Najbardziej radykalne postawy w ruchu galerii konceptualnych lat siedemdziesiątych. Galeria 80x140 Jerzego Trelińskiego i Galeria A4 Andrzeja Pierzgalskiego

The 'Gallery movement', which formed in Poland in the 70s is a world phenomenon that provides extremely rich material, in terms of diversity, as well as in quantitative terms. The galleries were created under the dominant influence of conceptual art, that is why I describe them as 'conceptual galleries'. They played the traditional role of a gallery, that is, they were places of exhibition and they functioned as an 'art container', but at the same time, they were art projects created according to the individual decision of the artist, just like the works of art. They were therefore a form of conceptual art, developed in the 70s, the conceptual art decade. One of the most radical galleries at that time was the 80x140 Gallery, founded by Jerzy Trelinski, in spring 1971 in Lodz. The Gallery operated until 1977. Initially, the gallery space was a wall surface of dimensions given in the name of the gallery (80 x 140 cm). But soon the work presented in the gallery began to develop directly into the space of the room, turning it into an installation space. Then artworks began to be realized around the city and numerous projects by J. Trelinski, as well as collaborative projects, began to be created in various locations outside Lodz, all under the facade of Gallery 80x140. In May 1972, at the 80x140 Gallery, the A4 Gallery began its activity, which was an initiative of Andrzej Pierzgalski. It was perhaps an even more radical art project in the category of 'conceptual galleries', and it was limited to a plain sheet of A4 size paper (literally, a piece of A4 paper was placed within the 80x140 Gallery). This article also announces broader research on issues arising from the 'gallery movement' and the category of 'conceptual galleries' in Polish art of the 70s. The 'gallery movement' also had a social and political dimension. Thus a network of the independent exchange of ideas was created, and it functioned well on an international scale. The patterns of self-organising initiated by the artists' community and the art procedures that were developed in the 70s on the basis of conceptual art, proved extremely useful in the 80s. Also during the economic crisis and transformation of the 90s, the model of a 'conceptual gallery' enabled the artistic community to function, despite limitations of an economic nature. This article describes the methodology of research on the 'conceptual galleries' phenomenon. It contains a detailed description of works that were created in the Gallery 80x140 and Gallery A4 (and under their auspices) throughout the time of their operation. It also presents the consequences that the initiators of these galleries have drawn from them later in their artistic practice; particularly a series of works titled Autotautologies by J. Trelinski, (the artist puts a graphic sign TRELINSKI on various objects and in various places and situations), as well as further artistic development of A. Pierzgalski.