Futureantiques founder and owner Adam Krzemiński invited Gdańsk artist Piotr TUSE Jaworski to paint a restored Polish wardrobe from the 1950s. The collaboration, called TUSE CHOWAM, treats the front of the furniture like a building facade. A woman’s face, painted entirely with spray paint, covers the doors, with an inscription in the lower corner linking the artist’s name to the wardrobe’s use.
An elm-veneered wardrobe from Słupsk
The piece chosen for the project was a large Polish wardrobe made in Słupsk, Poland, in the 1950s. It was covered in elm veneer and restored by the Futureantiques team before its front was handed over to the artist, known for his murals in Gdańsk.
Krzemiński is a collector of applied art and an expert in authenticating mid-century modern furniture. His business, Futureantiques, is associated primarily with 20th-century design and figures such as Hans J. Wegner, Arne Jacobsen and Poul Cadovius. For this project, he chose to collaborate with an artist from the street-art scene of the Tricity area around Gdańsk.
From city walls to wardrobe doors
Piotr TUSE Jaworski has worked with graffiti since 1995. A graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk and a member of Double S Crew, he specialises in large-scale, photorealistic portraits in intense colours. His murals can be seen around Gdańsk, including the Wrzeszcz district. He has painted Zbigniew Wodecki, Andrzej Zaucha, Grzegorz ‘Guzik’ Guziński and Michał ‘Joka’ Marten on the city’s walls. His paintings have also been exhibited in Poland and abroad, including Sopot, Kraków, Lublin and New York.
For the wardrobe, he painted a woman’s face with exaggerated, sensual features. It was playfully named Wenus z Koszwał (‘Venus of Koszwały’), after the village where it was made. The inscription TUSE CHOWAM refers both to his pseudonym and to the furniture’s purpose, playing on a Polish phrase meaning ‘I keep things here’. Similar wordplay appears in his earlier works, including ‘TUSE BYŁEM Tony Halik’, a play on the phrase ‘I was here, Tony Halik’, and ‘TUSE posędziuję’, which plays on a phrase meaning ‘I’ll do some refereeing here’. On the wardrobe, the joke occupies the lower corner of the doors.
Street art alongside European design
Explaining his choice of wardrobe and the idea behind its transformation, Krzemiński says: ‘The project deliberately balances street art, pop art and kitsch. It combines the rawness of a street aesthetic, a strong feminine energy, a sense of humour and a scale that makes a tremendous impression in person. My choice of wardrobe was no accident. Previously discreet and lacking a strong character, it became a magnetic, almost ostentatious object after the transformation. The contrast between “before” and “after” makes the transformation even more spectacular.’
The wardrobe was first shown publicly during the Futureantiques open days in Koszwały, near Gdańsk. The exhibition included icons of European design and works by contemporary artists, with TUSE CHOWAM attracting the most comments. The piece can be viewed at the Futureantiques workshop there and has also been listed for sale in its online shop. In this collaboration, restoration prepared the wardrobe for a further stage of work: painting its doors as the artist paints city facades.
A restored piece of furniture painted by a street artist can become part of an interior planned around art. Find architects, interior designers and interior photographers in the PLNDesign directory.
See also:
- IKEA designs KOMPISHÄNG for young adults who move home often
- Natural linen filters the light in the handmade Kulen lamp
