Jerzy Onuch
Encyclopedia
Jerzy Onuch is a contemporary artist and curator
. He has been working as an artist since the late 1970s, presenting performance and installation works in Europe
and North America
. He currently holds the diplomatic post of Director of the Polish Institute in Kiev
, Ukraine
.
Jerzy was born and raised in Poland
, emigrated to Canada
in 1987 and returned to Poland and later Ukraine in the mid 1990s. He is married with one daughter.
Jerzy has, in 2005, completed his tenure at the Center for Contemporary Art (CCA) in Kiev, Ukraine (formally the George Soros
Centre for Contemporary Art
s as part of the Soros Foundation
). His tenure was one of the longest and most successful in the history of the center. Under his leadership, the CCA promoted education and exposure of contemporary art (both Ukrainian and International). But more importantly Jerzy promoted young Ukrainian artists and student involvement in the CCA. During the "Orange Revolution
" the CCA became a political centre for young artists-activists (now called REP
) who used the centre's premises for the creation of "revolutionary art". During his tenure at the CCA Jerzy was also a public and at times a political force, often treated by friends, colleagues and competitors as a moral authority on the development and state of arts and culture in post-communist Ukraine
.
, Jerzy Onuch received his Master of Fine Arts degree in 1979, specializing in painting
, graphics
and art education
. As an artist, he matured in Poland in the early 1980s, a period of artistic freedom
, vitality and opportunity unique in postwar Eastern Europe
.
Mr Onuch began to take part in solo and group shows in 1976 and, in 1980, he became director and curator
of a gallery affiliated with the Academy (Pracownia Dziekanka w Warszawie) and devoted to innovative and experimental programs. As a curator, he organized, in the period 1980 to 1986, over 70 art
exhibits and art events. The Gallery Dziekanka, which he help run with his friends Janusz Bałdyga and Łukasz Szajna was highly progressive and naturally politically charged as it was born during the rise of the pro-democratic Solidarity movement.
While heading the experimental gallery, Mr Onuch also worked as an artist creating installations and staging performances . As a recognized artist in Poland, in 1981–1983 he was invited to an International Art Workshop in Germany
and, in 1986, to Vancouver
where he represented the East European art scene at the "Strategies for Survival" art conference. His own work continued to be both philosophically and politically charged.
, Canada
. He continued to work in performance art
and installation
, curating and teaching. He was invited to stage performances at such places as the Wexner Center for Visual Arts in Columbus, Ohio (1990), the Interzone Festival in Quebec City (1992) Center For Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw (1993 and 1995), Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute
in Boston (1996), Center For Contemporary Art “Brama” Kiev (1994) and at the New Music and Art Festival, Bowling Green State University
in Ohio (1996).
Mr Onuch has been invited back to Poland to stage performances and to lecture many times in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 2002 and 2003. Since 1991, when he was asked to be a juror at the first post Soviet contemporary art exhibit held in Lviv, Ukraine, he has sought out significant Ukrainian artists. In 1993 he organized and curated one of the first large exhibits of contemporary Ukrainian art in the West - the “Steppes of Europe”, which was held at the Centre for Contemporary Art “Ujazdowski Castle” in Warsaw. The exhibit was extensively covered in the Polish media. The critics noted that the exhibit presented a vision of Ukrainian art that defied all stereotypes.
, Ukraine (since 1999 the International Foundation Center for Contemporary Art). During his tenure the Center presented many Ukrainian and International artists including: Andy Warhol
, Joseph Beuys
, Nam June Paik
, Ilya Kabakov
, Joseph Kosuth
, Tony Ousler, Leon Tarasewicz, Arsen Savadov, Taras Polataiko, Boris Mikhailov
, Serhiy Bratkov, Illya Chichkan
, Andrij Sahaidakovskyi, Olexandr Roidburd, Masoch Fund, Oleg Kulik
and others.
Most recently, Jerzy Onuch curated Polish artist Miroslaw Maszlanko in Kiev, Taras Polataiko, as the Ukrainian presentation at XXV São Paulo Bienal in Brazil, the Masoch Fund at The Lux Gallery in London
, England
, and Viktor Marushchenko, as the Ukrainian Presentation at XXIV São Paulo Bienal.
In February, 2003 the Korrespondent
magazine (Ukrainian variation of Newsweek
or Time magazine
) named Mr Onuch as one of the 10 most influential foreign citizens working in Ukraine. In 2005 Mr Onuch joined the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and served as a Counsellor to the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Ukraine in Kiev and Director of the Polish Institute.
Jerzy Onuch’s multi-faceted career in the arts has been written about in many reviews and articles and his achievements acknowledged by various award-granting bodies such as the T. Shevchenko Foundation, the Canada Council
, the Polish Ministry of Culture, the International Renaissance Foundation, Kiev, U.S. Department of State, Pro Helvetia, Zurich, the Saskatchewan Arts Board
, Saskatoon, Canada.
Curator
A curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material...
. He has been working as an artist since the late 1970s, presenting performance and installation works in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. He currently holds the diplomatic post of Director of the Polish Institute in Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
.
Jerzy was born and raised in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, emigrated to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in 1987 and returned to Poland and later Ukraine in the mid 1990s. He is married with one daughter.
Jerzy has, in 2005, completed his tenure at the Center for Contemporary Art (CCA) in Kiev, Ukraine (formally the George Soros
George Soros
George Soros is a Hungarian-American business magnate, investor, philosopher, and philanthropist. He is the chairman of Soros Fund Management. Soros supports progressive-liberal causes...
Centre for Contemporary Art
Contemporary art
Contemporary art can be defined variously as art produced at this present point in time or art produced since World War II. The definition of the word contemporary would support the first view, but museums of contemporary art commonly define their collections as consisting of art produced...
s as part of the Soros Foundation
Soros Foundation
A Soros Foundation is one of a network of national foundations, mostly in Central and Eastern Europe, which fund volunteer socio-political activity, created by George Soros, international financier and self-proclaimed philanthropist, and coordinated since early 1994 by a management team called the...
). His tenure was one of the longest and most successful in the history of the center. Under his leadership, the CCA promoted education and exposure of contemporary art (both Ukrainian and International). But more importantly Jerzy promoted young Ukrainian artists and student involvement in the CCA. During the "Orange Revolution
Orange Revolution
The Orange Revolution was a series of protests and political events that took place in Ukraine from late November 2004 to January 2005, in the immediate aftermath of the run-off vote of the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election which was claimed to be marred by massive corruption, voter...
" the CCA became a political centre for young artists-activists (now called REP
Rep
Rep or REP may refer to:* Rep , a ribbed woven fabric made from various materials* rep, the Röntgen equivalent physical, a unit of exposure to radiation* REP, an x86 assembly language instruction...
) who used the centre's premises for the creation of "revolutionary art". During his tenure at the CCA Jerzy was also a public and at times a political force, often treated by friends, colleagues and competitors as a moral authority on the development and state of arts and culture in post-communist Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
.
The early years: art and politics
Educated at the Academy of Fine Arts in WarsawWarsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, Jerzy Onuch received his Master of Fine Arts degree in 1979, specializing in painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
, graphics
Graphics
Graphics are visual presentations on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, computer screen, paper, or stone to brand, inform, illustrate, or entertain. Examples are photographs, drawings, Line Art, graphs, diagrams, typography, numbers, symbols, geometric designs, maps, engineering drawings,or...
and art education
Art education
Art education is the area of learning that is based upon the visual, tangible arts—drawing, painting, sculpture, and design in jewelry, pottery, weaving, fabrics, etc. and design applied to more practical fields such as commercial graphics and home furnishings...
. As an artist, he matured in Poland in the early 1980s, a period of artistic freedom
Artistic freedom
Artistic freedom is the extent of freedom of an artist to produce art to his/her own insight. The extent can deviate to customs in a certain school of art, directives of the assigner, etc....
, vitality and opportunity unique in postwar Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
.
Mr Onuch began to take part in solo and group shows in 1976 and, in 1980, he became director and curator
Curator
A curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material...
of a gallery affiliated with the Academy (Pracownia Dziekanka w Warszawie) and devoted to innovative and experimental programs. As a curator, he organized, in the period 1980 to 1986, over 70 art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
exhibits and art events. The Gallery Dziekanka, which he help run with his friends Janusz Bałdyga and Łukasz Szajna was highly progressive and naturally politically charged as it was born during the rise of the pro-democratic Solidarity movement.
While heading the experimental gallery, Mr Onuch also worked as an artist creating installations and staging performances . As a recognized artist in Poland, in 1981–1983 he was invited to an International Art Workshop in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and, in 1986, to Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
where he represented the East European art scene at the "Strategies for Survival" art conference. His own work continued to be both philosophically and politically charged.
North America and beyond: Canadian, Pole, Ukrainian and artist
In 1987, after spending one year in the United States, Mr Onuch settled in TorontoToronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. He continued to work in performance art
Performance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
and installation
Installation art
Installation art describes an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called Land art; however, the boundaries between...
, curating and teaching. He was invited to stage performances at such places as the Wexner Center for Visual Arts in Columbus, Ohio (1990), the Interzone Festival in Quebec City (1992) Center For Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw (1993 and 1995), Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in Boston (1996), Center For Contemporary Art “Brama” Kiev (1994) and at the New Music and Art Festival, Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green State University, often referred to as Bowling Green or BGSU, is a public, coeducational research university located in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The institution was granted a charter in 1910 by the State of Ohio as part of the Lowry Bill, which also established Kent State...
in Ohio (1996).
Mr Onuch has been invited back to Poland to stage performances and to lecture many times in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 2002 and 2003. Since 1991, when he was asked to be a juror at the first post Soviet contemporary art exhibit held in Lviv, Ukraine, he has sought out significant Ukrainian artists. In 1993 he organized and curated one of the first large exhibits of contemporary Ukrainian art in the West - the “Steppes of Europe”, which was held at the Centre for Contemporary Art “Ujazdowski Castle” in Warsaw. The exhibit was extensively covered in the Polish media. The critics noted that the exhibit presented a vision of Ukrainian art that defied all stereotypes.
Back to Ukraine: Back to art and politics
In July 1997 (until 2005) Mr Onuch was the director of the Center for Contemporary Art at the National University “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy” in KievKiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
, Ukraine (since 1999 the International Foundation Center for Contemporary Art). During his tenure the Center presented many Ukrainian and International artists including: Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
, Joseph Beuys
Joseph Beuys
Joseph Beuys was a German performance artist, sculptor, installation artist, graphic artist, art theorist and pedagogue of art.His extensive work is grounded in concepts of humanism, social philosophy and anthroposophy; it culminates in his "extended definition of art" and the idea of social...
, Nam June Paik
Nam June Paik
Nam June Paik was a Korean American artist. He worked with a variety of media and is considered to be the first video artist....
, Ilya Kabakov
Ilya Kabakov
Ilya Kabakov, Russian Илья́ Ио́сифович Кабако́в , is a Russian-American conceptual artist of Jewish descent, born in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine. He worked for thirty years in Moscow, from the 1950s until the late 1980s. He now lives and works on Long Island...
, Joseph Kosuth
Joseph Kosuth
Joseph Kosuth , is an American conceptual artist. Kosuth lives in New York and Rome.-Early life and career:Kosuth was born in Toledo, Ohio. He attended the Toledo Museum School of Design from 1955 to 1962 and studied privately under the Belgian painter Line Bloom Draper. In 1963, Kosuth enrolled at...
, Tony Ousler, Leon Tarasewicz, Arsen Savadov, Taras Polataiko, Boris Mikhailov
Boris Mikhailov (photographer)
Boris Andreyevich Mikhailov is a fine art photographer who has been described as one of the most important artists to have emerged from the former USSR...
, Serhiy Bratkov, Illya Chichkan
Illya Chichkan
Illya Chichkan . He is a representative of the art movement "Ukrainian New Wave", which developed in the 90's. He lives and works in Berlin, Germany and Kiev, Ukraine as a painter, author of intallations, photo and video-projects....
, Andrij Sahaidakovskyi, Olexandr Roidburd, Masoch Fund, Oleg Kulik
Oleg Kulik
Oleg Kulik is a Russian performance artist of Ukrainian ethnicity, sculptor, photographer and curator.Kulik was born in Kiev, graduated from Kiev Art School and Kiev Geological Survey College , and was awarded a scholarship by the Berlin Senate in 1996...
and others.
Most recently, Jerzy Onuch curated Polish artist Miroslaw Maszlanko in Kiev, Taras Polataiko, as the Ukrainian presentation at XXV São Paulo Bienal in Brazil, the Masoch Fund at The Lux Gallery in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and Viktor Marushchenko, as the Ukrainian Presentation at XXIV São Paulo Bienal.
In February, 2003 the Korrespondent
Korrespondent
Korrespondent is a weekly magazine published in Ukraine in Russian and Ukrainian languages. The printed magazine was established in 2002, but it was preceded by the website korrespondent.net that was established already in 2000....
magazine (Ukrainian variation of Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
or Time magazine
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
) named Mr Onuch as one of the 10 most influential foreign citizens working in Ukraine. In 2005 Mr Onuch joined the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and served as a Counsellor to the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Ukraine in Kiev and Director of the Polish Institute.
Jerzy Onuch’s multi-faceted career in the arts has been written about in many reviews and articles and his achievements acknowledged by various award-granting bodies such as the T. Shevchenko Foundation, the Canada Council
Canada Council
The Canada Council for the Arts, commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown Corporation established in 1957 to act as an arts council of the government of Canada, created to foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts. It funds Canadian artists and...
, the Polish Ministry of Culture, the International Renaissance Foundation, Kiev, U.S. Department of State, Pro Helvetia, Zurich, the Saskatchewan Arts Board
Saskatchewan Arts Board
The Saskatchewan Arts Board is an arms-length funding agency that provides grants, programs and services to individuals and groups whose activities have an impact on the arts and the people of Saskatchewan...
, Saskatoon, Canada.