The Inaugural Exhibition of the Foksal Gallery, 1966 (1-14/14)

Foksal Gallery opened with an inauguration exhibition on April 1, 1966. The exhibition included Zbigniew Gostomski, Edward Krasiński, Roman Owidzki, Henryk Stażewski, Jan Ziemski, all of whom represented various painting styles and had previously displayed their works at Krzywe Koło Gallery. Even though the exhibition and presented works were rather traditional, a short program text published in a catalogue described the direction in which the gallery would go:

Two aspects will be emphasized in the exhibitions organized by the Gallery. In the first place it will attempt not so much to show works as “finished” products, but to reveal them rather as materialized ideas in process with certain particular conditions and circumstances surrounding their creation. Secondly, the Gallery proposes to treat these conditions and circumstances as inherent elements in the display of art works, and to do away with the traditional division between the studio and the Gallery. We believe that in some cases artists will be able to avoid forms of exposition that consist solely of painting compositions. Maybe as a result, by losing their neutral and reproduced attitude towards a piece of art, exhibitions will become an active artistic form.

(Source: Zbigniew Gostomski, Edward Krasiński, Roman Owidzki, Henryk Stażewski, Jan Ziemski, katalog wystawy, Galeria Foksal, Warszawa 1966)