The idea to establish Galeria Art Brut was inspired by the life and work of Dominika Mendel – a 31-year-old autistic woman from Lublin who, since a very early age, has been communicating with the world through meticulous and highly imaginative miniature drawings, which later in her life developed into multidimensional paintings. Her art has always been driven by an overwhelming need that stemmed to an equal extent from the artist’s particular life situation and an inherently powerful creative desire.
The key premise of Galeria Art Brut in Lublin can be boiled down to the following sentence: as long as disability is not stigmatised, it can easily accommodate the artistic gateway to the personal and social independence of people otherwise often excluded from social interactions due to their otherness.
It is a well established truth that finding meaning and significance in one’s life is among the most fundamental human needs. It is also a common source of frustration observed, in various forms and to a varying degree, in many disabled persons. There is an inherent cognitive craving, a longing for meaning that strongly affects those excluded by their inadvertent otherness. If that desire can find its outlet through artistic expression rather than being pigeonholed and neglected, it becomes a potent foundation for a renewed sense of personal freedom, while the contact with audiences provides the admiration and applause that no artist has ever been able to go without.
They need not search for their own, unique touch, their individual style. They find it almost effortlessly,’ observes Professor Aleksander Jackowski, who has been actively involved in the popularisation of the naive arts in Poland since 1956. The art-brut genre is usually far removed from professional art, hence it is entirely free of trends, it creates no “schools”, fuels no academia. There are only artists and their works – the focus is solely on the art and motivation stems directly from the ability and desire to create. The language of art becomes a tool of the artists’ self-expression, and many art galleries throughout Poland are actively involved in facilitating such artistic endeavours, e.g.: “Tak” in Poznań, “OTO JA” in Płock, “Apteka sztuki” in Warsaw, “Pod Sukniami” in Szczecin, Galeria Art Brut in Wrocław, Galeria d’art Naif in Kraków, and Galeria Art Brut in Lublin.
The involvement of the Lublin Municipality, the Centre for Culture in Lublin, and the Lublin Theatre Therapy Foundation, in the Galeria ArtBrut project, constitutes an element of the ongoing cooperation between NGOs, local governments, academic circles and cultural institutions, aimed at advancing scientific and artistic endeavours as a new and more effective direction in overcoming the sense of powerlessness and stagnation that commonly affects those residents of Lublin who struggle with disabilities in their everyday lives. We hope that the “Galeria Art Brut” project will meet with considerable interest from the disabled artists themselves, as well as various artistic and cultural institutions, art schools, as well as Lublin’s educational and psychological circles.
The disabled often find themselves trapped in a sense of derivative powerlessness: their artistic expression is often evaluated through the prism of therapeutic achievement rather than actual talent or passion, which is bound to lead to a sense of frustration. Although the value of therapeutic endeavours aiding the development of a disabled person cannot be overestimated, it is vital that we stop perceiving such art as in any way separate from that created by able-bodied artists - the only truly viable criterion applicable here is whether the art is good or not. Disability is merely another aspect of life, one that can in fact, especially in this context, surpasses the so-called normality. The amateur works presented at the Gallery include naive, art brut sculpture and painting, which will introduce the viewer to a wealth of original authors creating outside the mainstream and well-established trends, somewhere on the outskirts of the currently prevalent styles and conventions. It is art that is still widely underappreciated, artificially set apart from more traditional forms, art which - despite its undeniable quality – has yet to reach wider gallery-going audiences. The works are commonly confined to circulation within exclusively in therapeutic/rehabilitative contexts, while the artists continuously struggle to continue following their passion, be it in the privacy of their own homes or in their social care institutions. G.A.B. will focus primarily on art forms created in a non-professional and spontaneous context by the intellectually disabled, mentally ill, autistic, and AS patients, as well as very broadly understood primitivists, i.e. artists lacking formal artistic training, uneducated visionaries from the so-called dregs of the society. Although most of the artists come from Lublin and the Lublin region, in certain cases works from other regions or countries will also be featured.
Born in the mid 1970s, she lives in Siedliszcze on the river Wieprz and works for an internet company. For as long as she can remember, her pencils have never left her side. She would draw on literally anything, including old, family photos, where a few stokes of a red marker would bring new life to black-and-white images of distant aunts and cousins. She sketched animals, faces seen in newspapers, and anything her rich imagination managed to conjure up. Then, through a chance meeting with Lucyna Pomianowska, a professional painter who regularly spent her holidays in Urszula’s village, the young artist was introduced to oil painting. Her greatest passion has always been church art – icons, traditions, wood paintings, and above all - images of the Virgin Mary.
A self- taught graphic artist and painter. Piotr’s adventure with art begun at the age of 4 when, during a train trip to Warsaw in 1983, he began drawing the objects passing him by along the way. He would continue these trips regularly for the next five years. At the time, Piotr was undergoing treatment at the Children’s Health Institute in Warsaw following a diagnosis of early infantile autism. Even in those early days, his drawings had an exceptional quality to them, found particularly in his ability to realistically capture the objects he portrayed. The trips allowed young Piotr to become acquainted with motion, roads, vehicles, railway stations, people, etc. – and he was truly fascinated by all of those, recalls Teresa – Piotr’s mother. His greatest passion, however, were trains, which he would often draw for hours on end. The “Kolej na Piotra” exhibition [the name is a play on words: Piotr’s Turn/Piotr’s Railway] features works created over a period of several years. They revolve around the topic of railway and trains, as years after that early fascination Piotr found the theme to be still strongly rooted in his heart. In the second instalment of the exhibition a selection of Piotr’s more abstract works will be presented, as developed under the influence of his late mentor, Stanisław Piro Pyra.
A dental surgeon by profession. To use the fittingly medical terminology, she caught the artistic fever some twenty years ago when she first tried her hand at painting. She is a member of the Lublin Society of Friends of Fine Arts and the Kazimierz Confraternity of Fine Arts. Most of her works are in the hands of private collectors, both in Poland and abroad. She paints landscapes, flowers and portraits, often including abstract and surreal elements. Izabela Edeńska’s artistic competence also extends to iconography. She works with oil, acrylic, and watercolour. For several years, she has also been writing poetry.
A self-taught artist of Russian descent. Active in the fields of poetry (the 1970s and 80s), painting, and drawing (since the late 1970s). His poetry has been published in “Osnowa”, “Odgłosy”, and “Radar”. Conversely, exhibitions of his art have been few and far between. His most influential solo exhibition “Jan Grzegorz Issaieff – A.R.C.H.E.” was presented in Rempex (Warsaw 2007), he also contributed to a collective exhibition “Towards the Apocalypse. The Kiss of Death” at BWA in Bielsko-Biała (1999). According to a popular anecdote, during one of his shows in Łódź, following a heated argument with the sponsor, he cut his paintings off with a pair of scissors, tucked them under his arm and stormed out of the building to the astonishment of the bemused audience.
Since the beginning of his artistic career in the late 1970s, the artist has consistently developed only two ongoing series of works: “A.R.C.H.E.-DANCE” (figurative) and “Mystery” (abstract), with noticeably less focus on the later in his recent work. He is considered a traditionalist painter and has repeatedly expressed reservations with regard to the contemporary trends observed in academic and post-modern art.
Each of his works is a painstaking, deliberate creation reminiscent of a Far-Eastern exercise in calligraphy. The artist is in constant search of the perfect form that would reflect a given spiritual context. He has created his own iconography and formal system that includes humanoid and animalistic figures as well as images of higher beings (angels) and infernal creatures. The artist is particularly skilled in his use of colour contrast, multi-layer and value painting, although employed through a prism of deliberate simplification and devoid of perspective. All of these facets contribute to his highly recognisable and original style.
His drawings typically depict a rationalised, abstracted background reminiscent of constructivist experimentation. At times, he also resorts to writing by including continuous vocabulary ornamentation as well as, less commonly, the expressive albeit equally sophisticated clash of black and white. The world of “A.R.C.H.E” is in itself not a complicated one – a man and a woman, faced with a plethora of primordial deities and demons, engaged in a never-ending struggle for dominance. Neither can exist without the other. They long for each other’s company as, according to ancient mythology, they both descend from a single, ancient being. The female-creatures are sometimes depicted as dangerous, clawed and hooked predators. The men are imbued with sexual potency.
Born in Lublin in 1974, since 1994 a resident at the Mother Teresa of Calcutta Nursing Home in Lublin. Between 1994 and 2003, he participated in occupational therapy workshops “WTZ Roztocze” in Lublin, but never drew anything. Then in 2004, was employed at the art studio of his Nursing Home, which is where he currently creates his art. He was “discovered” by a graphic designer, Janusz Pajdziński, who has been his collaborator and mentor ever since.
Prof. Janusz Kirenko, PhD was born in Lublin. He graduated from the Faculty of Pedagogy and Psychology at Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, where in 2009, he received was promoted to professor. In 2008, he was honoured with the prestigious title of the “Founder of Polish Rehabilitation” awarded by the Chapter of the Polish Society for Rehabilitation of the Disabled for outstanding scientific achievements in the field of rehabilitation. In 2010, he received the Silver and Gold Cross of Merit for his pro-social activity. Apart from scientific, educational and social endeavours, he is also an avid painter. Prof. Kirenko has contributed to a number of solo and collective exhibitions, both in Poland and abroad. In 2007, he also published his first collection of haiku poems entitled “Unfathomable torment of dreams”, and in subsequent years: “In My Touchiness” (2008), “Some Portraits, Reflections, Impressions”(2009), and “Landscape. In Search of Harmony” (2012). The titles of his collections of poems are often also featured in his painting exhibitions, and some of his paintings bear inscriptions quoting lines from his haikus.
A self-taught painter – artistic individualist, always following his own, unique artistic paths that often take him to the picturesque landscapes of Roztocze, a common theme in his painting. He thrives on colour and light – often playing and experimenting with both. But this thematic experimentation always remains faithful to the adopted artistic convention – be it a landscape, still nature, figurative composition, portrait, or flower composition, all of which have been long standing themes of his artistic endeavours. His keen eye takes in the surrounding world and projects in onto large and very large canvas formats. He paints in the safety of his own studio/gallery. The building is hard to miss when sightseeing the historic centre of his home town of Szczebrzeszyn. The atelier – gallery is situated amidst three temples. Itself a “temple of art”, it is a picturesque complement to its solemn, centuries-old neighbours: a 16th c. synagogue, 17th c. Orthodox church, and 17th c. Catholic monastery. The windows of the master’s studio allow an unhindered view of all three, as well as much of the town surrounding them.
Born in 1974 in the village of Zielony Kąt to a large family. He graduated from a special school and, as recalled by his father, never seemed particularly good at drawing. In 2012, he begun working on his unique, meticulous drawings at his current Therapeutic and Nursing Home.
Magda Makolus is a participant of occupational therapy workshops held at the Polish Association for Persons with Metal Handicap in Lublin in Rogowskiego street. Little is known about her, hence the title of her exhibition: THE HIDDEN WORLD OF MAGDA M. Of all the activities available at the workshops, painting proved to be her real passion. Her works are invariably cheerful, full of warmth and colour. She draws with coloured pencils on paper in various formats, e.g. 40x30 or 50x40. She most often chooses to portray butterflies, ladybugs, fish, and flowers. Her drawings are predominantly done in sharp, definitive colours that do not mix and are securely enclosed with black contours. The artist does not title her works.
Graduate of the Special Vocational School in Lublin and the School of Arts and Knowledge under the direction of Prof. Wiktor Zin. For Dominika, artistic activity provides a perfect outlet for her thoughts and feelings. It is an expression of her mental condition. Drawing has been the passion of her life, although nowadays its place is often taken over by her theatrical endeavours and the suggestive roles she brings to life on the stage of the Theatre of People with Disabilities at the Lublin Theatre Therapy Foundation. The new theatrical challenges allow her to overcome barriers and fears, to find ways to communicate with her surroundings. The sense of other people’s admiration makes her happy and brigs her closer to others than ever before. The artist claims that art allows her to conquer her autism. She continues to paint, although now mainly on specific request or for a given task, e.g. a competition or an open-air painting workshop. Each of her paintings constitutes an attempt to answer questions that have plagued thespians since the very earliest beginnings of theatre. Each work is an encounter with the philosophy of life, the notions of good and evil, the meaning of life in all its variety and unpredictability, with our need to put on and take off an endless consecution of masks.
The great diversity of sizes and styles used in her paintings which include tiny pictures, sketches, and drawings created in a variety of techniques (pencil/ballpoint/felt-tip/dry pastel/crayon) is simply another facet of the insatiable need to ask questions that is inherent in any artist.
She may be struggling with physical limitations – her perception of light, shadow, possibly even colour is distorted due to her serious eyesight problems – but all that also allows her to see what most others do not.
If faith can work miracles, art can become the tool of that faith. Such was the case with Damian Rebelski, a young, greatly talented painter gifted with an astounding intuition for colour composition and a great creative will. As he struggled with a terrible disease in his early twenties, Damian gained an almost miraculous insight into the mystery of artistic creation. The sacredness of paining (also religious) is derived from the fact that the very essence of an artist’s creation is carried within by the “divine particle” (after F. Schelling) and constitutes in itself a form of prayer, be it secular or religious in nature. It is therefore hardly surprising that the authors of Byzantine icons were invariably devoted initiates –fervent faith literally radiating from their works, to the point of ecstasy. An although many centuries have passed since, this facet of art remains largely unchanged. Damian Rebelski participates in occupational therapy sessions in his home town of Bydgoszcz. In his travels across Poland, he is accompanied by his father, a devoted guardian and trusted manager, who still finds himself amazed by his son’s evident talent.
Damian draws using coloured pencils on 50x80 cm drawing paper (in either alignment). His works depict mythological and religious scenes and are inspired by works by various great masters from history.
He graduated from secondary school and obtained certification as a professional cook. Since 2012, he has been an active member of the Theatre of People with Disabilities, where his talent for recitation, ability to play the piano, as well as literary, historical and artistic knowledge have been greatly appreciated and taken advantage of in the group’s performances. He has loved drawing all his life – often helped by the competent guidance of his grandfather, Józef – an art historian who often encouraged Adam to observe the creative process of the painter’s mother, Małgorzata Wzorek-Saran – both in the safety of her atelier and during open-air painting sessions.
For many years now, Adam Saran has been professionally involved in composing and designing calendars. He is fascinated by animals and is often able to very accurately attribute animalistic qualities of e.g. a fix, lion or squirrel to specific people, which is also reflected in young painter’s forms and colour patterns.
His cooperation and friendship with Mariusz Kiryło and the “skateboard” journeys into the young man’s personal space – as master Kiryło once described their collaboration – bore the fruit of enriching his works with a number of interesting and mature forms... A selection of his works was submitted for the National Art Competition “Nikifory 2014” in Siedlce, where he received an award. Hopefully, this success will mark the beginning of a NEW period in his life, and escape from loneliness and a pathway towards self-aware ADULTHOOD.
Born in Lublin in 1986, the omnipresent artist existing both in the orbit of music and graphic art. In his works, this busy human being expresses his deep conviction that there is no physical boundary in art, but only individual mental adjustment. His original technique called spacescaping or piling up space makes the spectators gaze deep into their souls. Therefore, he is also a psychotherapist, a healer, and a seer of time here and now. Due to his education, Łukasz is active not only in the abstract, but also in the biblical domain.
Andrzej Zając – an artist dedicated to depicting African women with the technique of oil on canvas. His models are always crowned with halos, hence the name Black Madonnas. Andrzej Zając’s paintings are small or medium in size (never bigger than 50 x 70 cm) but always set in stocky, broad, wooden or golden, carved, and seemingly unfitting frames. He often depicts his Madonnas with a small child-infant or in advanced pregnancy. His women are always young, beautiful, healthy, very well-proportioned, perfect. His portrayals have a photorealistic quality to them, it takes a very close examination to discern the strokes of a small, soft brush used to create them.
A graduate of the Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Industry at the University of Łódź, and Interior Design at the University of Computer Sciences in Łódź; passionate about African art and culture; co-founder of the Centre for West African Art CHI-WARA in Łódź; co-organiser of Art Festival “African Energy”; collective exhibitions: 2012 “Africa – fiction and reality”- “526” Gallery-Łódź; 2013 “Africanum”- Regional Museum in Brzeziny; “Province”, ‘Pasja’ Gallery, Chełm, 2014; Art. Festival “African Energy 3”, “526” Gallery, Łódź, 2014; “Province 2”, Centre for Culture in Łęczna, 2015; “Province 2”, ‘Ordy’ Gallery , Kock, 2015. She specialises in cross stitch emroidery and photography.
Jacek Zdanowski was born in Lublin in 1961. He currently takes part in Occupational Therapy Workshops at the Polish Association for Persons with Metal Handicap in Lublin. His works have been presented at numerous exhibitions, both in Poland and abroad (International Art Exhibition of the Disabled People in Lublin; International Art Exhibition of the Mentally Handicapped People in Louvre - Paris; International Art Exhibition of the Mentally Handicapped People in Milan; “Taming the World” at the Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle – Warsaw). Animals are primary theme of Jacek Zdanowski’s art. His inspirations are provided by the natural world as well as book illustrations. He transforms familiar motifs and recreates them in his own, unique style. The artist is keen to work with large formats, using bright, vivid colours and well defined contours. His forms are streamlined, rounded, gentle. At times almost abstract. The imagery is harmonious, a serenity of colour and form, and where the painting grows darker, the artist is still able to break the inherent sadness of the composition by adding just the right colour for a given context.
The painter rarely talks about his work. No-one really knows the emotions/thoughts/plans of the artist as he approaches a new project. Slowly and patiently, one colour stain and one line at a time, the painting unveils its mystery, gradually becoming something beautiful to behold. His works are done on large canvas formats in poster paint and on large paper formats in dry pastel. The artist begins by creating coloured contours (often black), starting from the centre of the canvas and proceeding in a labyrinth of rounded forms which initially escapes comprehension, gently laid down with a broad brush. At times the forms will verge on abstraction, at other times the contours will eventually reveal an animalistic shape or an element of the natural world. The author’s works radiate a sense of harmony, serenity of colour and shape. He will often allow the viewers to suggest names for his paintings.
Agata Biżek is a young, 25-year-old artist from Janów Lubelski, whose adventure with panting started at a very young age.
Her initial artistic fascinations revolved around sculpture but over the years, she has found herself increasingly drawn towards painting. It is almost hard to believe that she has been working in oil technique, indeed painting as such, for only a year. The maturity of the young painter’s works is surprising, captivating, and truly impressive should one consider the short span of time in which she was able to develop her own style and achieve such stunning effects. Possibly, the influence of Agata Biżek’s first and foremost teacher, her father – a renowned sculptor himself, may have something to do with the artist’s exceptional progress?
The cycle of works by Agata Biżek submitted for our review is entitled “Soul Thorns” and, in the words of the artist herself, it is a reflection on certain painful situations that the painter has, despite her young age, either experienced or been faced with in her own life. On the surface, Agata Biżek’s paintings are deceptively cheerful, warm, even delicate. When entering the Gallery, one is greeted with a collection of seemingly heart-warming, almost trivial images – the effect is achieved through the use of toned-down, pleasant colour patterns. However, upon closer inspection and after reading the painting’s titles (always given in the bottom right corner alongside the signature) one is forced to quickly revaluate that assumption.
The featured works include, e.g.: “Faces of a Man on Both Sides”, “Crucified Christ”, “The Angel of Anguish”, which all revolve around biblical and spiritual themes.
Next we are faced with “Disappointment”, a generic scene depicting two figures, a visibly anxious woman and a man surrounded by a collection of bottles filled with, presumably, alcohol. The entire scene is set in an ascetic, ochre-coloured room with a window in the dominant, central position – possibly the only available way to escape the tragedy of the situation.
Another painting – “No Return” – does not leave us with event such a slight chance for positive resolution. The scene depicts a mature woman – mother, next to whom, positioned symmetrically, we see: a portrait of her daughter on the left and on the right a clock symbolising irreversibly fleeting time, the night almost past, only a quarter of an hour separating us from a pivotal event in the life of either the author of one of her loved ones. The image is dominated by shades of yellow.
Another interesting and certainly noteworthy painting is a dramatic depiction of “A Dog on its Master’s Grave”. The depicted animal is painted skilfully and realistically - lying on a white, marble tombstone of its recently deceased owner, as evidenced by the candle still burning in the right. The image is very suggestive, poignant and haunting.
The next painting – “Stolen Freedom” – is of a fairytalelike lion whose head and paws are pressed against the bars of a cage, its eyes longingly pointed to the side in a clear, desperate desire for freedom. Another intriguing work is entitled “Woman with a Mirror” and depicts a rather unattractive, semi-nude woman sitting in a green chair inside a small, claustrophobic room. She seems to be trapped or imprisoned there as shown by the red bricks with thick, black cement, lain in a way clearly evidencing complete unfamiliarity with the principles of perspective, which only adds to the expressive power of the image and that ugly, saggy-breasted figure looking at herself in a small mirror held in her right hand while the left reaches up to her eye, possibly to wipe off a tear.
The other two works included in the exhibition: “Blindfolded Walk” and “Desire for Pain” once again depict familiar life problems, generic scenes that weigh heavily on the viewer’s soul. They are images of people incapable of dealing with their own, destructive weaknesses.
Does the author identify herself with the pain, the imperfection and injustice that define the worlds of humans, animals and angels alike? Is she truly aware of all those associations? She begins with the sacred (Crucified Christ) and from there proceeds to take on the more mundane suffering experienced not only by herself but indeed the world as a whole.
The works are a testament to Agata Bużek’s artistic awareness, sensitivity and maturity.
In fact, the minor flaws in her technique such as problems with perspective or failure to take advantage of the full depth of colours, a certain repetitiveness of her forms, are somehow not at all discouraging. Indeed, it could be said that they facilitate the expressive strength more than perfect composition ever could, which legitimises some of the minor technical errors. Agata Bużek’s works are thought-provoking and require the viewer’s engaged attention. They are an original new take on the theme of human and inhuman suffering. While flirting with untypical colour palettes, she ventures to broadly discuss the toil, pain, lament and despair of the human condition.
Andżelika Biżek, is a very young artist whose works are nonetheless ideally in line with the canon of naïve and primitive art. She has been painting since early childhood although, by her own admission, the most fruitful periods of her creative endeavours tend to coincide with those of her intensifying affliction. Andżelika was born to an artistic family, her father is a well-known sculptor. Andżelika Bożek chose painting as the means to express her interests and creative visions.
She generally uses relatively simple techniques. In terms of her painting style, she experiments with individual forms and themes. She typically choses stretched canvas as the basis for her soft, delicate strokes. The artist’s unusual style, suggesting that she does not, or indeed cannot use any of the recognised painting techniques, is somehow appealing in its naivete; she applies delicate, pliable and subtle watercolour directly onto the primed canvas. The effect is a somewhat pale image. But the artist does not stop there proceeding directly to the plastic stage whereby she finishes her works with thick, heavy oil paint which she uses in various ways: whitening it, spraying or sprinkling it onto the canvas, rubbing it on and mixing it in. One of her favourite, recurrent motifs takes the form of dots, spots, smaller and larger circles. Andżelika Biżek’s oil technique could be described as glazed and misty, subtle and mysterious. Her colour patterns are very cautious, deceptively unsophisticated, consistent in all of her works. She uses the entire palette of colours, always bright and vivid, cheerful.
The exhibition was rather aptly titled: “Dreams”.
The themes of her works are varied and sometimes surprising: there are horses, bears, chickens, fish, birds, deer, dogs, often accompanied by a human figure or two profiled human-like shapes. Her dreams seem to be an amalgamation of two worlds: the serious world of adulthood and the somewhat banal world of childlike imagination. Upon closer inspection, we find various elements incorporated into the two human profiles depicted in many of the works, these range from simple geometric shapes, through infantile fairy-tale mushrooms, to e.g. an image of a pensive female bust, painted fairly correctly and divided into two parts, with the lower section additionally adorned with beetroot or radish-like shapes. The frivolity of her dreams takes her to worlds filled with tiny butterflies, snowmen, carrots, lambs and flowers encased within the very fleshy, mature depiction of a woman clad in scanty clothing or wearing nothing whatsoever. More still, the figure seems to be leaning out from behind unsettlingly deformed trees.
Andżelika’s “Dreams” are akin to a child’s drawings that are simultaneously somehow very mature in their simplicity. The perspective of her drawings is usually distorted, sometimes difficult to define at all, the human and animal shapes looming out of some unspecified space. The artist likes to divide the surface of her canvas into smaller, geometric segments, delineating the space occupied by the depicted scenes and events.
Andżelika Biżek’s “Dreams” are an expression of her extremely subjective standpoint that proves very difficult to decipher. What is it that she wants to convey? What is she trying to tell us or share with us? Are they her secret aspirations or a materialisation of her actual dreams? Whatever the case may be, we find that Biżek’s works are rooted both in a certain magical, symbolic realm and in the very real world of her everyday life.
The title of the exhibition itself is very telling and difficult not to associate with the Freudian theory of dreams that sees them as always symbolic and meaningful, according to which the true meaning of dreams can be explained through reference to one’s individual dream book, a description that is to be unwaveringly reliable, despite being fundamentally unverifiable.
Andżelika Biżek’s “Dreams” constitute her own, personal form of psychotherapy which allows her to filter her own subconsciousness and produce an expression of everything that she finds troubling, painful, pleasing and delightful. The multitude of worlds and realities found in Andżelika Biżek’s works is truly astounding. Any interpretation of the same should be left to the viewer. Undoubtedly, for an average person there will be little there that can be described as simple and straightforward, maybe only those perceiving and understanding the world in her tones and colours will be able to fully appreciate her works?
“Painting is my joy in life, when I paint I am more active, I observe the world more closely. It enriches me, gives me a boost of confidence”
Damian Czerwiński
Damian Czerwiński was born in Lublin in 1990. He currently resides in Puławy having graduated from Maria Dąbrowska School Complex no. 3 in Puławy.
Despite his relatively young age, he has already had a number of individual exhibitions and participated in several important art competitions for the disabled, winning a number of distinctions including the grand prix in the “Looking for Nikifor” Competition in Siedlce.
His current exhibition at the Art Brut Gallery in Lublin features colourful drawings in oil pastel. They are mostly vedute, less frequently still life images. His focus in this cycle is on the cityscapes of eastern Poland, abstract vedute depicting vistas from the vicinity of the artist’s home area: manors, tenement houses, panoramas of Żyrzyn – his home town, Kazimierz Dolny with its places of worship, as well as a depiction of Poland’s first museum, the architectonic masterpiece of a rotunda, also known as the Temple of Sybil, constituting a part of the Czartoryski Palace and Park Complex in Puławy.
The world of Damian Czerwiński is composed of fascinating, almost fairy-tale like places, which the artist strips of any staffage (human figures, animals, themes that would in any way enliven the composition but draw the viewer’s attention away from the main point of interest) leaving us with imagery that is both familiar and unexpected as it is filtered through Czerwiński’s unique perspective. Tilting tenements, dancing houses and facades, twirling and throbbing materials and textures in the colours of rooftops, all that allows the viewer to tap into the rhythm and harmony of the picturesque towns surrounding Lublin city. At the same time, the images are not deprived of the familiar, recognisable character that encourages us to reacquaint ourselves with those enchanting locales by taking in artistic prowess and unique perspective of the young artist and his inexhaustible curiosity of the world. Damian’s works are rife with nostalgia for the small provincial towns and their unique folklore, the wooden architecture, the leaning fences, the thatched roofs… His seemingly chaotic idiom actually facilitates our reception, becomes a part of the composition itself, allowing the images to stir to life, become more vibrant.
Damian Czerwiński proves himself to be a keen observer of the surrounding world, meticulous about his art and focused on what he sees as the most important aspects of his reality. With unwavering resolve and constant curiosity, he invites us to share in his intimate perspective wherein detail is not a primary concern.
The artist shows surprising boldness in his use of colour and devotion to certain subtle mannerisms which although possibly somewhat accidental and a result of his physical disfunctions, are nonetheless an interesting twist that adds to our positive perception of his works.
Agnieszka Wójtowicz Curator at Art Brut Gallery
Norbert Góźdź was born in 1982. Having graduated from a vocational school he did not spend a single day working in his learned profession, i.e. as a leather worker. Instead he enrolled with Teatroterapia Lubleska and performed his first part in one of its street performances with almost no preparation but with such evident curiosity and passion for the theatre that he immediately became one of the most characteristic members of the cast ( he played e.g. in K. Babicki’s Hamlet at j. Osterwa Theatre in 2004, in the “Deep Water” series by M. Łazarkierwicz in 2011, and a number of other productions).
The role of St Anthony – a character that seems almost directly inspired by Bosch’s painting – in the play “Dell’arte for…” provided an opportunity to try his hand at preparing an number of stage design elements, which revealed his unique talent for sculpture. He soon begun to experiment with Papier-Mache. In 2004, during a sculpting workshop in Elbląg, he observed the techniques of a number of recognized artists but himself refused to participate. Upon his return to Lublin, he got hold of a chisel and started to create his first, still rather primitive shapes of snowmen, Santa Clauses, and angels in wood. He also started using matches and sticks to build Christmas mangers and birdhouses. None of his works from that time met with particular enthusiasm, indeed most were gravely misunderstood, criticized and rejected. In 2005, he received the prestigious PFRON award for his collaboration of a papier-mache piece entitled “Clown and Ballerina”. Thanks to this achievement as well as his great perseverance and evident need for creative expression – Norbert Góźdź received an artistic grant in the field of culture and fine arts “for ongoing creative efforts in the field of art”. The grant proved to be the very spur that Norbert Góźdź – the sculptor and the actor – needed to drive him towards much more serious endeavors. He drew upon the thing closest to his heart – the theatre and the stage on which he thrives, despite being notoriously unable to discuss this fascination. He created his first installation inspired by the play “On the Thirteenth – It’s Spring Even in December”, painstakingly recreating every detail of the stage design and the actors’ movements. This was the first time he was able to describe the intentions of the director and the choreographer. Afterwards, he told me that he finally understood… He would repeat this peculiar yet enthralling creative act for each consecutive play staged by the Theatre of the Disabled. Hence the name of the exhibition: “Installations – Imaginations” and hence my unceasing delight at his works: Norbert Góźdź was able to achieve the seemingly impossible – he captured the very essence of the theatre and its appeal. Or, to put it in other words, he was able to record the history of our joint involvement in stage art… Maria Pietrusza Budzyńska
Ryszard Kosek has been artistically active for over twenty five years and has created – who knows? – maybe several hundred works, with at least four distinct stages that can be identified in his career so far. The entire period can be illustrated with a continuous, only at times slightly dotted line which nonetheless always continues forwards and, for the most parts, upwards, at first dark – very dark and gloomy, and later becoming more colourful and bright.
The artist’s earliest works were done on joined, raw planks of wood, cardboard, or even the doors from a long neglected cupboard – using a brush but also fingers dipped in tea or toothpaste. The represented imagery was invariably dark, depicting mysterious and menacing figures enclosed in an oval or radiant halo, with clearly discernible eyes and mouths, assessing the viewer with deep, piercing stares. The colourful backgrounds of symbolic nature radiated a certain anxiety that emphasised the supernatural overtone of the images. Due to their content, form and materials employed, the early art of Ryszard Kosek could be classified as art brut. It was characterised by evident self-expressive motivation, fully exhausted in the creative process itself – a compulsion that dictated the author’s imperative.
Nowadays, however, Kosek’s works are far removed from those dark beginnings. He organised and perfected his technique, but also discovered a newfound interest in other human beings and their mentality. The teeth may be still grinning and the eyes bulging, but there is nothing particularly sinister hidden behind these expressions anymore, they are simply anatomical features of the presented figures, possibly our windows into their moral integrity. Most importantly: the artist is now far more focused on telling the story of his subjects, their ups and downs, not shying away from lighter, even humorous overtones. Kosak’s oppressive painting of the 1980s is a thing of the past, remaining a telling illustration of a certain period in his life.
After the “imperative” period, the artist found a certain degree of peace, control in his works paying greater attention to the craft and enriching it with deep self-analysis. His technique became more deliberate: on a thin hardboard, using water colour and brush, only rarely resorting to his former tool of choice – his fingers. Kosek would repaint and reuse each piece of hardboard numerous times, without priming, in a manner that seemed hasty as if he feared to lose the grip of the moment, the theme, the inspiration. The paintings created in that period were highly dynamic, wildly expressive, featuring a plethora of hybrid figures (woman-snake, man-ape, etc.), demons and hellfire. Indeed, at times one had to wonder whether these were abstract imaginations or reflections of his own perception of actual “real” people. It seems that aside from the artist’s total engagement in his work, the paintings from that period, when analysed from the perspective of artistic value and general quality, were heavily influenced by the poster technique in which Kosek excelled. However, the impermanence of the pieces (multiple layers of paint tend to flake and peel off) as well as the desire to seek new expressive avenues, probably also the influence of the growing number of fans and admirers, led Kosek to eventually switch to oil paint, which has been his tool of choice ever since. He adopted the new technique almost on impulse and immediately found it perfect for his needs. The paintings started to grow in size, the colour palettes expanded. His characteristic figures with narrow foreheads and crooked teeth continued to fill most of each painting’s surface area, but the works now begun to feature masterfully arranged compositions including a surprising array of not just people but also pigs (!), cows, horses, dogs, cats and all manner of other God’s creatures. Kosek has a talent for emphasising the character traits of his subjects: he mockingly places them in prosaic situations, surrounds them with mundane, everyday objects, brands them with clearly readable attributes, depicts gestures and facial expressions. One of the critics observed that the artist’s imagination seems utterly uncontaminated by external influences and his themes are characterised by a deep social reflection tinted by a healthy dose of kind-hearted mockery. Kosek is not above placing a worded commentary in the background of some drawings, which suggests a certain impatience that compels the use of non-visual means of expression in order to convey short-lasting, strong emotional states such as outrage, anger, or helpless indignation. This observation is further confirmed by his common use of less than polite vocabulary. This clearly evidences the therapeutic, cathartic function of art which in this case forms the very foundation of Kosak’s artistic endeavours, possibly even more than that…
It is interesting to mention that the painted stories actually have a certain continuity also outside the painting – the artist is keen to talk about the later vicissitudes in the lives of the depicted characters when discussing them with friends. Admittedly, the use of the written or spoken word by “visual” artists in nothing particularly unheard of, indeed a common practice in the context of intuitive, spontaneous, so-called naïve art, i.e. art that is somehow a different, non-professional forms of expression whereof honesty and straightforwardness are key constitutive traits.
Ryszard Kosek is a mature artist. Technical challenges no longer make him anxious or apprehensive. He continues his original themes but enriches them by opening himself to new avenues as well. Today, he is able to draw inspiration also from the outside, he does not shun away from other artists’ works, is keen to learn, especially from the classics. He continues to perfect his craft by experimenting with copies and well known themes which he twists to fit his particular idiom. He tries to place “his” characters in abstract, colourfully elaborate spaces. This is evidence to his deep artistic self-awareness and reflectiveness about the craft he so devotedly performs. Were one to retrospectively evaluate Ryszard Kosek’s artistic accomplishments, one must first recognise the fact that the most important element thereof is not found in the many works included in numerous collections, but rather their original source - the quarter of a century-long transformation that took place in the artist’s consciousness, one that could be depicted as a continuous, only at times dotted line, always advancing, always rising towards colour and light. *
Since his birth i.e. for 55 years, Ryszard Kosek has lived in Płock (he was actually born in Gdańsk but that was only a short episode). Here, he graduated form the music school and worked for a short while as a music teacher. He also played in a jazz band called Loft. He first delved seriously into the world of painting at the age of 30, having first locked himself away in his apartment and greatly limited his contacts with the outside world.
Kosek’s first individual exhibition was “The Great Stage or a Song of Mortality” at Mazowieckie Museum in Płock (1994), which stirred a considerable critical interest in his works and led to a number of successive exhibitions both in Poland and abroad (e.g. in Brussels 1995, 1996; Bydgoszcz 1996, 2000; Rouen 1996; Bordeaux 1996; Lublin 1998, 2004; Warsaw 1999, 2005; Gdańsk and Sopot 2000, 2001; Radom 2005 to name just a few). In 2006 and 1007, several galleries in Poland exhibited Ryszard Kosak’s “First Images” painted even before the first exhibition. At the same time, galleries in Bydgoszcz, Szczecin and Poznań were showing some of his more recent works. Ryszard Kosek’s paintings have been included in the collections of Mazowieckie Museum in Płock, Malczewski Museum in Radom, Śląskie Museum in Katowiece, Ethnographic Museum in Toruń, Art en Marge gallery in Brussels. Some have been acquired by a number of private collectors including among others Dr Bolesław Nawrocki (Warsaw), Leszek Macak (Kraków) and Gerard S. Trefoń (Ruda Śląska). Kosek and his paintings were featured in two television productions: “Pęknięcie nadziei” [broken hope] (directed by Dorota Latour, 1993) and “Z ptakami fruwał” [he flew with the birds] (directed by Tadeusz Bystram, 2003). He received awards during three editions of the Teofil Ociepka’s National Painting Competition (organised in Bydgoszcz).
ZBIGNIEW CHLEWIŃSKI
Płock, 2 May 2012
An amateur painter, member of the Lublin Society of Fine Arts. Her artistic potential and considerable talent became apparent in 2000, somewhat by chance, and have developed exponentially ever since. Religious art, in which she had been interested virtually all her life, became the central theme of her works. Angels, shrines and images of Our Lady in various depictions – always vivid and colourful – are clearly deeply rooted in the rich and beautiful realm of her artistic soul. Grażyna Kulig’s exhibition features: toys and Christmas decorations, created on various occasions at Galeria u Gacki in Lublin, as well as angels and shrines originally shown in Sandomierz: at Trzon (Rynek) and Zapole (ul. Opatowska) galleries.
self-written artistic bio:
“I am 55 years old. I graduated from the Secondary School of Economics and spent the subsequent 20 years working as an accountant. A dozen or so years ago, due to a mental disease, I was forced to retire. In time, I started to feel a growing need to find a way through which to express my worldviews and emotions. At first, I tried my hand at clay sculpture onto which I later applied pastel colours. I mostly created religious images as well as votive figurines characteristic of uncivilised cultures. Some time ago, I was drawn to painting and its inherent manipulation of colour. My colourful pictures allow me to comment on the reality as I see it, express my emotions. I enjoy colours, not necessarily bright but always expressive – especially blues and reds. I like to paint scenes verging on the fantastic, emphasising the grotesqueness of the world, the flaws of human nature.
Jadwiga Lambert is a 98-year-old artist whose works are an expression of a deep creative need, rather than a search for surprising forms or unusual themes.
The world of her art could be described as conservative, she devotes her attention to themes traditionally perceived as beautiful, feminine, and subtle. For over thirty years she has been bent on capturing the beauty and splendour of her native region, mainly the vicinity of her home town of Zwierzyniec with its astounding natural and scenic appeal.
A long-established leading theme of her works, characteristic of her artistic endeavours, revolves around the depiction of lowers: she has been capturing roses, wild flowers, sunflowers in virtually all stages of blooming, although she has also attempted to picture some less common species. The artist paints in oil, less frequently in pastel. She devotes considerable attention to the realism of her imagery, painstakingly seeking to recreate every detail. Despite her age and the many years that have passed since her first encounter with painting, Jadwiga Lambert’s recent works are nearly in every aspect similar to her first attempts. She has been able to maintain the “level” and skill of a mature amateur and devout art enthusiast. A trait recurrent in her works is her inclination towards broad, carved, gilded frames that are a testament to her devotion to a certain style and a certain era that is now in its twilight. Characteristically, the artist’s works need to be viewed “live” as only then one is able to appreciate the subtlety of her colour patterns, the interplay of light and dark that surprises the viewer with its natural and highly sophisticated tones. She does not use impasto, although the respective layers of colour can sometimes be singled out. Jadwiga Lamber’s art invites us to take a quiet moment and marvel at her painstaking attention to detail and her ability to constantly reproach her favourite themes and find in them a limitless source of inspiration.
The artist continues to create and is still keen to share her passion with the family and friends. Many of her works can be found in private collections, both in Poland and abroad.
Agnieszka Wójtowicz
visual artist
Instructor at the Teatroterapia Lubelska Foundation
He was born on 18 May – the 45th birthday of John Paul II – a fact which he is very keen to mention treating it as a matter of pride and his explanation for the source of his considerable talents. His parents were repatriates from the region of Vilnius who eventually settled down in Kołobrzeg, where Marek was born and where he still lives today, these days only with his older brother. He has a strong sense of responsibility for his household and never hesitates to provide for the upkeep from his pension and painting revenues.
He says that his talent developed … underground, which most likely means that its sources are somewhat mysterious and that it remained hidden for a long time. In 1993, when the painting Crucifixion went missing from the Kołobrzeg Basilica, he suddenly decided to paint its copy. Such was his first creative attempt: he copied the painting from the photograph featured by local press reporting on the theft of the ancient work. He certainly held nothing back, the format itself was impressive – 157 by 116 cm. The work was an immediate success: it won the grand prix at the 1996 Ociepka National Painting Competition in Bydgoszcz. Currently, the painting is part of the collection at the J. Malczewski Regional Museum in Radom. The success encouraged the artist to carry on painting and many of his future works would also be copies of other pieces. Since that time, Marek Świetlik created several hundred paintings and held a number of individual exhibitions nationwide, he also participated in several collective events. He really enjoys painting, often reworking the same theme several times as if searching for the best solution in terms of colours, compositions, textures, layouts and patterns. He models his works on photographs, postcards and reproductions, therefore many of his best paintings are in fact variations on classical pieces. One might be tempted to conclude that this attests to some shortcomings of the author’s imagination, without which no artist can hope to achieve much, but in Świetlik’s case nothing could be further from the truth. Indeed, searching for inspiration in the compositions of other authors or various illustrations is hardly unheard of, even among the most recognised artists. E.g. Edward Dwurniuk first photographs a particular urban quarter and then artistically recreates the photographed images as part of his cycle of bird’s eye view cityscapes. Most of Marek Świetlik’s works presented at the exhibition were created along very similar lines. The artist asked Zofia Łoś to suggest a theme and she sent him photographs depicting various generic scenes she found inspiring.
Zbigniew Chlewiński
Agnieszka Uznańska is a young artist making her debut at the Art Brut Gallery in Lublin with her drawing exhibition entitled “Comic Book–0”.
This may be the first time that her works are publicly displayed, but the artist’s interest in linearity and chiaroscuro effects date back to a very early age.
The presented works are a form of a personal diary, notes made on loose, blank notebook pages. She uses her drawing pad to document her everyday life, make observations about the world and her loved ones. She often depicts figures sitting in a comfortable-looking armchairs or sleeping in beds, animals, portraits, and still life images. However, she also does not shy away from the fantastic, grotesque and deformed imagery that is marked by symbolism, ellipsis and metaphor.
Agnieszka Uznańska’s drawings are made in the technique of linear sketches, often with a fine felt-tip pen. They are characterised by a simplicity of form and straightforwardness of thought dominated by fluid geometry. There is always a suggestion of incompleteness, most of her works utilise an open composition. At times, a careful viewer will come across a small detail which serves the purpose of introducing him to a brief, if somewhat surreal, story from the artist’s life. Another large portion of her works are skilfully sketched on small-sized sheets of white paper. These are considerably more mature. The drawings are dominated by non-simplified chiaroscuro, beautifully framing the silhouette of a figure reclining in a chair, and armchair or sleeping in soft bedding. The same can be said about her portraits where subjects are depicted in a “three-fourths” frame with skilfully included light highlights, characteristic facial features, and proportions that although not necessarily natural, nonetheless evidence a considerable mastery of drawing techniques. Still life images, most often depicting a bottle, reveal astoundingly realistic proportions and exceptional skill in using the softer tools.
Overall, her works are highly varied in all aspects.
Certain technical inconsistencies may be attributed to the artist’s emotional involvement or her continuing artistic development related to varying intensity of her notebook sketch work. One of the unique and certainly noteworthy features of her works is the fact that she tends to include short, descriptive comments in her drawings – sometimes funny, sometimes deeply personal, sometimes seemingly drawn form a child’s fairy-tale, and sometimes quoted from popular proverbs or adages, e.g.: “Africa appeared suddenly before his eyes and instead of a cactus, a large wild-rose question mark appeared on his head”, “Be kind and polite to others and you will feel at home wherever you are”, “The jug can never be filled”, or the very telling paraphrase of the Cartesian cogito ergo sum “I think, therefore I am alone”.
Agnieszka Uznańska is a very interesting, some would say up-and-coming artist. The sketched pages from her diary say a lot, both about her art and the author herself. She certainly possesses considerable artistic talents and drawing, be it of people or still life, is undoubtedly a perfect way to further develop her technical prowess. The sheer number of works presented by Agnieszka Uznańska seems to suggest that the diary is indeed an open and somewhat enigmatic form wherein new pages and ideas are likely to appear on an almost daily basis.
We cannot say why she chose to entitle her diary the way she did. A comic book. Does it reflect the way she generally perceives her life? Or maybe the themes and forms somehow associate in the artist’s mind with the straightforward and somewhat simplified form of a cartoon? Maybe it stems from her desire to seem more approachable…
Whatever the case, one thing is certain. Agnieszka Uznańska’s works leave us wanting for more and keen to become more acquainted with both the artist herself and her interesting, unique creations.
The exhibition of Marcin Wrzal’s drawings at the Art Brut Gallery in Lublin will be the general viewers second encounter with the artists’ work. Similarly to the first one (“Co ma wisieć, nie utonie” – [Come what may]) which explored colour and tone in surrealist arrangements and themes, the current collection of drawings reveals the artist’s skill in the use of hard tools such as felt tip pens for conveying forms sketched with rapid, almost anxious hand movements, while also suggesting, through the exhibition’s title, that the works are merely a form of prelude, a grounding, a sketch of what is intended as the final painting vision.
Marcin Wrzel’s drawings included in the “Grounding and Nib” collection are certainly not what one could describe as traditional sketches. There are no soft, subtle and realistic portraits, no robust interplays between light and shadow over painstakingly recreated still life images. Nonetheless, as soon as one casts a glance on the works it becomes immediately apparent that that modern painting is once again reaching its prime, a renaissance… In the case of Marcin Wrzal it is difficult to talk of any form of drawing tradition or convention, but one still has to ask the question: does he bow to any masters to whom he would look for inspiration and guidance? All evidence points to the contrary, suggesting that we are looking at the expression of his individual, unique experience. He is known to use the adage “the night is darkest just before dawn”, which in is case means that the beginning is always the hardest part of the journey he set for himself. After all, Wrzal is still a very young artist who has only been active for six years, ever since he was faced with the reality of his affliction.
A number of metal pen nibs found at his grandparents’ attic inspired him to start drawing. By is own admission, even his earliest sketches were not too bad. However, the real value of those tools and the path to self-realisation they opened up to him came in the form of regained self-esteem, a sense of purpose and goal in life. Art became his most effective form of therapy, which ultimately produced a new Marcin Wrzal – a mature, confident artist able to project the depths of his complex personality onto his creative works.
His drawings are filled with mysterious, odd, surreal, often confusing forms. The author is actually quite keen to explain their meaning, saying that to him, they are encoded animal shapes, landscapes, etc. His attitude to his art is very emotional, he hierarchises them; some are seen as more important, more significant to his artistic development. He always uses characteristic, black, hasty strokes. He begins with a sketch, the basic concept, which he later fills with pointillistic tool movements and supernatural forms. The works are intriguing, particularly when viewed from some distance, which makes them somewhat more readable.
The linearity of Wrzal’s art almost verges on graphism. His drawings cannot and should not be compared to others. They constitute an integral element of what is the extensive spectrum of Wrzal’s artistic vision. His style is interesting, unquestionably unique, and valuable without the need for any comparisons.
Maria Wnęk (15 June 1922 – 12 April 2005) was born in Olszynka near Stary Sącz to a large peasant family. As a teenage girl, she found her first employment in a company regulating the Dunajec river. Afterwards she would help with the farm work but would use every available spare moment to engage it what she saw as her sole purpose in life. She eagerly engaged in prayer, took part in church services, pilgrimages and church fairs. The extent of her devoutness surprised even her closest family. Other villagers nicknamed her “manijok” [maniac]. Her neighbours were also very critical of her ability to manage the small plot of land inherited form the parents and often brought up her social awkwardness resulting from her being “different”. In 1960, she suffered an accident and was forced to retire and live of a disability pension. Luckily, in that period her path crossed with that of Ewa Harsdorf who organised the artistic circle at the community centre in Nowy Sacz. She was 40 years old at the time. The support and understanding she discovered in that new environment drove Maria Wnęk to eagerly pursue education in the ins and outs of painting. She quickly developed a unique style, which attracted the attention of fellow artists, art critics, and collectors. Then came the first exhibitions and commissions. She treated painting as a way to escape her mundane reality marked by the stigma of mental disease and social rejection. Her artistic work was seen as a mission which, in her eyes, had come straight from God himself. Art also provided her with a way to commune with the saints who visited and protected her, but also with a way to communicate with the real world, to spread the word of God. In her paintings she expressed her concerns, talked about harm suffered from people whom she believed to actively act against her efforts to warship God, who persecuted her, even tried to take her life.
She painted on whatever was on hand at the moment, using a variety of paints.
The characteristic sharp contours were done in pencil, crayon or paint. Her favourite image was that of the Virgin and Child, her chosen patrons. Other works also depicted scenes for the artist’s life in which real events tended to be almost indistinguishable from imaginary ones. Her actual, personal experience was presented in full symbiosis with the world of the spiritual. An important element of her works was constituted by the “biographies”, usually written down on the reverse side of her works, which included e.g. spiritual guidance, messages from Heaven, complaints, and opinions. She often described herself as a “painter famous around the world”.
The artist spent her twilight years at the J. Babiński Hospital in Kraków-Kobierzyn and in her native Olszynka, under the care of Irena and Wojciech Piast.
