Schmidt, Urszula Plewka

Urszula Plewka-Schmidt (29 December 1939, Smogulecka Wieś, Poland - 20 January 2008, Pławno, Poland) was a Polish artist and teacher, a co-founder of the "Polish school of tapestry", creator of monumental wall compositions. A graduate of Agricultural University of Poznań in Poznań (currently known as the the University of Life Sciences ) in 1964 she attended the College of Fine Arts (later University of Arts) in Poznań and received her diploma at the faculty of painting in 1966 in the studio of Professor. M. Szmańda. She worked at the university until 1992. She started at the studio of M. Abakanowicz and became in 1980 head of the color studio at the Faculty of Interior Design. In 1991 she founded Schola Posnaniensis, the Higher School of Applied Arts and was its president and a lecturer until 2007. She commenced her artistic activity in the 70's by creating woven forms and spatial structures, metal structures covered with weaving material. This was also the time of the introduction of tapestry into spatial designs such as "Landscape activities", which were a form of performance to be recorded photographically. The later period was marked by the artist's return to weaving techniques which she applied in her work ever since. Participation in the prestigious 5th International Biennial of Tapestry in Lausanne in 1971 led to the invitations to the succeeding bi-annual events and paved the way to many exhibitions worldwide. Her presentation at the 1979 International Biennial turned out to be a breakthrough: the tapestries "Madonna from Krużlowa" and "Marilyn Monroe". This confrontation of two canons of beauty, history and modern times was the artist's response to the discussion between twentieth century artists on the mutual infiltration of various art disciplines. A frequent theme of the monumental works of Plewka-Schmidt is the contemplation of time, its passing, its impact on people and the interpretation of the traditions of the past.