In Case You Missed It: Weisman Art Museum Presents Piotr Szyhalski
Graphic done by Lee Olson
Many students overlook the amazing, accessible Weisman Art Museum (WAM) located right here on campus. Founded in 1934 by University President Lotus Coffman, WAM seeks to offer students various art exhibitions that highlight cultural, social, and historical contexts of our society. WAM was originally located in Northrop and has since expanded to the current location next to Coffman Union, thanks to a generous donation from Minnesota-native entrepreneur and art fanatic, Frederick R. Weisman.
Until recently, this student-oriented art museum was featuring an exhibition of work done by Piotr Szyhalski entitled We are Working All the Time!. The Polish-American artist has curated a diverse collection of work over the past thirty years, including posters, websites, mail art, paintings, installations, and public performances. Szyhalski began his career in Poland, where he lived under the reign of the communist Polish People’s Republic (the origins of which are found in World War II). His high school English classes inspired Szyhalski to migrate to the U.S., where he was able to prosper from his bilingual education. Szyhalski uses both languages to empower his artwork, as he believes the “distance from the language… is a medium to see events from an outsider’s perspective”.
Szyhalski began his role as Professor of Design and Media Arts at MCAD, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, in 1995 to inspire young artists in their graphic design, media art, and performance art installations endeavors. Szyhalski couples his roles of art and teaching to create artworks at a whole new level that showcase his career overall.
His most well-known work, The Labor Camp Report, illustrates his daily chronicles of life in America amidst the pandemic in 2021. In this piece, Szyhalski created a hand-drawn poster each day for 225 days to visually display current COVID news in a new light. Szyhalski shared his pieces on an Instagram platform specifically designed for his project, and these posters went viral nationally and internationally. This inspiring initiative “recasts ordinary experience in ways that illuminate not only nefarious employment of media but also to open a door to resistance and alternative action” (WAM). This collection was on full display at the Minneapolis Institute of Art in the early months of 2021.
WAM used these works to create a more comprehensive view of The Labor Camp, carefully selecting remnants and highlights to feature in the exhibit as well as the accompanying book, We Are Working All The Time!. These artworks hung on display at WAM for students to interpret, analyze, and enjoy until December 29th; you can peruse pieces from the exhibit on the We Are Working All The Time website or stay up-to-date with the artist’s creative works on his Instagram page.
The Weisman is open Wednesday through Sunday of every week and is open to the public free of charge. Find out more information on the Weisman here if you’re interested in catching their current exhibitions while they’re on display.
Image: Piotr Szyhalski / Labor Camp, COVID-19: Labor Camp Report, 2020, Digital folio courtesy of Minneapolis Art Institute. Images © Piotr Szyhalski / Labor Camp
