Collection

“Where Do We Come From, Who Are We, Where Are We Going” is a painting from a series created in 1986–1987, in which Pawlak used the technique of covering art compositions with layers of paint as a reference to the militia’s typical practice of painting over any writing on walls. Even earlier, in “Painted-Over Paintings” (‘Obrazy zamalowane’) – his 1985 M.A. graduation project, Pawlak acted on his intent to paint his own art over in the presence of the thesis committee, in a gesture of destruction and solidarity with anonymous “painters” of political inscriptions on walls around the city. The painting “Where Do We Come From, Who Are We, Where Are We Going” shows a group of people drinking heavily – its title is an attempt at philosophising the Polish nation’s history through a reference to the Slavic inclination to indulge in hard liquor.