Robert Rumas

born 1966

Artist, curator, activist, socio-cultural animator, exhibition space designer. His interests include issues of society as an object of manipulation in the context of concepts related to economy, religion, nation, or race. From the very beginning, he has criticized Polish Catholicism, its superficiality and hypocrisy. In many cases, his artistic language is based on kitsch, which he merges with "national" symbols. Religion is only an element of a complicated structure, just as important as economics, politics, or social dysfunctions.

The interdisciplinary output of Robert Rumas involves multiple themes, often based on a specific historical, social, political, or cultural context. For more than a decade, he has been intervening in the urban social tissue, expanding the scope of his search, annexing the complicated urban space treated holistically.
In Poland, he has presented his work at the Zachęta Gallery, the National Gallery of Art at the Centre for Contemporary Art in Warsaw, the Museum of Art in Łódź, the National Museum in Warsaw. He has taken part in many major exhibitions, including at the Kunst- und Ausstellungshale in Bonn, Moderna Musset in Stockholm, Contemporary Art Centre in Moscow, Kunsthalle in Vienna, Berlin, and Hamburg.

Next to his artistic activity, since 2004 he has been an organizer of space and stage designer for multimedia and theatre shows. He works with theatres in Wroclaw, Kraków's Stary Teatr, Gdańsk's Teatr Wybrzeże, and the Teatr Narodowy in Warsaw.

Education

Academy of Fine Arts, Gdansk, 1987-91
Collaboration with prof. Witoslaw Czerwonka atelier, 1987-89

Scholarship

Batory Foundation, 1993
Culture Foundation, 1999
Pollock-Krasner Foundation Scholarship, New York, 1998
Artist's Scholarship of City of Gdansk, 2001
Culture Foundation, 2002
Artist's Scholarship of Marshal of the Pomorskie Voivodeship, 2003
Artist's Scholarship of the Polish Ministry of Culture, 2003
Nominations for Magazine "Polityka" Award "Paszporty Polityki", 2002, 2003
Award of Gdansk Association of Arts Lovers, 2003
Artist's Scholarship of the Polish Ministry of Culture, 2006
Artist's Scholarship of the Pomorskie Voivodeship, 2006

Curatorial activity

Co-initiator of the contemporary art Gallery Wyspa, Gdansk, 1988-90
State Gallery of Art, Sopot, 1993-95
Center for Contemporary Art "Zamek Ujazdowski" Warsaw 1995
Baltic Sea Culture Center, Gdansk, 1996-2001
Centre for Contemporary Art "Laznia", Gdansk, 2001-2006
Centre of Contemporary Art "Znaki Czasu" in Torun, 2009

Separate exhibitions

"Plots", State Art Gallery, Sopot, 1993
"Gestures" - Gallery Zderzak, Crakow, 1993
"LTD", State Art Gallery Zacheta, Warsaw, 1998
"Urban Manoeuvres", Gallery Zderzak, Crakow, 1998
"Calendar", The Polish Institute, Leipzig, 2001
"Plain Air", Kunsthalle Wienn, 2002
"Recycling", Gallery For…, Torun, 2006

Group exhibitions

"Mystical Perseverance and Rose" - State Gallery of Art - Sopot, 1992
"Europa, Europa", Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle, Bonn, 1994
"New I´s for new Years", Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, 1995
"Antibodies", Zamek Ujazdowski, Contemporary Art Center, Warsaw, 1995
"Monument", Soros Center, Riga, 1995
"Kiev Art Meeting" - Kiev, 1995
"Container 96", Copenhagen, 1996
"Collection 3", State Art Gallery Zacheta, Warsaw, 1998
"The Handle", Museum of Art in Lodz, 1999
"Public Relations", Laznia Center for Contemporary Art, Gdansk, 1999
"Touch", USM Art Galleries, University of Southern Maine, Portland, 2000
"Negotiators of art", Laznia Center for Contemporary Art, Gdansk, 2000
"After the wall", Modern Museum, Stockholm 1999; Ludwig Museum,
Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest 2000; Museum Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin, 2000
"Roads to liberty", Gdansk Shipyard, 2000
"Postindustrial sorrow", Kunstverein Wiesbaden, 2000
"On freedom - Polish art after 1989", Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, National Gallery, Warsaw, 2001
"Marta Deskur & Robert Rumas", Gallery 400, University of Illinois, 2001
"In between - Art from Poland 1945-2000", Chicago Cultural Center, 2001
"Borders" - project by General Consulate of Sweden. Baltic Sea Culture Center, Gdansk, 2001
"Irreligia - Morphology of the non-sacred in 20th century Polish Art", Museum Atelier 340 Bruxelles 2001
"Łódź/ Boot…", Gallery Manhattan, Lodz, 2002
"Mare Balticum", National Museum, Copenhagen, 2002
"Way of life", Laznia Center for Contemporary Art, Gdansk, 2002
"A Goal for Poland!", Estonian Art Museum, CAC, Vilnius 2004, National Centre for Conterporary Arts, Moscow 2004
"Re:Location 1-7 Shake", Laznia Center for Contemporary Art, Gdansk, 2004
"Meeting point festiwal / next to zero" Gallery Kronika, Bytom, 2004 "Signal box" BWA Katowice, 2004
"Warszawa - Moskwa" 1900-2000, Zacheta National Art Gallery, Warsaw, 2004
"Beyond the red horizon", Zamek Ujazdowski, Contemporary Art Center, Warsaw, 2004.
National Centre for Conterporary Arts, Moscow 2005
"Love and Democracy", Stary Browar, ART Poznań, 2005
"Metropolis", National Museum, Szczecin, 2005
"Art Position" , Wien, 2005
"Sicht der Dinge", Ostdeutsche Galerie, Regensburg, 2005
"Industrialtownfuturism" - 100 years Wolfsburg / Nowa Huta, Kunstverein Wolfsburg, 2005, Nowa Huta 2006
"Love and Democracy" - Laznia Center for Contemporary Art, Gdansk, 2006
"In Poland, that is Where" - Zamek Ujazdowski, Contemporary Art Center, Warsaw, 2006
"GK collection # 1" - Old Brewery, Poznan, 2007
"Antiphotographs", Arsenał - State Gallery, Poznan, 2007
"Pamięć tej chwili z odległości lat, które miną", old Schindler Factory, Kraków, 2007
"Passengers", International Festival of Public, Fundation of Modern Art InSitu, Warsaw, 2007
"A Poisoned Sourse" - Polish Contemporary Art in a Post-Romantic Landscape, Latvian National Museum of Riga, 2007
“Biufurcations” Centre of Polish Sculpture, Orońsko 2008
“Collection of 20^th and 21^st Century Art”, Museum of Art in Łódź, 2008
“Lucim lives on”, Centre of Contemporary Art Znaki Czasu in Torun, 2009
“Gone to Croatan”, Centre of Contemporary Art Znaki Czasu in Torun, 2009
„Disappear the Vistula”, Bęc Zmiana Foundation, Warszawa, 2009

Bibliography

Jerzy Truszkowski, "Idea Embedded in Liuqid. A Sketch on Robert Rumas' Work", in: Plots (Catalogue), Państwowa Galeria Sztuki w Sopocie, pp. 9-13, 1993
Bożena Czubak, Plots, Państwowa Galeria Sztuki w Sopocie, pp. 14-21, 1993
Matgorzata Mach, "Gestures", in: Seven Spaces (Catalogue), Galeria Zderzak, Kraków, pp. 69-70, 1994
Piotr Rypson, Ewa Gorzadek: "New I´s for New Years - Polish art of the 90", Catalogue for Contemporary Art Center, Warsaw, 1995
Ryszard Ziarkiewicz: "Do you believe in God?", "Magazyn Sztuki" no 6-7/1995
Malgorzata Lisiewicz: "A counter - moment of the past", "Magazyn Sztuki" no 6-7/1995
Piotr Piotrowski: "Art versus history, history versus art", Art from Poland 1945-1996, Galeria sztuki Współczesnej Zachęta, pp. 209-230, 1997
Piotr Piotrowski, "Sztuka w obliczu starych i nowych zagrożeń", in: Znaczenia Modernizmu. W stronę historii sztuki polskiej po 1945 roku, rozdz. 6 Kontury alternatywy cz. III, pp..236-239. Rebis, Poznań,1999
Bożena Czubak: "After the Wall", Catalogue Modern Museum, Stockholm, 1999
Pawel Leszkowicz: "Art and sex. Essays on Polish contemporary art", "Magazyn Sztuki" no 2/1999
Łukasz Gorczyca, "Robert Rumas - odpowiedzialny prowokator", "Machina" no 12, 2000, pp. 98-99
Ewa Mikina: "Face Interface", Negotiators of art (Catalogue), CSW Łaźnia, Gdańsk 2000
Bożena Czubak: "Facing Reality", Negotiators of art (Catalogue), CSW Łaźnia, Gdańsk 2000
Piotr Piotrowski: "Art after the politics", Negotiators of art (Catalogue), CSW Łaźnia, Gdańsk, 2000
Anda Rottenberg "Post - Industrial Sorrow", Post-Industrial Sorrow (Catalogue) - Kunstverein Wiesbaden e.V pp. 25, Wiesbaden, 2000
Malgorzata Lisiewicz: "Borders", Catalogue, Baltic Sea Culture Center, Gdansk, 2001
Zofia Watrak, Wybory i przemilczenia.Od Szkoły Sopockiej do Nowej Szkoły Gdańskiej Gdańsk, 2001
Beata Maciejewska: "Manewry Uliczne", "Przekrój" no 40/2946 2001
Paweł Leszkowicz, Tomasz Kitliński, "Płeć, religia, sztuka. O sztuce Roberta Rumasa", in: Gender-Kultura-Społeczeństwo, Rabid, Kraków, pp. 117-130, 2002
Goschka Gawlik, "Are You The Nazi?", in: www.raster.art.pl, 2002
Marie-Luise von Plessen "Mare Balticum" (Catalogue), The National Museum of Denmark, 2002
Sebastian Cichocki, "Reaaserchers, Collectors and (Very) Distant Observers, or New Art in Poland", in: Pod flagą biało-czerwoną (Catalogue), Narodowa Galeria Sztuki Zachęta, pp. 111-114, 2004
Magda Kardasz, "A Goal for Poland!", in: Pod flagą biało-czerwoną (Catalogue), Narodowa Galeria Sztuki Zachęta, pp. 105-110, 2004
Adam Budak, Sebastaian Cichocki "Re:Location 1-7 Shake", (Catalogue) Casino Luxembourg, pp104 -105, 2004
Sebastian Cichocki, "From Municipal Guerilla to Services of social Interest. On Works of Robert Rumas" CD Catalogue, Magazyn Sztuki, pp 101, no 29, 2004
Piotr Piotrkowski "Polska sztuka miedzy totalitaryzmem a demokracją" in: "Warszawa - Moskwa 1900-2000" (Catalogue) Zachęta Narodowa Galeria Sztuki, pp 96-97, 2004
Aneta Szylak "Ten years of Disturbance. Polish art 1993-2003", Sebastaian Cichocki "Death and resurrection; remarks About critical trend in the recent polish art" in: "Contemporary identities current. Artistic creation in poland. Muzeum Narodowe w Szczecinie. pp. 9, 30-34
Magdalena Ujma, "Co martwi krytyka sztuki?", www.bunkier.com.pl, 2004
Ewa Gorządek, "The Rusian Polish dialogue" ,Stach Szabłowski, "Landscape beyond the red horizon" - Beyond the red horizon (Catalogue), CSW Zamek Ujazdowski, Warszawa, 2004
Paweł Leszkowicz "Love And Democracy" (Catalogue), ART Poznan, 2005
Sebastian Cichocki, "Z nieistniejącego słownika historii sztuki krytycznej. Hasła wybrane", "Sicht der Dinge" (Catalogue), Ostdeutsche Galerie, Regensburg, pp 36, 42, 46, 50, 2005
Jacek Zydorowicz "Artystyczny wirus" - polska sztuka krytyczna wobec przemian kultury po 1989 roku, Instytut im. Adama Mickiewicza, Warszawa 2005, pp. 12,13, 167 - 181, 192, 211, 242
Anda Rottenberg, "Sztuka w Polsce 1945 - 2005", Stentor, Warszawa 2005, pp. 335, 336, 363, 421
Bożena Czubak, "In Poland, that is Where?", (Catalogue), CSW Zamek Ujazdowski, Warszawa, 2006 pp. 68
Iza Kowalczyk "Niebezpieczne zwiazki sztuki z religią", Arteon no 9, 2006, pp. 16-19
Pawel Leszkowicz, "GK collection # 1" (Catalogue), Old Brewery, Poznan, 2007 pp. 156, 157
Slawek Mgala, Eduardo Davel, Jean-Pierre Dupuis and Jean-François Chanlat; "Gestion en contexte interculturel", PUL and TÉLUQ, Québec, 2007, pp. 9,10
Adam Mazur, "Antiphotographs", (Cataloque) Arsenał - State Gallery, Poznan, pp. 29,30, 2007
Daniel Muzyczuk "Nie przywiązuje się do czerwieni i czerni", Le Monde Diplomatique, nr7 (17) 2007, ss 18,19
Daniel Muzyczuk "Uwaga ! Marginalia!", http://teksty.bunkier.art.pl/ w nr 2/2007
"Madonna im Marmeladenglas: kunst als blasphemische Gesellschaftsanalyse" Interview Robert Rumas mit Johannes Rauchenberger/Alois Kölbl für Kunst und Kirche 3/2007
Ewa Gorządek, "Nowe Zjawiska w sztuce Polskiej po 2000" CSW Zamek Ujazdowski, 2007, pp 298, Magdalena Ujma "Ani rewolucja ani konsumpcja" pp 48.
Agnieszka Okrzeja, "A Poisoned Sourse" - Polish Contemporary Art in a Post- Romantic Landscape, (Catalogue), Latvian National Museum of Riga, 2007, pp 94-97
Alexander Woell and Haral Wydra, “Democracy and Myth in Russia and Eastern Europe”, Routledge, London 2007, pp 150-2