Kantor was Here is the ultimate volume on the Polish avant-garde artist Tadeusz Kantor and the impact of his work on the British art scene between the 1970s and 1980s through to the present day. Kantor's exceptional versatility translated into him successfully establishing his multiple guises as painter, stage director and designer, draughtsman, actor, poet and happening artist. Renowned for his revolutionary theatrical performances in Poland and abroad, it has been said that Kantor is to Polish art what Joseph Beuys is to German art and Andy Warhol is to American art. Recently there has been a rise in interest in Kantor's work. This has been linked to the success of recent publications on his famous contributions to theatre, which, nonetheless engage with a restricted facet of this enigmatic artist's work. Focusing on his comprehensive artistic oeuvre, from his visual artwork, to installation pieces, and graphic works to his celebrated innovations in theatre practice, this major monograph is the most ambitious book on Tadeusz Kantor to be published in the English language to date. Co-edited by Katarzyna Murawska-Muthesius and Natalia Zarzecka, Kantor Was Here profiles substantial critical debate surrounding Kantor's work through a collection of essays. These essays, by exponents of the British art scene who personally cooperated with Kantor during his stay in the UK, as well as reviews by eminent British curators and critics, address the wider perspective on Kantor's artistic career. All of these essays are published here for the first time. The book is lavishly illustrated and includes previously unpublished photographs documenting Kantor's performances at the Edinburgh Festival and Riverside Studios, his exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery in 1976, as well as the artist's drawings from private collections. Contributors include Wieslaw Borowski, Krzysztof Cieszkowski, Richard Demarco, David Gothard, Jonathan Holloway, Klara Kemp-Welch, Jo Melvin, Sandy Nairne, Veronika Sekules, Nicholas Serota, Sarah Wilson, Noel Witts, and Natalia Zarzecka. The scope of Kantor's engagement with a variety of practices, as well as this volume's contribution to the studies of relations between Britain and Eastern Europe, makes Kantor was Here an essential reference for art students, professionals engaged in this field of study and anyone interested in contemporary British and Eastern European artistic practice. AUTHOR: Katarzyna Murawska-Muthesius is Deputy Director of the National Museum in Warsaw and Reader in the History of Art at the University of London's Birkbeck College. Natalia Zarzecka is Director of the Center for the Documentation of the Art of Tadeusz Kantor: Cricoteka. SELLING POINTS: ? Kantor was Here: Tadeusz Kantor in Great Britain is the ultimate volume on the Polish avant-garde artist Tadeusz Kantor and the impact of his work on the British art scene during the 1970s and 1980s through to the present day. ? Renowned for his revolutionary theatrical performances, and his work as director, stage designer, painter, actor, draughtsman and poet, this is the first major monograph to chart Tadeusz Kantor's practice. ? Includes many illustrations and previously unpublished photographs, as well as archival material made available by private collectors. ? The book provides wider perspectives on Kantor's artistic career in essays by a variety of curators, colleagues, critics and experts, including Sarah Wilson, Sandy Nairne, Nicholas Serota and Richard Demarco. ? A must-have for students of Art History as well as Performance, Theatre and Eastern European studies. ILLUSTRATIONS 200 colour
