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Biography

Urszula Plewka-Schmidt (29 December 1939, Smogulecka Wieś, Poland - 20 January 2008, Pławno, Poland) was a Polish artist and teacher, a co-founder of the "Polish school of tapestry", creator of monumental wall compositions.

A graduate of Agricultural University of Poznań in Poznań (currently known as the the University of Life Sciences ) in 1964 she attended the College of Fine Arts (later University of 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 70's 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 "Marylin Monroe". This confrontation of two 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

"Circle" - 7th International Biennial of Tapestry, Lausanne, 1975
"Journey to the sources of time" - BWA Sopot, 1978

"Journey to the sources of time" - BWA Sopot, 1978
"Canons of beauty" 9th International Biennial of Tapestry, Lausanne, 1979
"Canons of beauty" 9th International Biennial of Tapestry, Lausanne, 1979
"The time of life, the time of death", 1986

"The time of life, the time of death", 1986
"The time of life, the time of death", 1986
"Gardens of Memory", 1987
"Notebook", 2000

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
1972 Central Museum of Textiles, Łódź "Weaving compositions"
1973 6th International Biennial of Tapestry in Lausanne
1975 7th International Biennial of Tapestry in Lausanne
1977 Biuro Wystaw Artystycznych, Poznań "Exhibition of tapestries"
1977 8th International Biennial of Tapestry in Lausanne
1979 9th International Biennial of Tapestry in Lausanne
1980 Central Museum of Textiles, Łódź "Journey to the sources of time"
1980, 1982, 1984Chateau de Copet, Geneva: individual exhibitions
1981 10th International Biennial of Tapestry in Lausanne
1985 National Philharmonic, Warsaw - an exhibition of a cycle of tapestries titled "Chopin"
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 (Atena Gallery), Warsaw, an exhibition of tapestries accompanying the 7th International Triennial of Tapestry, Łódź 92
1997 Centrum Sztuki – Galeria El (Art Center - El Gallery), Elbląg, "U.P.Schmidt . Monumental tapestry”
1997 Hertogenbosch, Provinciehuis
2000 Biuro Wystaw Artystycznych, Gorzów Wielkopolski – an individual exhibition
2000 Galeria Sztuki Współczesnej (Contemporary Art Gallery) - an individual exhibition
2001 Central Museum of Textiles, Łódź, 10th International Triennial of Tapestry - an individual exhibition

Works included in the following collections

Kunstgewerbemuseum – Staatlicher Preussischer Kulturbesitz,Berlin, Germany, Berlin
The Jasna Góra Monastery, Częstochowa, Poland (together with Włodzimierz Schmidt)
Museum of the Origins of the Polish State, Gniezno, Poland
Central Museum of Textiles, Łódź, Poland
National Museum in Poznań, Poland
Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne, Switzerland
The Art Institut of Chicago, Chicago, USA
the Vatican Museum, Vatican
In addition, in collections and private collections in France, Israel, Germany, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Switzerland, USA

Awards

Scholarship of the Ministry of Culture and Arts, 1974
Award of the Poznań Voivodeship for outstanding achievements in the field of the dissemination of culture, 1979
The Blessed Brother Albert Award for artistic activities with sacral themes, 1988
Individual award of the city of Poznań, 1989
Award of the Ministry of Culture and Art of the 3rd degree for outstanding achievements in teaching and education
Medal "Ad Perpetua Rei Memoriam" awarded by the voivode of Poznań, 1996
Medal of the Central Museum of Textiles in Łódź (10th International Triennial of Tapestry) 2001

References

Zawisza, N., Scenografia do ..., tekst do retrospektywy, Poznań, 2001
Wróblewska D., Fiber Art and world Image; Wimmer G., Contemporary Polish Fiber Art; Bar-Or G., The Background to the Polish Revolution in Textile Art /w:/ Contemporary Polish Fiber Art., Ein Harod 1991
Mainguy Ch., Pomnier S. Thomas M., L’Art Textile, Paris 1985 (Edition:Skira)