opening
of: 7 november 2003 closing time: 12 december
2003
Tomasz Ciecierski // Pakt z malarstwem /
Pact with Painting
Art opening 7 November, 6pm
Open exhibition from 8 November to 14
December 2003, open Tue-Sun 11am–6pm
A discussion on painting 28 November 2003, 6.30pm –
with the participation of Tomasz Ciecierski, Maria Anna
Potocka, Bożena Czubak
Curator: Maria
Anna Potocka
Co-ordinator: Renata
Zawartka
BUNKIER SZTUKI is staging an
exhibition of the works of Tomasz Ciecierski, one of the most
eminent Polish artists of the middle generation that is a
special case of retrospective. The choice of works made by the
curator is most interesting though it might initially seem
hazardous. From the many works that has been created since the
beginning of the 1970s, she has selected a number of early
ones and juxtaposed them with paintings created over the last
few years, thus giving the viewer an opportunity to spot
motifs that were present in his first works and that, in
Ciecierski’s words, reappeared years after in different
circumstances – not only artistic. One of them is color,
the color of the paint that fills up sink after sink and jar
lids. The search of a color, paintings that look like
palettes, become a metaphor for the artist’s work. His latest
work seems to go all the way back to those early concepts: it
is a cluster of photographs presenting sinks full of water
colored by the paint that the painter was using at a given
moment; the whole picture is reminiscent of a box with
watercolors. Those “paraconceptual” struggles were the
artist’s main concern in the 1970s, the decade that saw the
beginnings of the collaboration between Ciecierski the
theoretician, testing the possibilities offered by painting in
a time that neglected this medium, and Ciecierski the painter,
creating at that unfavorable time. In the words of the curator
of the exhibition: In this team producing painting objects
there is a clearly discernible difference in consciousness.
The painter seems to be employed by the theoretician and not
entirely aware of the aims to which his paintings will be
used. The theoretician gives commands […] The painter
obeys. It is true that the theoretician treats him well and
his requirements are not stress-inducing. Consequently, the
painter is free, joyful, unafraid of trusting his own artistic
decisions and compositional intuition. The painter is
trouble-free. […] The theoretician has trained a
perfect tool to produce ideal experimental pieces. He himself
has troubles, especially that he is more conscious of what he
does – apart from emotion, he longs to find knowledge. It
is the emotion, however, that is the foremost interest of
Ciecierski, rather than making theories and the act of
painting itself. He says: For a good painting to be
created, you have to be excited. If you are not, you should go
back to thinking. You do what is new – in your opinion, no
habitual painting, you take a step forward in your search. And
this is bloody exciting. Liberating, in a way.
The
exhibition, however, is much more than a mere presentation of
the artist’s return to the early motifs of his work, it is
mostly a tale about the combination of two techniques: quick
drawing and time-consuming, absorbing oil painting. For many
years, Ciecierski have been using them in a complementary way.
In the 1970s he was focusing mainly on drawing until he
discovered that a picture can be a colorful draft on a solid
base; he was pushed to this conclusion by his search of large
painting surfaces. Though rightfully classified as paintings,
his works often fail to abide by the orthodox rule of
two-dimensionality. The artist combines several pieces into
one work, which gives place for multiple interpretations and
introduces the third dimension. Ciecierski’s works are truly
three-dimensional. The paintings grow inviting the viewer to
meditate. Most of them communicate with the viewer in the
language of abstraction and color, but there also appear –
like comas and full stops – realistic landscapes. His
photographs may form autonomous pieces or simply complete the
paintings. In the words of the curator: Taking photographs
in his atelier, Tomasz Ciecierski “cleans” after the painter;
he washes the brushes, picks up used tubes and lids – he
discovers the essence of painting in the mess done by the
painter. Using a camera, he observes traces of the painting
process, documents them; the photos are then multiplied,
enlarged or grouped. What was dirt and mess – artistic entropy
is being rediscovered for the benefit of painting. This
recycling is a highly surprising but, at the same time, very
subtle reflection upon painting.
A meeting with
the artist will be held to accompany the exhibition. It will
be devoted to the role of painting in contemporary art. This
issue, widely discussed during this year’s edition of Venice
Biennial (a separate painting exhibition), has raised numerous
controversies and disputes. Stressing the role of a work of
art as a source of emotions, Ciecierski excludes orthodoxy
from painting, he is only marginally interested in techniques
that allow the artist to move the viewer.
Tomasz
Ciecierski (born 1945 in Cracow) – he studied at the
Academy of Fine Art (ASP) in Warsaw, in Krystyna
Łada-Studnicka atelier; he received his Diploma in 1971. In
1972-86 he was a lecturer at the ASP in Warsaw. In 1981 and
1983 he received a grant to stay and create at the Stedelijk
Museum in Amsterdam, he spent the years 1985-86 studying at
Atelierhaus (Worpswede) and in 1990-91 at the Musée d’art
contemporain in NÎmes. His works have been frequently
exhibited in Poland and abroad. He cooperated with the Galeria
Foksal. He also cooperates with the Wetering Galerie
(Amsterdam) and the Galerie Haus Strelow (Düsseldorf). He took
part in significant international art exhibitions: Painting
Festivals in Cagnes – sur – Mer (1982, 1984), Sao Paulo
Biennial (1987, 1994) and Documenta in Kassel (1992). His
works can be found in the Muzeum Narodowe (Łódź, Krakow,
Poznań, Warsaw, Wrocław) and in the Stedelijk Museum
(Amsterdam).
(based on Słownik Malarzy Polskich
[Dictionary of Polish Painters], Warszawa 2001)
see also:
biografical
note
Media sponsors:
Dziennik
Polski, Radio
Kraków Małopolska, TVP 3 Kraków, Portal Onet.pl
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