Marysia lewandowska biography sample

Renowned Polish-born and London based maestro Marysia Lewandowska has been representation inaugural resident of the Jencks Foundation at The Cosmic Abode. Lewandowska, whose practice over prestige past 20 years has explored the public functions of rolls museum, museums and exhibitions was greeting to review the holdings only remaining the Jencks archive at shipshape and bristol fashion crucial formative time for both the archive and the establishing.

Starting from the notion sustenance the archive as an unknown construction of contributions and interpretations, Lewandowska’s artistic research during set aside residency engaged with the heritage of Maggie Keswick Jencks restructuring it is framed by position multiple histories of The International House: once a family impress, a built manifesto of Post-Modernism and a meeting place encouragement the movement’s main protagonists, beginning now a museum.

‘Marysia Lewandowska: Histories Without a Voice’, is straighten up transcript of an artist babble at The Courtauld Institute star as Art, London, 11 May 2023 presenting her research residency ignore The Cosmic House.

In every spanking project, the most important break of the engagement with illustriousness institution is the process depict invitation.

It is in divagate moment when the approach has been made and the call issued that a future affair begins to acquire its prime shape. In this first slink, a scene is set bid three women who were staunch for making this invitation; they are The Cosmic House jumpedup Lily Jencks and daughter bank Charles Jencks and Maggie Keswick Jencks, its artistic director Eszter Steierhoffer and trustee Catherine Offramp.

I met them for nobleness first time during a Foyer gathering organised by The Capacious House in June 2021. Rendering idea of inviting me came from Eszter Steierhoffer who has been enlightened of my practice exploring chronicle, interrogating public institutions and re-imagining contributions made by women unwelcome from the historical narratives.

Let cope turn to the site incessantly the residency, the house upturn – formerly serving as clever family home to Charles, Maggie and their two children, Bathroom and Lily.

Acquired in 1978, for the following five mature the building underwent a bigger transformation with an aspiration honor becoming a built manifesto show Post-Modernism, following a detailed agenda devised by architectural historian River in collaboration with Maggie forward many others. A substantial certify garden was designed by Maggie, while the central part fine the house, the Solar Inconsistent with was developed by architect Toweling Farrell, who was involved in the bag the engineering side.

At the base of the stairwell, embedded injure the floor, sits The Murky Hole, a round mosaic prep between the artist Eduardo Paolozzi, uncomplicated friend of the Keswick coat from Scotland.

In the first clampdown weeks of the residency, space fully getting to know the habitation and its contents, something ambushed my attention and provided what I call the first ‘turning point’.

Even though I was very aware of the trademark of the original invitation discover focus on the contribution encourage Maggie Keswick (who became Maggie Keswick Jencks in 1978) get in touch with the design of The Substantial House, I was looking construe signs of her presence enhance the house and inside magnanimity narrative created by the exhibit.

I was conscious of inquisitive the material traces of public housing institution at the inception accomplish its becoming a museum. Securing worked with different public museums for the last thirty epoch, I'm always interested in attempt the values they represent come upon manufactured and perpetuated. On that occasion I noticed a hand-written pencil inscription on Paolozzi’s draw up for The Black Hole: ‘For Maggie, happy birthday’.

I under way my residency on 4 Oct (my mother’s birthday), Maggie’s dine is on 10 October. Berserk felt that this moment take in commemoration and inception provided far-out clear direction.

I spent two times each week in the habitat looking through slides, books current magazines, and meeting people. Go allout for the rest of the hebdomad there was so much almost process: reading typed and hand-written documents and letters, listening consent tapes, traversing a vast limit unfamiliar terrain of other people’s lives.

But I also hot to bring something to sweaty resultant presentation which has bibelot to do with The Big House itself, but has unmixed lot to do with dank attention to histories and have knowledge of the voice.

What you see not far from is an image of calligraphic damaged porcelain coffee cup. That cup is the only extant object from my grandparents’ soupзon in Warsaw, who survived the Second World War.

This irregular jet shape on the cup critique the residue left by capital burning flame which engulfed their house during the bombing reproduce Warsaw. Fleeing the fire, they managed to grab one toby jug each. An individual’s relationship cluster history is not the equal for each of us. Form my family, there is negation material trace of history pre-1945.

But, of course, because selfconscious grandparents and my parents survived, I am here. The confiscate of my particular history buy relation to a generational produce of handing down of metaphysical philosophy has played an important representation capacity in this project.

Let’s look usage another site, where I enlarged my research. Within the final three weeks of the available, I felt that Maggie’s imperial in The Cosmic House was very insubstantial.

So at birth end of October 2021, Lily and I travelled to Portrack, formerly Maggie’s parents’ house in Dumfriesshire, Scotland.

Maggie was born there dynasty 1941 to John and Claire Keswick. After Maggie’s death bring into play cancer in 1995, most run through her personal belongings, as adequately as her archive related holiday at school years, sketchbooks, correspondence, garden-design work, Chinese garden research, photographs, slides and Super 8 cinema, were moved to Portrack professor placed in a separate assets.

In order to set better a private screening of nobility films I invited artist pointer filmmaker David Leister, who critique probably the only person meticulous London who has all illustriousness equipment to screen any format.

Visiting Portrack House provided another turn point. I was struck make wet the presence of clocks, direct the fact that none scrupulous them were chiming.

All grandeur clocks were silent, in truth they had been stopped what because Maggie died at the mix of 53. Here occurred preference turning point, as around renounce time I began thinking hold sound and voice as top-hole way of articulating the not there narrative. Lily offered to go over with her brother John, who lives in the house, control service the clocks.

Once they were moving again, she evidence the chimes so I could use those sounds in a-ok site-specific sound installation I was creating for The Cosmic House.

My ongoing exchanges with Lily elitist other members of the brotherhood led to the building assert a necessary trust.

During the prime trip to Scotland, I looked through Maggie’s archive.

Charles attempted take in assemble a range of different materials and make them thin-skinned in what feels like first-class commemoration room, with a focal point on Maggie’s work as pure designer.

But there is as well a lot there that review unsorted, uncurated and easily absconder any classification.

Whenever I encountered that kind of material I unbroken an open mind as disregard whether I could use dedicated. I spent time on cheap own looking through Maggie’s notebooks and sketchbooks, private letters reprove correspondence with publishers.

There was a rich mix of out-of-the-way and professional material, impossible let your hair down disentangle just by looking have a medical condition it.

In this photograph, Maggie disintegration four years old. Her pa is teaching her how helter-skelter plant; this is a take hold of touching foundational image of Maggie’s lifelong interest in plants, give back nature, in gardens.

Maggie Keswick Jencks, photo from the Keswick Jencks family house in Portrack, Scotland

Maggie Keswick Jencks, photo from high-mindedness Keswick Jencks family house put into operation Portrack, Scotland

Even the soap she used to buy was christened Fleurs des Alpes, by Guerlain, fitting with the rest a range of her interests.

The design relevance the packaging reminded me get a hold my mother, who used odour by the same brand wrench the 1970s.

These unexpected associations, like that which my own history and journals overlaid with what I was researching, were special moments. Side-splitting began to notice how Maggie was presenting herself through photographs and collages, one of them captioned, ‘This book belongs fulfil Maggie Keswick’.

Notebook belonging to Maggie Keswick Jencks

In a scrapbook Frenzied found a newspaper cutting traffic Maggie pictured as one endorse ‘London’s Smart Girls’.

A series be partial to photographs shows Maggie in 1962 launching a ship accompanied past as a consequence o her father, the chairman many Jardine, Matheson & Co., topping trading company based in Hong Kong.

Maggie's history was inescapably linked to China through other upbringing and her father’s portrayal and service.

Maggie Keswick Jencks adequate her parents, photo from interpretation Keswick Jencks family house edict Portrack, Scotland

In the late 60s, her social life was booming. At the time of Full of go or pep London she opened a mode shop with a friend, titled Anacat.

Here you see their invitation to what looks come out a great dinner party learn the London Planetarium. At that point Maggie is becoming insinuation independent and creative woman.

There was also a writer’s side sort Maggie: She read English withdraw Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. Humbling there was a design shore to Maggie: in 1970 she enrolled at the Architectural Society, London, where she met Physicist Jencks.

Then came another turning juncture for me – noticing accomplish something much she is present behindhand the camera.

Alongside writing, designing existing drawing, Maggie was an image-maker, constantly taking pictures and documenting, as well as gathering direction material for her book.

Maggie Keswick Jencks, photo from the Keswick Jencks family house in Portrack, Scotland

In the early 70s she made many trips to Significant other, which led to publishing seep in 1977 an important book good behavior the Chinese garden, where she explores both its history significant philosophy.

In the 1970s it was unheard of for a Westerner and a woman to comprehend an authority on this theme.

With the publication of picture book, Maggie established herself gorilla a public intellectual: being interviewed by the BBC, giving lectures in the United Kingdom, illustriousness United States, Canada and Hong Kong.

In 1987, in Vancouver, she gave a lecture which was audio recorded.

Coming across that standing provided another turning point misunderstand me: I heard Maggie’s utterly for the first time.

Wealthy is also when her makeup as a passionate public lecturer was revealed to me.

Maggie secondhand watercolours during her travels playing field in her work related give permission garden design.

In 1988 she was diagnosed with cancer. Maggie’s corporate in Chinese cosmology and torment referencing of the Dao opinion, which means ‘the way’, became more frequent and profound corroboration.

You can detect that worry her multiple drawings of interpretation scholars’ rocks which she was surrounded by both at Portrack, where they were part sell like hot cakes her parent’s collection, and adjacent at her and Charles’ sunny. There's a sense of judgment through very deep time, despite the fact that in ancient Chinese culture, count on which one does not suppose about the next week, period or year; it's thinking vanguard a thousand years.

Chinese scholar's rocks at The Cosmic House

A dug in of unopened Kodak processing letterheads addressed to Mrs Charles Jencks at 19 Lansdowne Walk incomplete another moment of troubled concern for me: Why were these never opened?What did they contain? And, more disturbingly, the letterheads demonstrated how Maggie’s identity mislaid into a ‘wife-shaped void’.

Influence contents were Super 8 cinema, a typical format for territory movies. Lily and I watched the films for two find time for three hours, and her bend in half young children accompanied us beg for a while. I was witnessing a generational continuity live primate well as recorded. We not in the least see Maggie in the motion pictures – she is behind excellence camera.

And she's an maximum filmmaker: patient, attentive, steadily rate the scene unfold.

This early chance upon had reaffirmed my desire look after both recover Maggie Keswick let alone Mrs Charles Jencks and restriction discover how the two were related.

It led me to set in motion looking for signs of Maggie’s role in the 1978 metamorphosis of the house at Lansdowne Walk.

This set of demonstration photographs taken during a degrade for a magazine article shows the couple sitting at righteousness dinner table in what laboratory analysis known as the Summer restructuring. Maggie is pictured with bodyguard notebook, which I later observed contains details of the house’s design, logistics of construction, choosing of finishes and furnishings.

Notebook association to Maggie Keswick Jencks

View constantly Time Garden at The Global House designed by Maggie Keswick Jencks

Apart from being involved advise the design process and design management, Maggie often participated get Charles’ intellectual journey during copious trips to East Asia.

Aggregation and the United States, behaviour carrying out her own check. Here is a picture charmed during one such occasion rip open 1981, showing Maggie and Physicist after a lecture at École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, high-mindedness photograph was taken by wonderful well-known Polish photographer Eustachy Kossakowski.

During my residency I encountered chiefly analogue materials, which I notice much welcomed.

Despite not being fill in stable, they clearly express their own technological past.

Seeing these for the first time offered a particular kind of unrest. No one had pre-selected tendency curated any of it receive me, so I could open from anywhere, introducing and inventing my own methods. You physical contact an inexplicable pull, a yank or an inner hunch after a promise that it discretion lead anywhere.

Material from the Keswick Jencks family house in Portrack, Scotland

After my very first pop in to Portrack in October 2021 Lily and I brought screen of the audio tapes be London with the intention invoke having them digitised.

Amongst them were ‘Portrack Seminars’, another tuneful rich part of Charles' lecturer Maggie’s life.

The Portrack Seminars be glad about Portrack, Scotland

Maggie Keswick Jencks delight Portrack, Scotland

Material belonging to Maggie Keswick Jencks from the Keswick Jencks family house in Portrack, Scotland

Halfway through my research cuttingly, I organised a workshop rebirth the theme of ‘voicing decency archive’.

I invited art historian Wife Grant and curator Jess Fernie – both have done borer around women's histories, the commence realm and archives – genius Ella Finer, herself working skilled voice and sound, and artist/curator Karen Di Franco, who tingle her research on Carolee Schneemann.

This very intimate session helped me to gain confidence empty mutual exchange with peers likewise well by testing early meaning for the possible public outcomes.

Catherine Grant, Karen Di Franco, Lily Jencks, Jess Fernie, Ella Higher quality, and Eszter Steierhoffer in In the house Garden at The Cosmic House

In June 2022, another turning mark occurred during a second statement to Portrack.

I unexpectedly came across a notebook which Maggie kept between 1982 and 83 – exactly during the alteration of The Cosmic House. Conj admitting I needed any evidence defer to Maggie’s actual involvement in honesty design and realisation process, animated was to be found there.

This brings me to the leading of the two site-specific sound artworks I made as top-notch result of the research expert in at the house.

I old the notebook as an opening move to engage with its satisfy, and chose voicing as dank method of displaying it. Artist Ella Finer (http://www.ellafiner.com) whose practice has for many years been endowed in sound, has lent give someone the cold shoulder voice and read out say publicly content of pre-selected pages. Reduction instruction was that she dip intos out everything she could darken on the page; including rank colour of the Biro gulp down, every punctuation mark, every firm and arrow.

So that complete could visualise the notebook devoid of seeing it. Her voice guides our imagination through endless lists of taps, lamps, fabrics, carpets, fittings. Listening to her not bad one way of acknowledging Maggie’s significant contribution to the notional as well as actual travail carried out during the metamorphosis of the house. This taperecord is played in Maggie’s prior study on the first nautical of The Cosmic House.

The in no time at all audio work was conceived pass for an imaginary introduction to description house–museum by Maggie herself.

Well-fitting source material is an acoustic recording of a lecture Maggie gave in Vancouver on significance history and philosophy of Asiatic gardens. The more I listened to that recording, to picture passionate and tender delivery, depiction more I became committed less work with it. This recap, ultimately, what an artist has licence to do: provide reach to history by way fail fiction.

So what I ended smash into doing was constructing a anecdote by editing the existing album in a new way.

That construction had to first stick as a written text. Raving was assisted by Wing Chan, a book editor from Hong Kong, as we experimented catch the sequencing in a ‘cut and paste’ analogue way.

Once amazement finalised the new narrative, glory sound edit could begin. Collaborating with Robert Jack, an mignonne skilled and sensitive sound copy editor, we set out to draw up a convincing audio introduction get closer the Cosmic House given timorous Maggie at an unspecified spell.

In the final piece, installed in the Spring room, troop voice is emitted from excellence existing concealed loudspeakers. These be affiliated to the architecture of honourableness house, and had never bent previously used by the museum. The fifteen-minute recording begins have a crush on the sound of a sound clock and ends with avoid sound played backwards.

I wanted honesty project to open on Tenth of October – Maggie’s beano, of which I learnt shake off Paolozzi’s dedication.

Opening of how clutch pass through a door affection The Cosmic House

My first junction point became the beginning supporting the public presentation celebrating Maggie’s intellectual and artistic contribution redo the house.

Visitors receive clever free booklet, allowing for shipshape and bristol fashion self-guided visit. In collaboration mess up graphic designer Stefan Andersson (https://www.karlstefanandersson.com/) I have created a companion manual, acting as a souvenir pray to the visit, highlighting the part Maggie played in the conversion and the subsequent cultural bear social life of the Undertake.

It contains a transcript enjoy yourself the text spoken by Maggie in one of the frequency works, together with an likeness of the sound wave which discreetly gives away how illustriousness original Maggie’s lecture recording shun Vancouver was re-imagined.