A Life Story Created in Shapes and Colours
Exhibition Review
Art Brut in Lublin never shies away from surprising its audience – and the exhibition of Jakub Hałas was no exception. Even the title hinted that the show would not follow the usual format: “ME. I Write My Life Story Through Images.” Under this enigmatic banner, works were presented in the gallery, accompanied by an experimental form that included “unfinished” leaflets. These leaflets—unlike the usual ones—were not intended for visitors, but for the artist. On the back, space was left for viewers to write down their aesthetic impressions after visiting the exhibition. The resulting “life story,” in fact a unique review of Hałas’s works, was later published on the website www.artbrut.lublin.pl (where the exhibition itself is also available as an interactive panorama of the gallery space—by clicking on selected works, enlarged views appear).
“Tell me about me, using at least one of my paintings.” With this motto and request, the artist encouraged visitors to engage in dialogue. By doing so, he deliberately detached the reception and interpretation of his art from the personal history often imposed in exhibition texts. “Does the lack of knowledge about the author allow for a deeper appreciation of the work?” “Does it make possible a closer and more objective contact with art?” – questions like these had already arisen during previous exhibitions at Art Brut.
Browsing the results of this “artistic experiment” on the gallery’s website, one can create an extraordinary review of Hałas’s work. A strongly emphasised aspect is the vivid use of colour: “I am delighted by the boldness of the colours, which harmonise beautifully with one another,” wrote one visitor; another observed: “Unreal colours, psychedelic mind. Maturity through a childlike palette.” The ambiguous subject matter and “rawness” of the often surreal imagery is another prominent feature of Hałas’s style: “The paintings (…) draw you in, they encourage you to make the effort to assign them meaning,” “The colourful spaces captivate, creating separate worlds and perspectives,” “Beautiful works, like from a dream.”
For many viewers, the intense palette is merely a “rainbow mask” concealing serious, difficult emotions: “I see, my dear, that you are a colourful individual. Your works are very interesting, but they reveal a certain tragic thought, a shadow, a sadness.” Another added: “The works are coherent and concrete. They overflow with light—like a clear, bright emotion flowing through the turmoil of a dark inner self.” Some viewers were deeply affected by these hidden aspects: “Confusion, pain, the voraciousness of the world, the anxiety I feel while gazing at the artist’s paintings make me want to embrace the inner child trapped in the body of an adult.” But is not the constant clash of emotions, the refusal to accept reality, or even the urge to create new realities, at the very core of all art—especially Art Brut? “Artists, after all,” as one leaflet remarked, “always create because something is bothering them.”
Leaving aside philosophical reflections for a moment, it is worth focusing on Hałas’s painterly form: his use of space and the expressive power of colour fields. Some of the exhibited works are highly abstract, with interpenetrating planes of intense colour, often laid out with geometric precision. As one visitor aptly put it: “Intriguing (…) geometric forms (…) precise and colourful, often symmetrical.” Another noted: “Jakub Hałas is undoubtedly a brilliant expressionist (…) Expressive work and expressionist work are two different things, yet they are seamlessly united in Mr Hałas’s art.”
This remarkable and interactive (though executed in a highly traditional way) exhibition practically begged to let the audience have the last word. To conclude in their own voices: “Art (…) revealing the Artist’s inner self and emotions, colourful richness that captures the eye,” “An incredibly rich world.” Nothing more needs to be said.
Jakub Hałas
ME. I Write My Life Story Through Images
On view: 1–28 February 2025
Exhibition opening (vernissage): 13 February 2025, 17:00
Własność Fundacji Teatroterapia Lubelska. Wszystkie prawa zastrzeżone.
Zrealizowano przy pomocy finansowej Miasta Lublin