Spaces presents unique projects of the classic figures in Polish modern art, who have changed the way we think about space, the viewer, and the exposition. Reconstructions of historical works and abundant materials from the archives help explore pioneering artistic practices that continue to inspire others to this day.

The term environment refers to site-specific installation art that captures the viewer physically and engages their senses, with spaces designed in a way that allows the viewer to enter them and experience their light, sound, colour, and rhythm. This way of thinking about art predates today’s immersive installations by a few decades. It is not just about the form but about the entire logic of the creative process, which combines painting, sculpture, architecture, and performance.

In Poland, the artistic community took up this trend quite early. The Study of Space (1958) by Wojciech Fangor and Stanisław Zamecznik is considered to be the first work of environment art in Poland. With its experiments with perspective, depth, and three-dimensionality, painting became the major driver for the development of environment art in our country.

The exhibition is a reflection on how environment art shaped new models of thinking about exposition, the relationship with the viewer, and the limits of the specific artistic disciplines. With the omnipresent immersive installations and digital media, the exhibition goes back to the sources of this phenomenon and allows for appreciating the pioneering approach of the creators, who overcame numerous limitations to freely explore experimentation in art.