For grandma Jadwiga, For grandma Gertruda

Andrzej Szewczyk avoided describing his compositions as “paintings” since he believed this term to be inaccurate in conveying their essence. Many of his works are painted on non-standard surfaces, such as walls, mirrors, maps and school notebooks, a fact which undermines the universal acceptance of canvas on a stretcher as the default substrate for a picture. Such experiments were conditioned by Szewczyk’s attitudes to art, especially his opposition to the habit of identifying the artist with creator. He was fascinated with anonymous and mechanical painting. Searching for his own voice – one that would incorporate his achievements in the field of painting and express ideas that were pertinent to his life – he demonstrated that impersonal painting isn’t necessarily at odds with an artist’s attempts to find his own form of expression.

For Grandma Gertruda and For Grandma Jadwiga continue the discussion on the idea of a representation, an artist and painting as an art form. The acrylic on canvas panels make up just a fragment of each work – the whole picture emerges only when the panels are placed on a wall painted the same colour as the background of the canvas, imprinted with golden patterns by the artist. The murals are a nod to the concept of “picture painting unified with wall painting,” which Szewczyk formulated along with Tomasz Wawak in the 1970’s. In those days the artist produced pieces painted with rollers; impersonal and seemingly done mechanically. Such a feeling is only compounded by the inclusion of ornamentation applied with a template. But despite all this, Szewczyk’s works remain very personal. Walls painted with a roller and decorated with tacky patterns invoke the spirit of home, one that is somewhat outdated or “grandmother-esque.” The autobiographical vein is also suggested by the works’ titles.

In Szewczyk’s output, the demystification of painting takes place on several levels. He rejects the traditional artist-artwork relationship. Popular belief has it that a “touch of the hand” – a drawing or a stroke of the brush – or elements that are clearly autobiographical link the artist with the picture. However, Szewczyk introduces personal aspects in a very subtle manner, at the same time reversing the hierarchy of subject matter in painting. What is important in his work is their commonplace nature and their retrospection on issues that seem trivial at first glance. It is exactly these qualities that lend individuality to unified painting.

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