Zygmunt Rytka was born in 1947 in Warsaw. He was an intermedia artist associated with the Polish neo-avant-garde scene of the 1970s and the independent art scene of the 1980s. His oeuvre features photographic cycles, experimental films, and video works, as well as installations and objects, the latter after 2000. He was closely associated with the Mała Gallery in Warsaw and the Wschodnia and FF galleries in Łódź. Rytka co-founded the In Situ Contemporary Art Foundation, based originally in Podkowa Leśna and later in Sokołowsko. In his oeuvre, he combined a philosophical and artistic study of nature and perception with an ironic reflection on contemporary media and politics. His documentation of the art scene of which he was an active participant is fascinating. He died in Sokołowsko on 23 March 2018.

Selected solo and duo exhibitions:

2023

Projection Sequences, Galeria Studio, Warsaw, PL

2020

To Whom Does the Cosmos Belong?, Photomonth Festival, Cracovia Hotel, National Museum, Cracow, PL

2019

Selected Works, ms44 Gallery, Świnoujście, PL

2018

My Forms Of Recording, Stara ZPAF Gallery, Nowe Miejsce, Warsaw, PL

2017

Private Collection, Brehmer Sanatorium, Sokołowsko, PL

2015

Some Meetings, In Situ Contemporary Art Foundation, Sokołowsko, PL

2014

Photovision, Villa Rosa, Sokołowsko, PL

2013

Some Meetings, Asymetria Gallery, Warsaw, PL

2011

When I’m Sixty-Four, Ujazdowski Castle Center For Contemporary Art, Warsaw, PL (with Krzysztof Wojciechowski)

2008

My Place, 65 Gallery, Warsaw, PL

2007

Photovision, FF Gallery, Łódź, pL

2006

Photographs and Photoinstallations. Works from 1971 – 2005, 2nd Warsaw Artistic Photography Festival, Prezydencka Gallery, Warsaw, PL
2005

Momentary Objects, Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw, PL

Works 1971–2005, Program Gallery, Warsaw, PL

2004

Dynamic Objects, FF Gallery, Łódź, PL

Photographs and Objects, Centre of Polish Sculpture, Orońsko, PL

20 Years – Photographs and Objects, Labirynth Gallery, Lublin, PL

2002

Between – Works from 1971–1999, Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz Museum, Stawisko, PL

Continual Infinity, Muzeum Historii Fotografii, Cracow, PL

2001

Continual Infinity, BWA Gallery, Zielona Góra, PL

2000

Continual Infinity, Muzeum Sztuki, Łódź, PL

1998

Neurons and Elements, FF Gallery, Łódź, PL

1994

Contact, Mała Gallery, Center For Contemporary Art, Warsaw, PL

1991

Impermanent Object, FF Gallery, Łódź, PL

1989

Momentary Objects, BWA Gallery, Lublin, PL

1988

Beside Art, FF Gallery, Łódź, PL

Private Collection, Mała Gallery, ZPAF, Warsaw, PL

Partum School of Positive Nihilism of Art, Mała Gallery, ZPAF, Warsaw, PL

1986

Continual Infinity, odNOWA Gallery, Poznań, PL

1985

Continual Infinity, Mała Gallery, ZPAF, Warsaw, PL

1984

Continual Infinity, Labirynt Gallery, Lublin, PL

1983

Complementary Images, Mała Gallery, ZPAF, Warsaw, PL

1982

Films, Czyszczenie dywanów, Łódź, PL

Holographs, Czyszczenie dywanów, Łódź, PL

1981

Photovision – S.M. Catalogue, Mała Gallery, ZPAF, Warsaw, PL

1979

Boney M, Contemporary Art Gallery, Staromiejski Dom Kultury, Warsaw, PL (with Jacek Drabik)

1978

TV/Studio 2 – Rembrandt 78, Interpress Gallery, Warsaw, PL

Multiple Recording, WAREXPO Gallery, Warsaw, PL

1975

Description of Place, ZNAK Gallery, Białystok, PL

1974

Time Units, Remont Gallery, Warsaw, PL

 

Selected group exhibitions:

2018

Avant-garde and the State, Muzeum Sztuki, Łódź, PL

2017

Tempus Fugit, On Time and Transience, International Cultural Centre, Cracow, PL

2014

Signature, Warsaw Photo Days, Kordegarda Gallery, Warsaw, PL

Potential Field, Siłownia Gallery, Poznań, PL

2013

Art Must Be Beautiful, Spectra Art Space, Warsaw, PL

An Approach to Being, KCUA Gallery, Kyoto City University of Arts, Kyoto, JP

Recording Against Regimes, Darb 1718 Contemporary Art & Culture Center, Cairo, EG

2011

No Stereotype Neue Wilde, Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw, PL

Nothing is Important Forever, Znaki Czasu Gallery, Toruń, PL

Metabiel, Freies Museum, Berlin, DE

2009

Schism. Polish Art of the Nineties, Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw, PL

2008

Time of the Forum of Photography. 25 Years of the FF Gallery, FF Gallery, Łódź, PL

Third Round, Museum of Architecture, Wrocław, PL

Contact, Koszalin Museum, Koszalin, PL

Dreamers and Witnesses – 20th-Century Polish Photography, National Museum, Cracow, PL

2007

Artcube – potrzeba sztuki, Program Gallery, Warsaw, PL

Photography – History and Art, National Museum, Wrocław, PL

Time Remembered. The Mala Gallery 1977–2006, Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw, PL

Transmission Energy, Labirynt Gallery, Lublin, PL

2006

The 20th Century in Polish Photography from the Collection of Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź, Muzeum Sztuki, Łódź, PL

Transmission Energy – Mikołajczyk, Robakowski, Rytka, Warmia and Masuria Museum, Olsztyn; Gallery of Photography and New Media, Gorzów Wielkopolski; National Museum, Szczecin; In Situ Contemporary Art Foundation, Podkowa Leśna; Austrian Culture Forum, Warsaw, PL

The 2nd Warsaw Festival of Art Photography, Prezydencka Gallery, Branicki Palace, Warsaw, PL

2005

Long Live Art, In Situ Contemporary Art Foundation, Podkowa Leśna, PL

Argumenta. From the Collection of Gerhard-Jürgen Blum-Kwiatkowski, Atlas Sztuki, Łódź, PL

2004

The 4th WORTH IT Art Fair, 2b Gallery, the former Norblin Factory, Warsaw, PL

Black and White, Fibak Gallery & Program Gallery, Warsaw, PL

Ein Jahr – 32 Positionen Räume, Museum Modern Art, Hünfeld, DE

2003

Conceptual Connections, abshire-debecki studio, Forum + Gallery, Chicago, US

Reductive Art, Stara BWA Gallery, Lublin, PL

Around a Decade. Polish Photography of the ‘90s, BWA Gallery, Bielsko-Biała; Pusta Gallery, Katowice, PL

2002

Person/Zeit/Raum: Fotografie aus Polen, Rupertinum, Salzburg, AT

Sąsiad-KA, SHE-Neighbour, Fluss, Projektraum, Vienna, AT

Transcultural Visions II, National Museum, Ducal Castle, Szczecin, PL

Around a Decade, Muzeum Sztuki, Łódź; National Museum, Wrocław, PL

2000

Forum des Images, Cinédoc, Paris, FR

1999

Relations, Dom Fotografi, Poprad, SK

OIKOS, Leon Wyczółkowski Regional Museum, Bydgoszcz, PL

Generations – Polish Art of the End/Beginning of the Century, Maneż Gallery, Saint Petersburg, RU

1998

Areas of Privacy, Photography Museum, Šiauliai, LT

Multimedia Collection of the Józef Robakowski Gallery of Exchange, Muzeum Sztuki, Łódź, PL

The 1st Biennale of Polish Photography, Arsenal Gallery, Poznań, PL

1997

Kortars Lengyel Fotografia (The Most Recent Photography from Poland), Ernst Museum, Budapest, HU

1996

Photography – Art Machine, Art Material, Bunkier Sztuki Gallery, Cracow, PL

1995

Constellation 2, Galerie im Rathauskeller, Landshut, DE

1994

Constellation. Exhibition of Polish Photography, Galerie im Rathauskeller, Landshut, DE

Video-Installations-Performance. Video Art in Poland, Muzeum Sztuki, Łódź; National Museum, Poznań, PL

Moni tor ‘94, Frolunda, SW

Modern Polish Photography, Voipaala–Valkeakoski, FI

Videospaces, PGS, Sopot, PL

1993

My Archive Presents, Arsenal Gallery, Poznań, PL

Romaeuropa, Rome, IT

1992

Vidéos Polonaises, Saint Gervais, Geneva, CH

Image Forum Festival, Tokyo-Osaka, JP

The Łódź Neo-Avant Garde Movement 1970-1992, the Grohman Palace, Łódź, PL

1991

FOTOANARCHIV2, Szombathely, HU

Short Forms, Łódź, PL

The 1st National Video Art Forum, Prexer, Łódź, PL

Kunst Europa, Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn, DE

Wschodnia Gallery Circles, Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw, PL

Separate Art, Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw, PL

1990

WRO ‘90, Wrocław, PL

Querspur Videofestival, Linz, AU

Mikołajczyk, Robakowski, Rytka, Twenty-Eight Gallery, New York, US

1989

Photography in the ‘80s in Poland, Polish-American Artists Society, New York, US

Labyrinth – Underground Space, Church of the Ascension, Warsaw, PL

Poland. Regions of Authenticity, São Paulo Biennial, BR

The Personalities of Intermedia Photography, Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw, PL

The Latest Video Art in Poland, Retina ‘89. 1st International Experimental Film and Video Meeting, Szigetvar, HU

1988

Arsenal International Film Forum, Riga, LV

Yesterday and Today, BWA Gallery, Sopot, PL

Polish Photography, Liget Gallery, Budapest, HU

1987

Trembling Machines. Smoky Chimneys, Dziekanka Gallery, Warsaw, PL

Photography. An Exhibiton Celebrating 40 Years of the Polish Art Photographers Association, Zachęta – National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, PL

Out of Eastern Europe: Private Photography, MIT, Cambridge, US

1986

Polish Photography 1955–1984, Museum of Decorative Arts, Prague, CZ

Attitudes. Photography, Wschodnia Gallery, Łódź, PL

Records, BWA Gallery, Lublin PL

The 2nd Portfolio of Artists’ Photography, Liget Gallery, Budapest, HU

1985

Poolse avant-garde, Cultureel Centrum, Berchem, BE

Contemporary Art from Poland, Walter Philips Gallery, Banff, CA

Zeitgenössische Fotografie Ost und Südeuropas, Kunstmuseum, Düsseldorf, DE

Polish Contemporary Artistic Photography, Zachęta – National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, PL

1984

The Intellectual Movement in Polish Art after World War II, BWA Gallery, Lublin, PL

1983

Artistic Pilgrimage: Long Live Art! (art event organised by Whip-Round Culture), Łódź, PL

1981

The 1st International Drawing Triennial, National Museum, Wrocław, PL

70-80. New Phenomena in 1970s Art, BWA Gallery, Sopot, PL

The Art of Facts 1970-1980, BWA Gallery, Bydgoszcz, PL

1980

Borderline Situation, Żak Gallery, BWA, Gdańsk, PL

1979

Photography – The Current State, Dziekanka Gallery, Warsaw, PL

1978

The Polish Youth Art Biennale, BWA Gallery, Sopot, PL

The 7th Festival of Fine Arts, Warsaw, PL

1977

Oosteuropese Conceptuele Fotografie, Technische Hogeschool, Eindhoven, NL

Permanent Job, BWA Gallery, Lublin, PL

Theory Session Koszalin 77, Koszalin, PL

Other Books, Remont Gallery, Warsaw, PL

Photo-Art, Labirynt Gallery, Lublin, PL

De Rook Gallery, Amsterdam, NL

1976

Choice of Approaches, Współczesna Gallery, Warsaw, PL

1975

World Press Photo, Amsterdam, NL

Film, Współczesna Gallery, Warsaw, PL

1973

Konfrontacje, Lublin, PL

1972

The 4th Salon of Art Portraits, Artus Court, Gdańsk, PL