malerei, GfZK Leipzig, D
- Prague Biennale 2. Poland Overview, Prague
- Boys, Bunkier Sztuki Gallery, Cracow, PL
- Potential. Contemporary Art Collections for the Museum…,
Metropolitan building, Warsaw, PL
- Painting - Cold Medium, Piekary Gallery, Poznan, PL
- “Czas Kultury”, Arsenal Gallery, Poznan, PL
- Beyond the Red Horizon, National Centre for Contemporary
Art, Moscow, RU
2004
- From my Window. Artists and their territories, Ecole Nationale
Superieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris, F
- Wall Drawings, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art,
Rijeka, HR
- INC., XX1 Gallery, Warsaw, PL
- Beyond the Red Horizon, Centre for Contemporary Art,
Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, PL
- Far West, Near East. New Art From Poland, Forum
Kunst&Architektur, Essen, D
- Blachut, Bodzianowski, Budny, Bujnowski, Emilly Tsingou Gallery,
London, UK
- Concernés, La Maison Folie de Wazemmes, Lille, F; Bunkier
Sztuki Gallery, Cracow, PL
- Hot Destination - Marginal Destiny, House of Art, Brno, CZ
- At Home, The Letterkenny Art Centre, Letterkenny, IRL
- Leichte Arbeit, Kulturbrauerei, Berlin, D
- Malerei, Galerie Ruediger Schoettle, Munich, D
- Pluzzle, galerie griedervonputtkamer, Berlin, D
- Under The Red & White Flag, New Art from Poland, Estonian
Art Museum, Tallin, EST; Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius, LT;
Nizhny Novgorod branch of the National Centre for Contemporary
Art, Arsenal, Niznhy Novgorod, RU; Nizhny Tagil Museum
of Fine Arts, Niznhy Tagil, RU; National Centre for Contemporay
Arts, Moscow, RU
2003
- Prague Biennial, The National Gallery, Prague, CZ
- RASTER. Aktuelle Kunst aus Polen, Museum Junge Kunst,
Frankfurt/Oder, D
- Malerei, Galerie Johnen+Schoettle, Cologne, D
- Art of the 3rd RP, Polish Sculpture Centre, Oronsko, PL
- Ogonblickets Anatomie/Anatomia momentów, (Anatomy of
moments) Grafikens Hus, Mariefred, S
2002
- Art on the road, AMS Outdoor Gallery, Cracow, PL
- Junge Kunst aus Polen, Galerie der Marktgemeinde St.Johan, A
- Projekt Karlsplatz, Kunsthalle, Vienna, A
2001
- 4th Polish Young Artists’ Show, BWA Awangarda Gallrey,
Wroclaw, PL
- The famous Ladnie Group, Sektor I Gallery, GCK, Katowice, PL
- 1st friday of the month (Ladnie Group), Manhattan Gallery,
Lodz, PL
- Popelita, Bunkier Sztuki Gallery, Cracow, PL
- On the outside, Centre for Contemporary Art Laznia, Gdansk,
PL
- Good, Raster, Warsaw, PL
- Fish eye, Baltic Gallery for Contemporay Art, Slupsk/Ustka, PL
- Relax, Arsenal Gallery, Bialystok, PL
2000
- Paint me, Art Exhibition Hall, Zielona Gora, PL
- A dream of a provincial girl, Sopot, PL
- Assembly kit, Polish Sculpture Centre, Oronsko, PL - Trafik.
Kunst, Polnisches Institut, Vienna, A
- Ladnie Group in D’Arcy, D’Arcy Agency, Warsaw, PL
- Scene 2000, Centre for Contemporary Art, Ujazdowski Castle,
Warsaw, PL
- Postpoetry, Otwarta Pracownia Gallery, Cracow, PL
1999
- Oikos, Leon Wyczólkowski Museum, Bydgoszcz, PL
Works in collections:
- Muzeum Sztuki Nowoczesnej / Muzeum of Modern Art,
Warszawa, PL
- Centrum Sztuki Współczesnej / Centre for Contemporary Art,
Warszawa, PL
- Zachęta Narodowa Galeria Sztuki / Zacheta National Gallery of
Art, Warszawa, PL
- Muzeum Sztuki, Łódź, PL
- The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, ISR
- Małopolska Fundacja Muzeum Sztuki Współczesnej, Kraków, PL
- Podlaskie Towarzystwo Zachęty Sztuk Pięknych, Białystok, PL
- Rubell Family Collection, Miami, USA
- Olbricht Collection, Essen, DE
- Goetz Collection, Munich, DE
- Sammlung Marx, Berlin, DE
- Susan and Michael Hort Collection, New York, USA
- Ludwig Museum, Budapest, H
- Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
- Boros Collection, Berlin, DE
- Anita Zabludowicz Collection, London, UK
- ING Collection, Warszawa, PL
- Chadha Art Collection, Amsterdam, NL