Jakub Ciężki. Triumph of Abstraction, Lubomirski Palace, Lublin, September 2021
- Jakub Ciężki. Triumph of Abstraction, Lubomirski Palace, Lublin, September 2021
Jakub Ciężki. Triumph of Abstraction
Artist: Jakub Ciężki
3 – 26.09.2021
Muzeum Ziem Wschodnich Dawnej Rzeczypospolitej
Oddział Muzeum Narodowego w Lublinie
plac Litewski 3, Lublin
Photo: Natalia Wierzbicka
The Triumph of Abstraction is a solo exhibition by Jakub Ciężki, presenting works made during the last three years. It is also a personal manifestation of his departure from representational painting and turn to abstraction, where he seeks new formal and compositional solutions.
Ciężki’s decision seems the obvious next step for his practice. It is also a part of a broader trend of a return to abstraction currently visible in international art.
„Abstract art was never dead”, begins curator Friedhelm Hütte’s text for the exhibition Ways of Seeing Abstraction, at PalaisPopulaire in Berlin (2021). For several years now, one has been able to observe that, parallel to figurative painting, a return to the tradition of abstraction and its origins in the 20th century is strongly present. This language has started to be used anew, filtered through one’s surroundings and personal and artistic experiences. It is as if abstract art has completed a loop, not returning to the same point but crossing over in a completely different, new place. This interest in abstraction can be seen in the local art scene: be it in the discovery and reinterpretation within the context of 20th century art (Stefan Gierowski, Stanisław Fijałkowski, Aleksandra Jachtoma, Janina Węgrzynowska), or in the conscious turn of later artists, both established (Agata Bogacka), and those recently making their debut (Marcin Jasik and Dorota Goczał).
Undoubtedly, Jakub Ciężki’s pictures can be placed within this trend and examined from the angle of dialogue with this painting tradition. What is most characteristic of the artist is the constant return to the fundamentals of thinking about pictures, but also a reinterpretation of the avantgarde, revealing the constant relevance of its language.
[fragment of the exhibition text, translation: Daniel Malone]
The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue available here
Exhibition partner: ArtSaas