BOOK PREMIERE / ‘Art is everything’

‘Art is everything’
Pawel Kowalewski, Aleksander Hudzik
LUNA HOUSE

Paweł Kowalewski, one of the most recognisable Polish artists, in his book Sztuka to jest wszystko (Art is Everything) tells not only about his artistic and life choices, but also reflects on the condition of Polish art, and on what it means to be an artist today. This book, however, is not only about words, but also about images.
Each copy comes with a special bookmark with a QR code, which will allow us to virtually hang one of Kowalewski’s paintings in our home.

Paweł Kowalewski is one of the founders of the legendary Gruppa, an icon of Polish art in the 1980s, as well as the author of such works as Mon Cheri Bolscheviq or Totalitarianism Simulator. His works have been exhibited in the most important museums and galleries around the world, and he himself was a long-standing lecturer at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts. In his book Art is Everything, the artist tells Aleksander Hudzik about his artistic beginnings, personal successes and failures, but this book is also an attempt to take a broader look at the Polish art market and its subsequent transformations. According to Kowalewski, art and the world around it are never separate entities, but rather connected vessels that directly influence each other. That is why he firmly admits that he believes art can change the world.

And what about the artists themselves? Kowalewski has witnessed great careers that burst out unexpectedly and fade just as quickly, but he has also accompanied those personalities of the art world who have not allowed themselves to be pushed into obscurity over the years. What determines this? Kowalewski claims that talent and luck alone are not enough. You still need intelligence, the ability to be. ‘About this I made a series of postcards featuring Anda Rottenberg and Achille Bonito Oliva, among others. They wink at us from these 3D printed postcards. Because they know that art is the most important thing, but it is also a game in which you have to exist, know how to manage your career, make decisions, sometimes difficult, sometimes bad.’

The book Art Is Everything is not only a conversation, but also a cross-section of Paweł Kowalewski’s most important works, which, brilliantly displayed, take the reader on a journey into the artist’s extraordinary world. And thanks to augmented reality (AR), we can also experience the works in the book in an additional dimension. In each book, the reader will find a bookmark with a QR code. By pointing their phone’s camera at the code, they will be redirected to an application that allows the reader to ‘try on’ the selected image on the wall in the selected room of their home.

So far, augmented reality (AR) has not been used in any Polish publication. With this book, art can really take over us – both literally and figuratively. And all according to the principle that ‘art is everything’.
O autorach:

Paweł Kowalewski – artysta, emerytowany profesor ASP, założyciel legendarnej Gruppy, ikona polskiej sztuki lat 80. Autor znanych dzieł: „Mon Chéri Bolscheviq”, „Symulator Totalitaryzmu”, „Moc i Piękno”, „Pop Art” czy słynnego cyklu „Psalmy”. Prace Pawła Kowalewskiego wystawiane były m.in. w NS- DOK w Monachium, Castello di Rivoli w Turynie, Artistsʹ House w Tel Avivie, Galerii Isy Brachot w Brukseli. Część z nich znajduje się w największych polskich kolekcjach Muzeum Narodowego w Warszawie, Muzeum Narodowego w Krakowie, Zachęty – Narodowej Galerii Sztuki, Muzeum Jerke, a także Fundacji Sztuki Polskiej ING czy Fundacji Rodziny Staraków.

Aleksander Hudzik – redaktor naczelny „Mint Magazine”. Dziennikarz kulturalny. Prowadzi podcast „I taki to jest miesiąc w kulturze” emitowany w radio newonce. Przez lata związany z redakcją tygodnika „Newsweek Polska”, magazynami „Vogue Polska”, „Notes na 6 Tygodni” „Forbes Women”, „Dwutygodnik”, „K Mag”, „Przekrój”, „Esquire” i „Aktivist”. Współautor tekstów w książkach My Art Guide, Polski Street Art i w przewodniku About Polska. Nominowany do nagrody Mariusza Waltera w 2024 roku w kategorii Młode Głosy Dziennikarstwa.
Premiera książki odbędzie się 29 września o godzinie 14 w Zachęta Narodowa Galeria Sztuki podczas Warsaw Gallery Weekend.
Książka w sprzedaży będzie od 30 września.