Urszula Plewka-Schmidt was a Polish artist and teacher, a co-founder of the "Polish school of tapestry", creator of monumental wall compositions.
Biography
A graduate of Agricultural University of Poznań in Poznań in 1964 she attended the College of Fine Arts in Poznań and received her diploma at the faculty of painting in 1966 in the studio of Professor. M. Szmańda. She worked at the university until 1992. She started at the studio of M. Abakanowicz and became in 1980 head of the color studio at the Faculty of Interior Design. In 1991 she founded Schola Posnaniensis, the Higher School of Applied Arts and was its president and a lecturer until 2007.
Artistic activity
She commenced her artistic activity in the 1970s by creating woven forms and spatial structures, metal structures covered with weaving material. This was also the time of the introduction of tapestry into spatial designs such as "Landscape activities", which were a form of performance to be recorded photographically. The later period was marked by the artist's return to weaving techniques which she applied in her work ever since. Participation in the prestigious 5th International Biennial of Tapestry in Lausanne in 1971 led to the invitations to the succeeding bi-annual events and paved the way to many exhibitions worldwide. Her presentation at the 1979 International Biennial turned out to be a breakthrough: the tapestries Madonna from Krużlowa and Marilyn Monroe. This confrontation of two :wikt:canon|canons of beauty, history and modern times was the artist's response to the discussion between twentieth-century artists on the mutual infiltration of various art disciplines. A frequent theme of the monumental works of Plewka-Schmidt is the contemplation of time, its passing, its impact on people and the interpretation of the traditions of the past. In her wall tapestry compositions the artist uses, among others, familiar images of secular art and objects of worship.
Gallery
Cycles
"Journey to the sources of time", 1978
"The time of life, the time of death," 1986
"Gardens of Memory", 1987
"This twentieth century", 2001
Major exhibitions
1971 5th International Biennial of Tapestry in Lausanne
1987 Jacques Baruch Gallery, Chicago – an individual exhibition "U.P.Schmidt tapestry"
1988 Interart 88, Poznań - an individual exhibition of tapestries and spatial compositions
1992 Galeria Atena, Warsaw, an exhibition of tapestries accompanying the , Łódź 92
1997 , Elbląg, "U.P.Schmidt. Monumental tapestry”
1997 Hertogenbosch, Provinciehuis
2000 , Gorzów Wielkopolski – an individual exhibition
2000 Galeria Sztuki Współczesnej - an individual exhibition
2001 Central Museum of Textiles, Łódź, 10th International Triennial of Tapestry - an individual exhibition
Individual exhibitions
Since 1972 several domestic and foreign exhibitions including: Pittsburg, Geneva, Hertogenbosch, Eindhoven, Freiburg, Chicago, Stockholm, Moscow.
Group exhibitions
Since 1965 participation in many domestic and foreign exhibitions and international presentations of Polish art including: Lausanne, Haarlem, Groningen, Venlo, Edinburgh, Liverpool, London, Havana, Brno, Chicago, Austin, Cleveland, Copenhagen, Aalborg, Prague, Chicago, New York, Berlin, Hamburg, Lille, Paris, Zagreb, Belgrade, Düsseldorf, San Francisco, Helsinki, Madrid, Lisbon, Moscow, Mexico City, Regstrup, Angers.
