2024-04-25
An exhibition entitled 'Byzantine Nostalgia' is currently underway at the Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle in Warsaw. The exhibition features works by Polish and Ukrainian contemporary artists, which refer in form or content to the work of Jerzy Nowosielski. Due to the recent centenary of the painter's birth, his paintings are now more readily shown, for example at the just-concluded exhibition 'The Art of Seeing. Nowosielski and others' at the Royal Castle in Warsaw. The CCA also proposes to look at Nowosielski's art in the context of the works of other artists who continue the tradition of metaphysical painting. By means of contrast, proper division and interesting arrangement, 'Byzantine Nostalgia' demonstrates the power of mutual artistic influences.
Jerzy Nowosielski (1923-2011) was not only an artist, but also a philosopher and an Orthodox theologian. He was particularly interested in metaphysics, which he manifested in his painting. In Nowosielski's artistic expression, one can see reflection on the essence of being, pondering on the spiritual and corporeal worlds, searching for the boundary between the rational and the mystical. The painter created primarily figural compositions and landscapes, creating his own philosophical interpretation of the external world. At the Byzantine Nostalgia exhibition, we can see the extent of the influence of the trend cultivated by Nowosielski on younger artists. The twentieth-century artistic avant-garde is marked by attempts to depict a non-sensory, emotional, immaterial reality. Today, art more readily refers to authentic realities, political or social issues. The exhibition at the CCA allows viewers to revisit works that deal with religious-philosophical issues, especially those that were close to Nowosielski. Metaphysical painting 'disassembles' reality as we know it into its constituent parts and continually challenges the possibilities of human vision, while at the same time offering a completely different perspective on the subject depicted and promoting the performance of profound reflections on existence.
The exhibition's curatorial text, written by Viktoria Burlaka, reads: “The idea of the Byzantine Nostalgia project is to search for similarities between Polish and Ukrainian art and to find their common sources in culture. It is not so much about the stylistics of icons, about the way of painting, but about the attraction to a metaphysical timeless reality.”. The exhibition features works by almost fifty artists from Poland and Ukraine. Among the names one will find well-known and recognizable Polish artists (among others: Magdalena Abakanowicz, Tytus Czyżewski, Tadeusz Kantor, Jarosław Modzelewski, Roman Opałka, Henryk Stażewski, Andrzej Wróblewski and, of course, Jerzy Nowosielski) as well as prominent Ukrainian artists worth knowing. The exhibition is divided in terms of metaphysical issues, so we will find rooms dedicated to the themes of Life and Death, Colour and Light and Darkness. 'Byzantine Nostalgia' includes objects created through various artistic media — from collages to video to multi-format installations. The selection of works shows the spectrum of forms and styles in which metaphysical philosophy can be expressed. The exhibition can be visited until 7 April 2024, which we recommend to anyone interested in Polish and Ukrainian contemporary art or the work of Jerzy Nowosielski.
