Records. Leszek Brogowski and the gn gallery 1978–1981

Can photography become a tool for critical thinking, and can a gallery become a place for building an independent community? How can art be created amidst political restrictions? On Friday 9 October at 6.00 pm, there will be an opening of an exhibition dedicated to the work of Leszek Brogowski and the history of the legendary gn gallery, which operated between 1978 and 1981 – the predecessor of the Gdańsk Gallery of Photography.

The exhibition features archival materials documenting the gallery’s unique conceptual activity: photographs, drawings, prints, leaflets, as well as Leszek Brogowski’s drawings and instant photographs – relatively unknown in Poland – and selected works by artists who displayed their work at gn.

Artist, intellectual, engineer

Leszek Brogowski – a humanist, intellectual, engineer and graduate of Gdańsk University of Technology – was one of the few artists invited to contribute to the Polaroid Collection in the 1980s. Throughout his creative practice, he consistently expanded the boundaries of art, analysing the meaning of the message, and the materiality of the work. He regarded photography as a democratic tool – accessible, universal, and bearing the potential for social change. In the spirit of conceptualism, closely aligned with Fluxus, he used it as a medium for analysis and documentation, breaking away from the tradition of aestheticising the image that dominated in Poland between 1945 and 1990.

The Neoavanguardia in Gdańsk

The gn Gallery, operating alongside the Association of Polish Art Photographers, Pomeranian District, became one of the most important centres for conceptual and performance art in Poland. In just under four years – from 3 January 1978 to 13 December 1981 – nearly 50 exhibitions were held, most of which were accompanied by authorial catalogues. The gallery’s director and driving force was Leszek Brogowski, who, together with the committed young artists Witold Węgrzyn, Paweł Borkowski, and Wojciech Leszczyński, invited both established and lesser-known figures from the local and national art scene, including Jan Berdyszak, Wojciech Bruszewski, Małgorzata Borowska, Witosław Czerwonka, Zbigniew Dłubak, Teresa Murak, Jadwiga Przybylak, Andrzej Różycki, Zofia Rydet, Grzegorz Sztabiński, as well as international artists such as Victor Burgin, Stano Filco, Milan Grygar, Ivan Kafka, Jürgen O. Olbrich, ORLAN, and the HPA (Histoire et Prospection de l’Art) group.

gn’s activity was part of the Polish neoavanguardia scene, co-created by galleries such as Foto-Medium-Art in Wrocław, Akumulatory 2 in Poznań, and Studio in Warsaw. Unlike many of these, gn was not affiliated with an art university – it grew out of a grassroots initiative of photographers, artists, and critics.

The gallery’s founders never wrote a manifesto. They sought the value of art in its practice, in building relationships and exchanging ideas, and in consistently maintaining a creative outlook in life. The aim was not to create masterpieces, but to develop the creative process as a way of thinking and acting. For this reason, Leszek Brogowski and the art critic Marceli Bacciarelli, with whom he collaborated, invited artists interested in the non-commercial and analytical dimensions of art – and open to experimentation and new forms of collaboration – to take part in exhibitions that changed every month. Their activity aligned with the democratic artistic practices and international exchange networks that were developing in Poland and Central Europe.

The unique concept of the gn gallery

– The gallery’s concept proved to be surprisingly contemporary. It functioned as a platform for the exchange of ideas, a laboratory for collaboration, and an institutional experiment, rather than merely a venue for exhibiting works. Brogowski created a tool for building relationships and an artistic community – a space in which the creative process was just as important as its outcome. Alongside the AUT gallery (renamed OUT in 1981), gn was the only conceptual exhibition space in the Tri-City – explains Małgorzata Taraszkiewicz-Zwolicka, co-curator of the exhibition.

The gallery’s activity was suspended with the imposition of martial law. In January 1982, Leszek Brogowski closed the gallery in a gesture of protest and emigrated to France. There, he undertook philosophical studies at the Sorbonne, and subsequently began an academic career at the University of Rennes.

– The exhibition explores the motivations of artists working within the reality of late communism, as well as their bold strategies for collaboration and collective action. It shows how, despite travel restrictions, international networks were built, correspondence was used as a means of communication, and mail art practices were developed. At the same time, it raises the question about the contemporary relevance of these experiences – community spirit, self-organisation, and alternative ways of running art institutions, which remain inspiring even today – adds the exhibition’s co-curator Witold Kanicki, an art historian, critic, curator, and lecturer at the University of Fine Arts in Poznań.

The exhibition will feature works from the archives of Leszek Brogowski, Paweł Borkowski, Marta Olchowik Choynowska, Witold Węgrzyn, the National Museum in Gdańsk, the Zofia Rydet Foundation, the Museum of Art in Łódź, and from the collection of the exhibition’s partner, Alain Oudin – a French architect, gallery owner, and art collector who has supported Brogowski since 1983, organising his first French exhibition at the À l’Enseigne des Oudin gallery.

The exhibition is complemented by a book featuring texts by Leszek Brogowski, Witold Kanicki, Małgorzata Taraszkiewicz-Zwolicka, and Maksymilian Wroniszewski.

The exhibition’s partners are: the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk, the Polish Institute in Paris, Alain Oudin (À l’Enseigne des Oudin), the Fonds de Dotation, and Gdańsk Economic Development Agency.

Records. Leszek Brogowski and the gn gallery 1978–1981

Artists featured in the exhibition: Leszek Brogowski, Witold Węgrzyn, Paweł Borkowski, Jan Berdyszak, Wojciech Bruszewski, David Connearn, Witosław Czerwonka, Jan Michał Fabich, Stano Filco, Ivan Kafka, Teresa Murak, Andrzej Różycki, Zofia Rydet, ORLAN

‘Conversations on Photography’ event: 10 October 2026 at 1.00 pm, please join us for a meeting and discussion between the exhibition’s curators and the artists Prof. Leszek Brogowski, Prof. Witold Węgrzyn, and Paweł Borkowski. Free admission

Venue: Gdańsk Gallery of Photography and NOMUS – New Museum of Art, 14 Jaracza Street, Gdańsk