Anna Baumgart (born 1966) is a Polish artist, best known for her large

installation Installation may refer to: * Installation (computer programs) * Installation, work of installation art * Installation, military base * Installation, into an office, especially a religious (Installation (Christianity) Installation is a Christian li ...

pieces and film. She is based in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

. While she covers many different issues in her works, "all of them share a preoccupation with repression." Her works are in the permanent collections of several Polish museums.

Early life and education

Baumgart was born in Wroclaw in 1966. In 1994 Baumgart graduated from the department of sculpture of the

Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk The Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk (''Akademia Sztuk Pięknych w Gdańsku'') was founded in 1945 in Sopot, Poland as the State Institute of Fine Arts, later renamed the State College of Fine Arts in Gdańsk. In 1954, the headquarters were moved f ...

, Poland.

Career

Themes

Baumgart uses

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians ha ...

to examine and re-examine the past through art. She also explores how the media can shape the narrative of a historical moment by reducing it to a single iconography. ''Szum Magazine'' writes that Baumgart likes to play with history and themes in culture. Baumgart also examines issues related to gender, such as how to redefine the "notion of ' hysteria' ". She is interested in examining roles relating to motherhood and the system as they shape the mental development of a child.

Work

In her work, ''Let Unrestrained Anger Be Eliminated'' (1996), Baumgart uses technology and the human body to explore the "resonance between maleness and femaleness." She explores the roles of how a child's development is shaped and whether it is through the mother or society in ''Who's Talking?'' (1998). Her work ''I've Got It From My Mother'' (2002) uses myths and symbols in the photographic and sculptural works of the artist and her daughter. Baumgart used found footage to create ''Real? (The Cranes Are Flying)'' (2001). Baumgart's first staged film was ''Ecstatics, Hysterics and Other Saintly Ladies'' (2004) and premiered at the Zachęta National Gallery. The film project, ''Fresh Cherries'' (2010) examines

prostitution Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...

concentration camps Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

. It was created for the exhibition at the Art Centre in Falstad, Norway, where German concentration camp was located during the Second World War. In 2010, Baumgart collaborated with artist,

Agnieszka Kurant Agnieszka Kurant (born 1978) is a Polish interdisciplinary conceptual artist. She examines how economic, social, and cultural systems work in ways that blur the lines between reality and fiction. Biography Kurant was born in 1978 in Łódź, Pol ...

, to create ''Project (...)'' which is an installation that spanned Chlodna Street where there was once a footbridge linking

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

communities to one another during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. * ''Mother'' (1999) * ''Condoms, Money, Lady - No problem!'' (Prezerwatywy, pieniądze, money, lady - no problem, 1999)

Major exhibitions

* Media Art Biennale in 1997 and 1999, At The Time of Writing
Centre for Contemporary Art Zamek Ujazdowski
in Warsaw, 1998 * Public Relations, CCA Łaźnia in Gdańsk, 1999 * ''Sing, Slaves,'
Bunkier Sztuki Gallery of Contemporary Art
Kraków, Poland, 2014 * ''Three Plagues'', Galeria Labirynt – BWA Lublin, Poland, 2019
''Anna Baumgart. Revolution is not a dinner''
Galeria Miejska BWA w Bydgoszczy, 2019

Public collections

Zachęta National Gallery of Art The Zachęta National Gallery of Art (Polish: ''Zachęta Narodowa Galeria Sztuki'') is a contemporary art museum in the center of Warsaw, Poland. The Gallery's chief purpose is to present and support Polish contemporary art and artists. With numero ...

Silesian Museum Silesian Museum in Katowice ( pl, Muzeum Śląskie w Katowicach) is a museum in the City of Katowice, Poland. History The museum was founded in 1929 by the Silesian Sejm, while the region was recovering from the Silesian Uprisings. In the XX ...

in Katowice * Fonds Régional d’Art Contemporain Poitou-Charentes

References

Citations

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baumgart, Anna 1966 births Artists from Warsaw Film people from Wrocław Polish women artists Polish women film directors Living people Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk alumni