2024-04-16
Is it possible to retain a sense of humour and freedom of mind in times of mental imprisonment? Looking at the work of Wojciech Grzymała, the answer should be yes. In this article, we would like to take a closer look at the satire of this interesting artist.
Let us agree, everything is conventional, as the great philosophers and sages say. It is not a matter of examining and defining art, but more of feeling it. Contemporary art offers great opportunities in this regard. There are no rules in reading the content that a work of art carries, 'screening' art is not a race to guess hidden intentions, it is a process of processing it through one's own sensitivity, worldview and emotional intelligence. Art speaks for itself, and for each individual it may be a different language. Even if the author's message was more closely defined, contemporary paintings always leave an area of freedom for one's own interpretation of what follows from that message. For an individual, or perhaps for a larger group, or perhaps for the world. To quote the artist Wojciech Grzymała, "The ability to behave metaphorically, to add new meanings, is an adaptability on which the quality of our lives depends to a large extent, regardless of the times and sites in which we live them."
source: niezlasztuka.net
source: niezlasztuka.net
The viewer is free to interpret, while the artist is free to have an idea for his own art. For Wojciech Grzymała, humour was an important element of the intention. It is worth noting that the painter found himself in this convention during the communist era, which was rather grey and gloomy. From the beginning of his work until the beginning of the transformation of the state, he managed to maintain the attitude of someone trying something different, going against the current, differing from his surroundings. He experienced interesting times at the turn of the century. He was born in 1949 in Płock, and his first illustrations were published in 1971. For many years, he was involved in preparing graphic designs for publishing houses, cooperating, among others, with "Szpilki" and "Satyra" magazines. He produced drawings and press illustrations in ink, airbrush and watercolour techniques. In 1987, he moved to the USA and then to New Zealand. He currently lives in the UK. Wojciech Grzymała's baggage of experience, as well as his intelligence, sensitivity and boundless imagination, have made him one of the most peculiar authors of contemporary paintings in Poland.
source: niezlasztuka.net
Starting out in the late 1980s, "across the great water", he was ahead of what the rest of his compatriots had to learn in the early 1990s - life in the new world. He wanted to see more throughout his career, and it was not easy to retain the gift of observing the paradoxical, the absurd, the intangible, the improbable, and yet happening before people's eyes. Wojciech Grzymała was able to show and tell his observations and reflections in an unprecedented way with his art. It is distinguished by the colour that gives the poster its distinctiveness, the return to floral and idyllic motifs, ornamentation and, above all, a sense of humour. Unfortunately, art galleries, like museums and opera houses, are still associated with seriousness and restraint more than with fun. Wojciech Grzymała, on the other hand, believed that his commitment to art, and one that artists generally perform poorly at, was to present contemporary paintings in such a way that they evoke a broad smile. What is the secret to achieving this effect? Above all, the search for distance from the literal, catching and conveying loosens and opens up to new meanings. Mr Wojciech's art is the art of metaphorisation and a satirical message that everyone has to reach for themselves. "Everything I would like to say is in my works", as he himself claims.
Bibliography:
dzieje.pl, niezlasztuka.net, ,,Historia sztuki. Malarstwo" D. Jackowiak