Wieslaw Borowski

(1935-1989)

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The Foksal Gallery was founded in 1966. Wieslaw Borowski was its first director.  The idea of founding a gallery with a focus on searching out and highlighting radical approaches to contemporary art, was developed by art critics, such as Wiesław Borowski, Anka Ptaszkowska, Mariusz Tchorek, and artists, including Tadeusz Kantor, Henryk Stazewski, Zbigniew Gostomski, Edward Krasinski and Roman Owidzki.  Since its inception it has been located in an annexe to the Zamoyski Palace. The gallery was named after the street at the end of which it can be found. Foksal Gallery has never identified itself with just one avant-garde artistic movement or a group following a defined artistic programme; rather it has preferred to outline certain landmarks in the specific geography of modern art. As a rule, the gallery fully cooperates with artists in shaping the programme of exhibitions. In the beginning Foksal Gallery was run by Wiesław Borowski, Anka Ptaszkowska and Mariusz Tchorek, and later, for nearly 35 years, it was nominally directed only by Wiesław Borowski. In the 1970s the gallery co-operated with art critic Andrzej Turowski, later joined by Milada Ślizinska, Jaromir Jedlinski and others. It also attracted great photographers, such as Tadeusz Rolke, Eustachy Kossakowski, Zygmunt Targowski, Jerzy Borowski and Piotr Barącz.

 

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