01. Informel in the work of Tadeusz Kantor
In nineteen fifty-seven, the leading Polish literary magazine Życie Literackie published an article by Tadeusz Kantor entitled “Abstraction Is Dead – Long Live Abstraction,” in which the artist reported on the decline of geometric abstraction and, at the same time, the rise of Tachism and Art Informel.
In his new paintings, the creative process consisted of spontaneous, even spasmodic gestures, a trend initiated in Europe by the movement known as “Action Painting” and artists such as Jackson Pollock, Fautrier, Georges Mathieu, and others.
In his work, Kantor emphasized the role and significance of Surrealism, and above all a specific phase of this movement – automatism, in which chance played the key role. In practice, a work of art was created through actions such as pouring colored liquids onto a canvas laid out on the ground, squeezing paint directly from the tube, rubbing or splashing pigments onto the surface of the painting by, for example, striking it with a string or a whip.
This is how the artist describes his experiences with Informel painting: "I succeeded by employing a method of chance, relinquishing my own involvement in the so-called ‘creative’ process, acting blindly, while my moments of intervention combined swift decision-making, reflection, and hand movement, internal impulses, because I realized that the moment of intention, of construction (avant), was inhibiting; I tried to shut out those habits - that was the hardest part. The emerging painting, in its density, resembled an anthill. Style (in literature): 1. an unfinished sentence, 2. jumping from subject to subject. [...] A brief history of tachism: tachism—the disruption of classical organization; origins: surrealism, chance, adventure, gesture—action, automatism, (...) the image should grow like nature; it cannot be fully predicted a priori—otherwise it would be closed."
The act of painting is transformed here into a spontaneous spectacle, where the creative process and the recording of the painter’s gesture and random concept seem to be more important than the final result. As Kantor wrote: “Chance is not the goal in this case but merely a means of capturing matter [...] Matter – as element and violence, continuity and boundlessness, density and slowness, fluidity and capriciousness, lightness and transience [...] A congealed state in which we discover all traces of life." The painting is thus a kind of extension of life, its manifestation and, at the same time, its accumulation.
The titles of some of the works are also surprising; they refer to Dadaist poems and, in their spontaneity and randomness, also illustrate the processes that dominate Kantor’s “formless” painting (random syllables, without any meaning on their own, when combined into a certain word-forming unit, together begin to create a quality with a distinct intensity of impact or meaning): “Tadana,” “Ramamaganga,” “Hopai-siupai,” “Rach-ciach-ciach,” “D’osyta-d’osyta,” “Alalaha,” “Pasakas,” “Amarapura,” “Oahu.”
In this way, the creative process also represents the artist's challenge to the aesthetics of the painting and his previously accepted painting style.
This period also saw Kantor's first solo exhibitions abroad: at the Samlaren Gallery in Stockholm in August nineteen fifty-eight and at the Galerie H. Le Gendre in Paris in March nineteen fifty-nine, which brought the Kraków-based artist significant recognition and marked the beginning of a series of exhibitions around the world.
Kantor’s dual approach is evident at this stage as well. The artist begins to translate his experiences with Informel painting into other disciplines. In his notes, most likely written in 1961, Kantor writes: “Painting does not have to take place exclusively on the canvas – it can be transferred into space and time by people in motion. I am stepping away from the painting, but this does not mean that I am translating the language of painting into other fields – I am merely expanding my activity into other areas.”
The short film "Attention: Painting", which showcases the Tashist painting technique, dates back to nineteen fifty-seven. It was made by Antoni Nurzyński and Mieczysław Waśkowski in collaboration with Tadeusz Kantor. The soundtrack was composed by Adam Kaczyński, and the film was produced by the “Kadr” Film Authors' Group and the Polish National Film School in Łódź.
On January fourteen, nineteen sixty-one, the premiere of the Cricot Two Theater’s production The Country House, based on S. I. Witkiewicz’s eponymous play, took place at the Krzysztofory Gallery in Kraków. It was the realization of Kantor's concept of the Informel Theater - a form of theater that was subject to chance and to the movement of matter in which actors, treated as objects, were completely stripped of their individuality. The costumes for the actors in the performance were created during the rehearsals – random outfits were first sewn together, only to be subsequently torn and ripped. Created in this way, the costumes eliminated the actors’ individuality; when they crowded into the wardrobe (the most important object on stage), they had to struggle with one another and with the chaos of rags that filled the piece of furniture. This made the actions on stage just as formless and magmatic as the costumes.
