Presentation on the mezzanine: Jerzy Treliński. Documentations
Event flyer "Then and Now", Hotel of Art, Łódź, 01.06.1990, graphic design: Jerzy Treliński
The materials from documentation file no. 726, bearing the name of Jerzy Treliński and presented on the mezzanine, include, among others, a rare publication of the ephemeral Hotel Sztuki [Hotel of Art] in Łódź from 1990, as well as the oldest catalogue of the artist’s works held in the museum’s collection. The catalogue was published on the occasion of the exhibition Jerzy Treliński: Painting and Graphics, organized by the Society of Friends of Fine Arts in Łódź in 1969.
INFO
Place
Time
Place
Time
development of the archive
Consulation
Entry
Particularly interesting are the invitations collected in the mentioned file — modest “calling cards” of the artist, designed for exhibition openings. One of them, an invitation to an exhibition at the Repassage Gallery in Warsaw in 1976, has an especially peculiar character: it is an empty envelope bearing a stamp printed with the artist’s surname repeated multiple times — one of many objects created as part of the artistic project Autotautologies. In this project, Treliński employed the multiplication of his surname as
a typographic sign, typeset with sans-serif block font. The intriguing graphic design of the presented invitations and catalogues results from a skillful synthesis of the artist’s and a graphic designer’s experience.
In archival photographs made at exhibition openings and gatherings, Jerzy Treliński can be seen photographed over the years in the halls of the Muzeum Sztuki — talking with other artists and visitors and viewing exhibitions. In some images he appears as the artist, in others as the rector of the Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź, and in many as a spectator captivated by art.
At first glance, the collected materials may seem unimpressive — insignificant fragments of reality. However, archive researchers know that appearances can be deceiving. Even the smallest document can challenge the commonly accepted version of events. Every archival item has the potential to inspire a new story or to enrich existing research.
Maciej Cholewiński
