The White & Case collection has two faces. Already in the 1990s, the Warsaw law firm began collecting maps of the Republic of Poland, engravings, woodcuts and lithographs. Over the years, it has become the owner of an impressive collection of objects of a museum rank. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since 2018, the law firm has been developing a second pillar of its collection \u2013 contemporary photography. The selection of this new medium may at first not seem that obvious. However, as the collection\u2019s curator Aleksandra Krasny argues, cartography and photography actually do have a lot in common. They both constitute craft-based techniques of recreating the world and they are produced on paper and in multiple copies. They both document the changes taking place over the years in various ways which are appropriate for a given medium. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n The dualistic nature of the exhibition has been additionally emphasised by the surprising yet harmonious juxtaposition of museum items and contemporary works \u2013 an exhibition based on a dialogue between the past and the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thus, in the foyer, we may see a photo by Tadeusz Rolke entitled Spacer z Tadeuszem Konwickim [The Walk with Tadeusz Konwicki] juxtaposed with Stanis\u0142aw Antoszewicz\u2019s drawing depicting the Evangelical Reformed Church in Leszno. They present the two tallest Warsaw buildings \u2013 the one from the 19th century and the current one. In a conference room nearby, there is a large-format photograph by Ada Zieli\u0144ska made with a drone (it is the first commissioned art project in the collection). On the same wall, there also hang panoramas of the city, among others by Chris Niedenthal and Tadeusz Sumi\u0144ski, as well as works by Adolf Kozarski and Adolphe Rouargue presenting the same view of Warsaw from the 19th century. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n While going farther down the law firm\u2019s corridors, we pass intimate, almost painterly photographs by Hartwig (Most Poniatowskiego [Poniatowski Bridge] (working title) and Plac Defilad [Parade Square] (working title) \u2013 both from 1965), whereas in the office of Marcin Studniarek, White & Case Managing Partner, we find a rather surprising photo from the set of Sok\u00f3\u0142 and Pono\u2019s rap clip by a representative of the young generation of photography, Kuba D\u0105browski.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is what Marcin Studniarek has to say about the key to the selection of works and the building of the collection\u2019s character:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201eAll items have one thing in common \u2013 Warsaw. Among the works gathered, you may find panoramas, genre scenes with the inhabitants, places that make up the history of the capital. All of them have been filtered through various artists\u2019 sensitiveness and different artistic strategies. Moreover, the collection covers numerous genres: from photojournalism through documentaries to contemporary art, as well as a wealth of techniques: vintage barites, digital prints, photo collages, and even lightboxes. The collection of the White & Case law firm is therefore a Varsavianistic collection. One of its central themes is constituted by the Warsaw landscape \u2013 extremely diverse, composed of many historical layers, and thus so fascinating\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A story of one photo. In Grospierre’s mirrored image <\/strong><\/p><\/h2>\n\n\n\n Grospierre\u2019s photographs focus on the documentary analysis of the structure, construction details, shape and colour. They often \u201cbreak down\u201d architecture into its basic elements in a cold and orderly manner; other times, they emphasise the repetitiveness of the elements of the photographed structure or interiors, as a result evoking a sense of abstraction in their forms. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n The interiors photographed by Grospierre are abandoned, there is no life in them, only a memory of someone\u2019s presence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The interior-exterior relationship characteristic of the law firm\u2019s office finds its reflection\u2014and the name is indeed a sign in this case\u2014in one of Grospierre\u2019s works from 2008, entitled Lustra [Mirrors]. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is hard to imagine the process of creating a credible narrative about the capital\u2019s architecture without such an artist as Miko\u0142aj Grospierre, a photographer who as one of the first Polish artists immersed himself in modernism and began to consistently document it. The style of his work is reminiscent of the Bechers\u2019 photographic series \u2013 as was the case with the German duo, it is based on analysis and cold observation devoid of any sentimentalism. It does show, however, a critical approach towards the flagship slogan of modernists: \u201cform follows function\u201d \u2013 a fascination with the structure, colour, and even its construction details. Our collection includes five pieces from the \u201cModern Forms\u201d and \u201cModern Spaces\u201d series: the Powi\u015ble station, the facade of the famous yellow block of flats, as well as the interiors of the CIECH building, the Iluzjon cinema and the Europejski Hotel. The last one of them was the first photograph to be added to the collection. We chose it because not only it is a sign of the previous era (it depicts the Hotel prior to its renovation), an image of a cult place on the map of Warsaw, but also an example of a shot in which Grospierre implements not merely a documentary project, but above all a conceptual one. Whilst using the advantages of the photographed corridor, he sets a trap for the viewer. It is the viewer who is to find themselves in the spider web of reflections and answer the following (technical, or perhaps metaphysical?) question: Who did actually press the camera button, and where are they hiding? How great the creative power of photography is!\u201d \u2013 says Krasny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One may be tempted to say that Grospierre\u2019s Lustra are indeed the quintessence of the multidimensionality of White & Case\u2019s collection. A multiplied reflection of Warsaw showing this very city from various perspectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ***<\/p>\n\n\n\n The White & Case law firm does not consider art as a mere form of decorative space. On the contrary, it primarily serves as a platform for employer branding activities that is to convey company values, enhance employee integration, develop sensitivity and encourage others to begin their adventure with private art collecting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" How are collections planned? What makes a given item part of a collection? White & Case is the first law firm in Poland to build an innovative corporate collection with Warsaw as its subject. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2527,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[238,241],"tags":[485,383,487,488,486,489,490,491,492,493],"class_list":["post-2561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art-branding-en","category-strategy","tag-business","tag-collecting","tag-collection-en","tag-corporatecollection","tag-grospierre-en","tag-orski-en","tag-rolke-en","tag-warsaw-en","tag-whiteandcase-en","tag-zielinska-en"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/uncommonground.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/1-White-Case-fotografia-T-Rolke-recepcja-9-1024x683.jpg\")
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Stanis\u0142aw Antoszkiewicz, \u201eEvangelical Reformed Church in Leszno\u201d, board woodcut, 1980<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/uncommonground.pl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/4-Ada-Zielinska-Home-Office-2020-1024x768.jpg\")
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