Exhibitions of Sculpture as a Sign of the Spatial Shift: From Spring Salon to Sculpture in the Garden

Abstract

A selection of exhibitions of sculpture held between the years 1946 and 1957 illustrates the formal transformations and diversity of methods of exhibiting sculpted forms as identifi ed through their manner of cooperating with space. The experiments, which commenced during the First Exhibition of Modern Art (1948) and were later creatively developed at the Krzywe Koło and Zachęta galleries, were based on ideas that had been formulated by K. Kobro and W. Strzemiński in Kompozycja przestrzeni. Obliczenia rytmu-czasoprzestrzennego (1931), produce a diversifi ed picture of intense formal exploration of sculpture, with the category of “space” emerging as a crucial part of the research perspective. The integrated gallery space and the setting for a work of art – which during the Sculpture in the Garden show (1957) included outdoor space – defi ned a trend that was moving towards the concept of an installation. Exhibitions indirectly connected with sculpture, e.g. Studium przestrzeni (1957), were used as research instruments in the process of extending the boundaries of sculptural forms to include their reaching into space.