POZA presents a selection of both well-established and emergent Polish artists, resident not only in Poland but also in the United States, Canada, France, and Brazil. These artists are proposed not as mere instances of a nationality, but as individuals who explore issues of national identity by casting them in the broader context of contemporary art and life. These issues include questions of the ethnic versus the national, gender identity in post-Communist Poland and the nomadism of contemporary artists. The artists featured are Kinga Araya, Azorro Group, Frida Baranek, Anna Bialobroda, Karolina Bregula, Anna Bella Geiger, Wojciech Gilewicz, Aneta Grzeszykowska & Jan Smaga, Ewa Harabasz, Joanna Hoffmann, Jerzy Kubina, Zofia Kulik, Dominik Lejman, Joanna Malinowska, Jacek Malinowski, Gabriela Morawetz, Adam Niklewicz, Karol Radziszewski, Krystiana Robb-Narbutt, Christian Tomaszewski, Maciej Toporowicz, Ursula von Rydingsvard, Monika Weiss, Krzysztof Wodiczko, Pawel Wojtasik, Xawery Wolski and Krzysztof Zarebski.

The Polish word “poza” has a double meaning: “pose” or “posturing” (as one disguises his or her true nature for public display), and “beyond” or “besides”.

The book is a result of the exhibition POZA (Real Art Ways Major Multidisciplinary Exhibition 2006-2007). Curated by the Polish-born and New York based art critic and art historian Marek Bartelik, POZA gathered together works of 31 artists with roots directly or indirectly in Poland. The artists represent different generations – the oldest born in the 1930s, the youngest in the early 1980s. Works in the exhibition included painting, sculpture, photography, new media, video and site-specific installations and performances at Real Art Ways, as well as public projects located around Hartford and surrounding towns.

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