By Dariusz Pietrzak
21 August 2003

Starting Sept. 5 Poznań will host the art of Igor Mitoraj, a foremost Polish sculptor, who has been living and working for over three decades in Paris, France, and in Italy-in the famous Pietrasanta.

Mitoraj's works will be presented at a grand exhibition at the National Museum, 9 Marcinkowskiego Ave. Visitors will see over 70 sculptures and dozens of drawings as well as the bozzetto sculpture studies. The main part of the exhibit will be presented in the Painting and Sculpture Gallery and 15 grand pieces will be on display on Poznań's Old Market Square.

The exposition's leading theme is the Gorgon, or more precisely Medusa-symbol of the power of a glance and artistic sensitivity to capture thought and beauty. At the Poznań exhibition, visitors will see the most characteristic sculptures by Mitoraj-statues of ancient heroes and bandaged figures. Made from bronze and cast iron, carved in classic marble and modeled in terracotta, they combine classical beauty with contemporary sensitivity.

Mitoraj's sculptures have long graced the world's most renowned collections; they are displayed, among others, in front of the British Museum in London, the Defence district of Paris, Milan's La Scala, the Bobola Gardens in Florence and the Olympic Park in Geneva.
Following the show at the Poznań National Museum, the exhibition will be presented in Cracow and Warsaw.

By Dariusz Pietrzak
25 September 2003

Torsos with wings, but without heads; a large head looking at the historical townhouses, but which has no eyes; a fragment of a human head lying on its side-such are the sights which will greet you if you take a stroll through Poznań's Old Town.

Works by Igor Mitoraj, a Polish sculptor who is well known around the world, have come to Poznań's Old Town Square and the National Museum for a month.

For over 30 years Mitoraj, born in 1944, has lived and worked in Paris and in Tuscany, in the locality of Pietrasanta, famous for its sculpting tradition.

Mitoraj studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow for three years, supervised by Tadeusz Kantor. Encouraged by his tutor, he continued his studies in Paris in 1968, working at odd jobs to earn a living. He also stayed in Mexico for a year, fascinated by pre-Columbian art. After his return in 1974 to Paris, he took part in many collective exhibitions, finally focusing on sculpture. In 1979 he came to Pietrasanta on the Ligurian Sea; the quality of the local marble there was appreciated by Michelangelo 500 years earlier. There, Mitoraj learned the secrets of the art of sculpting, enabling him to freely use stone, cast iron, terra-cotta and bronze.

Mitoraj's art is a personal dialogue with antiquity. His numerous trips to Greece resulted in his fascination with ancient art, particularly works from the classical era. Fragments of heads and mutilated torsos are fragments from his memories. He often enriches them with strange elements, placing a tiny head in the place of a heart, or a man's torso on a huge human hand, for example. He wraps heads in bandages, making them yet more mysterious. He marks the spot where eyes should be but doesn't place them there. He uses fragments of ancient motifs to create his own personal mythology.

After many international successes, including a prestigious individual exhibition in New York, Mitoraj's sculptures have started to appear in famous museums and galleries, as well as private collections. They can be seen, for example, in the British Museum in London, in the La Defense district of Paris, in front of La Scala in Milan, in the Boboli Gardens by the Palazzo Pitti in Florence, and in Olympic Park in Geneva.

The exhibition in Poznań is the first retrospective presentation of Mitoraj's works in Poland. It includes over 100 works: sculptures, reliefs, sketches and drawings. The main part of the exhibition, The Spell of Gorgona: Sculptures and Drawings by Igor Mitoraj, is on display at the Painting and Sculpture Gallery, while 13 monumental objects make up an outdoor exhibition in the Old Town Square.
National Museum in Poznań, 9 Marcinkowskiego Ave., through Oct. 5.

29 October 2003

Thirteen monumental sculptures by Igor Mitoraj have been placed in the historic Main Square as part of an exhibition prepared by the International Culture Center. The center's exhibition halls are host to over 60 sculptures by Mitoraj, whose other works can be also found in well-known collections in the United States, Japan, France, Italy and Great Britain. Mitoraj's sculpture Luci di Nara is on display in the courtyard of Collegium Iuridicum of the Jagiellonian University. Fascinated with the beauty of Greek and Roman sculptures, Mitoraj creates figures of ancient gods, heroes, muses and titans. The artist subjects his creations to partial destruction: cracked torsos, fragments of shattered gigantic heads, headless busts, figures cut into pieces. Some perceive this mutilated beauty as an expression of nostalgia for Arcadia lost, to others it is a criticism of contemporary civilization and a warning against its destructive power. The Gallery of the International Culture Center also presents 35 crayon drawings. Mitoraj is one of few Polish artists who have accomplished spectacular success internationally. The artist lives and works in Pietrasanta, Italy, of which he is an honorary citizen. The exhibit is open through Jan. 25.

By Edyta Gajewska
14 January 2004

An exhibition of drawings and sculptures by Igor Mitoraj is open at the International Cultural Center's (MCK) Gallery until Jan. 25. His monumental sculptures can be admired afterwards, until Feb. 5, on the Market Square. After that time the works will be displayed in Warsaw.

Born in 1944, Mitoraj, encouraged by his teacher Tadeusz Kantor, left his home country as a young student. He obtained his degree in fine arts only at the end of last year when Cracow's Academy of Fine Arts conferred on him a honorary doctorate. Still, until recently this excellent sculptor, who has lived in Italy for many years, was known better internationally than in Poland. Now his name is generally recognizable also in his home country; earlier the exhibition proved a success in Poznań. In Cracow it has already been visited by over 10,000 people.

The exhibition includes 58 sculptures and 35 drawings. The latter are done on ordinary, gray wrapping paper, "one of the best things I have taken from Poland," he points out.

Andrzej Wajda, a great admirer of Mitoraj's art, helped to arrange the sculptures in the Market Square. It is also Wajda who wrote an introduction to the beautiful album issued by the International Cultural Center to mark the occasion. Alongside texts by Donald Kuspit, Giovanni Testori and John R. Taylor discussing the motifs, contents and the style of Mitoraj's works, the album contains reproductions of over 40 sculptures. Photographer Jacek Poremba shows the sculptures in a special way, at various times of the day and from amazing perspectives. Mitoraj himself said at the opening of the show: "Cracow's Market Square is the best location in the world. Due to the specific context of the city, the street and people's comments, my sculptures had to begin existing in a new space, they have to speak for themselves."

Recently a photographic competition for the most interesting pictures of the sculptures exposed on the Square finished. "We thought these would be mostly family pictures with the sculptures in the background, but the works entered for the competition were far beyond our expectations not only in terms of number (over 350) but also in terms of artistic value," said Magdalena Sudoł-Wrońska from the international Cultural Center. "The jury had a real problem with granting the top awards; we eventually granted two first prizes (see pictured) and five honorable mentions." The best photographs are displayed at MCK Gallery and they are a great supplement to Mitoraj's exhibition. They also prove that the works of this world-famous artist meet with keen interest in Poland.

For more information: www.mck.krakow.pl