Landscapes of Piotr Matuszek
35th anniversary of artistic activities
Piotr Matuszek was born on May 8th, 1954, in Bydgoszcz. Graduate of the State High School of Fine Arts in Bydgoszcz (1969-1974). Studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow (1974-1980). Diploma in painting, under Prof. Jan Szancenbach. Member of the Association of the Polish Visual Artists. Since 1993, he’s been participating in the workshops of occupational therapy at 1 Stawowa St. in Bydgoszcz. He is the author of ten individual exhibitions and participated in numerous group exhibitions. Paints and draws.
Piotr Matuszek intently, with seriousness, makes streak and puts patches of colour, with every stroke of the brush energy and expression escalate in his works, which have a strong effect because of their complexity of pictorial structure and strength of colours. The importance of colour gained from the „Szancenbach school” is important in his work. With colour, he builds his intricate structures, in which he loses the reality of perception in favour of emotional truth. He paints faces, trees, landscapes, scenes, still lifes. In these depictions there are no rules, it’s his own unique vision of the world the strength of the artistic gesture and the personality of the artist.
The exhibition presents a series of landscapes created after 2000.
Elżbieta Kantorek

Exhibition prepared on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of artistic work

Exhibitions:
1977 Biennial of Student Drawings, BWA, Katowice
1980 Juventur Pilots Club, Krakow (individual)
1981 Little Salon of Art BWA, Bydgoszcz (individual)
1983 All-Poland Exhibition "Flowers of Poland", BWA, Tarnów, Nowy Sącz, Sieradz
1985 Painting of the Year 1984, Little Salon of Art BWA, Bydgoszcz
1985 Gallery of Contemporary Art PSP, Bydgoszcz (the Old Market) (individual)
1985 Kruchta Gallery, the Basilica of St. Vincent de Paul, Bydgoszcz
1985 Rafał Ponorski post-competition exhibition, BWA, Katowice
1985 Exhibition of works by the artist of Bydgoszcz, on the 40th anniversary of the People’s Republic of Poland, BWA Bydgoszcz
1986 Exhibition of Bydgoszcz Art, Pitești, Romania
1986 Painting of the Year 1985, BWA, Bydgoszcz
1987 Exhibition of the Grant Holders of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Cultural Society, BWA, Bydgoszcz
1987 the first exhibition of the artists from the Bydgoszcz District of the Association of Polish Painters and Graphic Designers, BWA, Bydgoszcz
1988 Exhibition of Bydgoszcz Art, Le Havre, France
1988 Jan Kaja and Jacek Soliński’s Gallery, Bydgoszcz (individual)
1995 Węgliszek Artistic Café, Municipal Centre of Culture, Bydgoszcz (individual)
2002 6th Biennial of Bydgoszcz Art, BWA, Bydgoszcz
2004 the Kantorek Gallery, Bydgoszcz (individual)
2005-2007 Work of the Year, Association of Polish Artists, Municipal Gallery bwa, Bydgoszcz
2006 Szyperska Gallery, Poznań (presentation of works by the members of the Bydgoszcz District of the Association of Polish Artists)
2008 Plama’s Gallery, Culture House, Szubin (individual)
2008 50th anniversary of the Association of Polish Artists in Bydgoszcz, Leon Wyczółkowski Regional Museum, Bydgoszcz
2008 15th anniversary of WTZ, Gallery of Folk and Non-Professional Art, Kujawsko-Pomorskie Culture Centre, Bydgoszcz
2009 Municipal Gallery bwa, the Kantorek Gallery, Bydgoszcz (individual)
2010 Multiplicity of voices, Jan Kaja and Jacek Soliński’s Gallery, Bydgoszcz (individual)
2012 Old Palace in Ostromecko, Municipal Centre of Culture, Bydgoszcz (individual)

LANDSCAPE according to Piotr Matuszek
Distinctive, rich painting art of Piotr Matuszek is known in Bydgoszcz from many of his individual exhibitions.
Piotr is a colourist since the beginning of his journey. Already in the high school of art so called „Turwidówka” he belonged to a close group of ambitious enthusiasts, then proceeded to develop his talent in the Krakow Academy of Fine Arts in the study of Prof. Jan Szancenbach.
Topics that he touches upon, and there are many: associated with nature still-life, portrait, self-portrait, flowers, landscape, figurative scenes; compositions of imagination masks, heads, generic scenes, literary characters, totemic objects and abstractions, have surprising solutions. Peter paints a lot, circulating around the same themes, introducing their subsequent interpretations. He analyses the issues of artistic form in numerous drawings and sketches. The distinctiveness and originality of the works, which are dominated by expression of form and colour, is a proof of his great painterly instinct.
The exhibition at the Municipal Gallery bwa — Kantorek Gallery is devoted to one topic, in order to analyse it deeply. The topic is landscape. This classic painting theme is used by Piotr very often and in a surprisingly consistent way. Most of the works have been done in the study, i.e. not in the open air Piotr has created more conceptual, synthetic reflections on the landscape. After years of work, one can see the original effect, the landscape according to Piotr Matuszek. Using very often the side flat perspective, the linear perspective or even the reverse perspective, he refers to the various stages in the history of the art of painting, thus making unreal the "picturesqueness" of linear perspective. Synthesis of forms of trees and rhythms of several linear horizons express the depth of experience of the landscape that gets another dimension than the one known from one’s own perception. Part of the themes reminds me of the landscape seen from the window of the train when a continuously variable story about where we’re going moves with rhythmic rattle. It’s a nice and nostalgic feeling of the world and life, the discovery of beauty, for a few seconds. Painting records these sensations thanks to the painter, who saw them and closed in the image forever. Piotr Matuszek is such a painter.
Stanisław Stasiulewicz