Blok

Constructivist artist group, 1924-1925, Warsaw.

The emergence of the group was marked by the publication of the first issue of the Blok magazine in March 1924 and by the exhibition of the group of artists in a Warsaw automobile showroom Laurin-Clement. The artists participating in the exhibition were the founding members of Blok and gathered together ‘Cubists, Constructivists, and Suprematists’. Among the members were the most progressive artists of the Polish avant-garde: Strzemiński, Kajruksztis, Szczuka, Berlewi, Żarnowerówna, and Stażewski. As the group defined itself, “Blok represents people united into a combat group by the slogan of absolute construction. However, within the group there are different directions, represented by the particular contributors of the magazine.” The group laid out the basis of the emerging Constructivist programme as well as the theories developed by its members. In all, eleven issues of the Blok magazine were published. They included not only the theoretical discourse of the members of Blok, but also illustrated texts written by the leading European modernists, such as Kazimir Malevich, Theo van Doesburg, Kurt Schwitters, and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Eventually, the different views on art as presented by Szczuka and Strzemiński led to a divide in the group. Szczuka advocated utilitarian art subjected to the social needs, while Strzemiński proposed autonomous art able to dictate the social order. The difference of opinions led to the breakup of the group.

Members: Mieczysław Szczuka, Jan Golus, Katarzyna Kobro-Strzemińska, Władysław Strzemiński, Teresa Żarnowerówna, Henryk Berlewi, Henryk Stażewski, Maria Nicz-Borowiakowa, Aleksander Rafałowski, Maria Puciatycka, Witold Kajruksztis, Karol Kryński, Mieczysław Szulc.

http://www.culture.pl/pl/culture/artykuly/es_miedzy_tradycja_i_awangarda#8
http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blok_(ugrupowanie)
http://www.culture.pl/baza-sztuki-pelna-tresc/-/eo_event_asset_publisher/eAN5/content/blok