Beautiful Losers: Contemporary Art and Street Culture

May 31st, 2007– August 12th, 2007

The exhibition Beautiful Losers: Contemporary Art and Street Culture, realized in cooperation with Yerba Buena Center for Arts in San Francisco, is a first in Poland presentation of one of the most original phenomena of the contemporary American culture, which is artistic activity associated with culture of the metropolitan street. The main part of the exposition is composed of painting, sculpture and photography, which are completed by film, video as well as design. While presenting the most interesting actions, which took place in the graffiti, skateboarding, punk or hip-hop subcultures in the centers of American metropolises being in the process of development, the exhibition constitutes recognition of the most vital and unconventional creation, which searches for an alternative to the consumptive culture in the bright and dark sides of street life. Wide presentation of the achievements of several dozen creators associated with this trend is completed with the achievements of those, who were inspired by street culture or created artworks, which comment it - like Spike Jonze (a star of the American independent movie), Larry Clark (a director of the famous Kids), Futura 2000 or Raymond Pettibone.

Presentation of the exhibition in the Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź will be widen with especially prepared annex, which will show achievements of street art in Poland. It will create possibility to confront Polish street art with the source, from which it was implanted in a great degree in our ground. It will also show key dissimilarities and increasing significance as a characteristic part of the national culture.

Beautiful Losers: Contemporary Art and Street Culture has been organized by Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, and the Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, and guest curated by Aaron Rose and Christian Strike with René de Guzman, Thom Collins and Matt Distel.