EXHIBITIONS
2018/03/15
Stanisław Fijałkowski | Spectra Art Space MASTERS
17th March - 1st July 2018
Distinct in Polish art, deeply rooted in spirituality, philosophy, literature and European symbolism, Stanisław Fijałkowski’s works are the theme of the latest exhibition organised by the Starak Family Foundation.
Stanisław Fijałkowski is one of the most renowned Polish painters of the 20th century, outstanding graphic designer and Professor of the State Łódź Art School for many years. Faithful to the great dogma of art: per visibilia ad invisibilia, a poet of sign and symbol, a master in combining the essence of content with the holistic painting form. As a former student of Władysław Strzemiński, he has still remained an irreplaceable witness of the difficult post-War history of Polish avant-garde. His own work does not directly continue the artistic thought of his master, but with equal solemnity and persistence has been fulfilling the obligation, postulated by Strzemiński, to bear the responsibility involved in the role of the painter. What deserves particular emphasis during the celebrations of “100 years of Avant-Garde in Poland” is the fact that it is Professor Fijałkowski that produced the Polish translations of fundamental texts written by the fathers of world avant-garde - Wassily Kandinsky “The Spiritual in Art” and “Point and Line to Plane” as well as Kazimierz Malewicz “The Non-Objective World.”
The exhibition will display paintings by Stanisław Fijałkowski from the collection of Anna and Jerzy Starak, from the artist’s collection and from the collection of the Museum of Art in Łódź. The exhibition is an comprehensive overview showing the successive threads from the Master’s creative work that has been pursued without interruption since the 1950s until now. A special place is devoted to extensive cycles: "Highways", "Talmud Studies" or "Paintings for Waleria".
The paintings will be complemented by the presentation of a wide selection of graphics from the personal collection of Professor Stanisław Fijałkowski.
At seldom moments of silence, the conscience tells you that you sin against the human nature when you lose sight of the ideals of the Truth and Beauty and stop expanding their realm. Therefore, we, and many others, deal with the art that has its sources there. We wish to build a real world. We do not want us to be engulfed by an abyss. We seek light in the surrounding doubts and we rejoice when we find it in a well performed creative work, which restores a deep sense of life. It is building rather than destroying that is a noble task worthy of a human being. … I am prone to believe that works of art are not so much expressions of ourselves as evidence of understanding the difficulties we face, our attempt to formulate an engaged attitude towards art, ethical requirements, and to seek values as tasks imposed on us. Hence, painting is a form of active life, a fulfilment of the once assumed responsibilities. This is the whole artistic metaphysics and the prize for the endeavours to live in artistic purity.
Stanisław Fijałkowski, 2002
(A fragment of a speech delivered on the occasion of being granted the Doctor honoris causa degree at the Strzemiński Academy of Art in Łódź)
Stanisław Fijałkowski - was born on 4 November 1922 in Zdołbunów in Volhynia. Painter, graphic designer, professor, art theoretician and teacher. In the period 1946–1951, he studied at the State Łódź Art School (currently: Strzemiński Academy of Art Łódź), where he was a student and an assistant in Władysław Strzemiński’s studio. In the period 1947–1993 he was a lecturer at the State Łódź Art School and in 1983 he became a Professor of the School. In 2002, he was granted the doctor honoris causa degree of the State Łódź Art School. The artist represented Poland at the São Paulo International Biennial of Arts (1969) and the Venice Biennial of Arts (1972).
In 1977, he received the Cyprian Kamil Norwid Artistic Critique Award, and in 1989 he was distinguished with the prestigious Jan Cybis Award. In addition, he was awarded numerous Polish and international prizes at various exhibitions, among others: at the Biennial of Graphic Arts in Kraków (1968 and 1970), at the Bianco e Nero exhibition in Lugano (1972), at the Ljubljana Biennial of Graphic Arts (1977), at the “Graphica Creativa” Triennial in Jyväskylä (1978), at the Biennial of Graphic Arts in Frechen (1978), at the Biennial of European Graphic Arts Heidelberg (1979), at the Cagnes-sur-Mer International Painting Festival (1986), Grand Prix at the International XYLON Exhibition in Winterthur (1994).
Stanisław Fijałkowski | Spectra Art Space MASTERS exhibition can be viewed in the Spectra building, at ul. Bobrowiecka 6 street in Warsaw, between 17 March 2018 and 1 July 2018, every day from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and every Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. and 6 p.m.
On the first Saturday of a month at 11 a.m. a curator will show you around the exhibition and Anna and Jerzy Starak’s collection.
Free admission
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