
Bettina Bereś
I grew up
at a kitchen table painted in orange and black stripes, three centimetres
thick. The table was a witness to perennial discussions about art, the
avant-garde and the supreme values.
I did not grow up to become an art historian or critic, but happened to be the co-founder of two galleries – Zderzak and Otwarta Pracownia. Since 2015, I have been running Wypożyczalnia Obrazów.
I am an artist, a painter, and an embroiderer.
I have
shown my work at 32 solo exhibitions:
A ja lubię ładne obrazy, Zderzak Gallery, Cracow 1986;
Obrazy z lat 1986-93, Pryzmat Gallery, Cracow 1993;
Obrazy z lat 1986-93, BWA Grodzka Gallery, Lublin 1994;
Obrazy w czasie zarazy, Rostworowski Gallery, Cracow 1995;
Obrazy w czasie zarazy II, Otwarta Pracownia, Cracow 1995;
Koza i inne obrazy, BWA Gallery, Sandomierz 1996;
Trzy strony obrazu, ZPAP Pryzmat Gallery, Cracow 1998;
Pies i kot, Otwarta Pracownia, Cracow 1999;
Olej na płótnie, Koło Gallery, Gdańsk 2001;
Wystawa dla Jadzi, Zamek Gallery, Przemyśl 2001;
Środki czystości, Otwarta Pracownia, Cracow 2001;
Artykuły pierwszej potrzeby, Promocyjna Gallery, Warsaw 2002;
Bez gruntu, Wieża Ciśnień Contemporary Art Gallery, Konin 2002;
Artykuły pierwszej potrzeby, BWA Bielska Gallery, Bielsko-Biała 2003;
Artykuły pierwszej potrzeby, Otwarta Pracownia, Cracow 2003;
Idzie zima, Szara Gallery, Cieszyn 2003;
Lepsza cnota niż wór złota, Manhattan Gallery, Łódź 2004;
Małe obrazy, Mała Gallery, Nowy Sącz 2004;
Obrazy na ścianach, Program Gallery, Warsaw 2004;
Piecyki i wanny, Samochodowa w Tunelu Gallery, Cracow 2004;
Wypożyczalnia obrazów, open-air action, National Creative Encounters, Kalwaria Zebrzydowska 2004;
Miski, Baszta Czarownic, BWA Słupsk 2005;
Wypożyczalnia obrazów, open-air action, National Creative Encounters, Kalwaria Zebrzydowska 2005;
Wystawa na srebrne wesele, Otwarta Pracownia, Cracow 2005;
Small Things, Kabusa Konsthall, Köpingebro, Sweden 2006;
Boli, Mieszkanie 23 Gallery, Cracow 2008;
Dwie babki, Mieszkanie 23 Gallery, Cracow 2010;
Zdjęcie zaręczynowe, Otwarta Pracownia, Cracow 2011;
Zdjęcie zaręczynowe, Korekta Gallery, Warsaw 2014;
Makatki na ulicy Głównej, 5th International Festival of Ephemeral Art Konteksty, Sokołowsko 2015;
Dobrze już było, BWA Olsztyn 2016;
Uczta, Centrum
Gallery, NCK, Cracow 2017.
photo by Uta Hanusek
THE MEMORIES OF MEMORIES
The Memories of Memories is a return to childhood, though not mine: it is the childhood of my
mother’s. It is an attempt to find the world I know only from stories of events
as they were remembered by a small girl. Poznań is a land of happy bliss, a
fairytale realm, yet there is drama underneath it all too. A land not
necessarily anchored in a particular time and space. Grunwald,
Marcelińska
street and the horserace track are the fixed points. Also, in all certainty it
all happened before World War II. In September 1939, the family packed all
their valuables and sent it by train east, to a safe place. The freight train
was bombed and subsequently looted.
The memories and the imagination of a small girl is all that remains. I would like to reconstruct that world, a small part of it though it may prove to be.