The Municipal Gallery bwa in Bydgoszcz will host an exhibition by Piotr Błażejewski, titled „On the Road – together with me”, for the 40th anniversary of the artistic work of the author. The exhibition will present dozens of works by Piotr Błażejewski and other artists, whose works he’s been collecting for many years.
"In my painting, or, in a more broad sense, in my art I am looking for order and harmony. I often think about infinity and continuity, what is behind us, and what we just experience. I’m trying to make sure that the images are simple, synthetic and that these two characteristics are key to their strength. Therefore, I simplify, reject, eliminate, clear… I’m trying to make planes of colour, light and form as perfect as possible.
I work in cycles. The next cycle doesn’t dissociate itself dramatically from the previous attempts. It’s more of a continuation. I start developing new formal motifs and each cycle enriches my imaging.
I know that my imaging paintings and drawings can be described as so called geometric art. I accept that classification with some essential reservation. I believe that my geometry is not very coincident with the language used by Albers, Malewicz, Stażewski or Gołkowska, for example; although their art is dear to me. But I do not identify myself with such geometric abstraction. My geometry was very aptly described by Zdzisław Jurkiewicz: Błażejewski’s geometry is soft. This remark is very close to my feelings, as not everything is measured or precisely calculated in my geometry; after all, it’s not mathematics!
I construct my paintings using the simplest elements: planes, lines. Often times, I diversify textures, using certain kind of frottage. Combinations of mattes and shiny, glowing surfaces are important, which were present especially in the cycle Refleksy/-je (Reflections) from 2000-2004. I approach each canvas very meticulously, perfectly. Each corner of painting space, even the edges of the canvas, are covered with paints. I often tell my students to spend time and focus their attention to aesthetics and finishing of the images.
(Piotr Błażejewski)
Piotr Błażejewski was born in 1950 in Kluczbork. Artistically, he is affiliated with Wrocław, where he first attended the National School of Fine Arts, and then studied painting at the State College of Fine Arts (now the Academy of Fine Arts). In 1977, he started working at the Academy, where he teaches as a professor to this day. He’s also a lecturer at the University of Natural Sciences in Wrocław. Piotr Błażejewski is a representative of geometric art, in his works looking for order and harmony; however, this is the geometry, where not everything is measured and precisely calculated. He works in cycles (among them, Architecture of Colour, Interferences, Reflections, Traces, Impossible Geometrical figures) that are in a continuous evolution and the continuation of his painting path.
(Information on the basis of the monograph album of Piotr Błażejewski. On the road – together with me)
exhibition open until 27.03.2016