untitled

Mariola Przyjemska’s painting included in Kolekcja II must be associated with the years 1991–1993, the short period in her oeuvre when she was creating tranquil, harmonious compositions in paint. By then her oeuvre had already included expressionistic canvases imbued with references to mythology, literature and art history; her later works turned toward the so-called critical art, focusing on, among others, issues linked with consumerism.

Against the background of issues usually referred to by Przyjemska, the group of her early works seems isolated. She focuses there on the decorative side of painting: entire surfaces of canvases are covered with ornament, with the foremost aspect of interest being its decorativeness and not, for instance, symbolism. Among the motifs are Coptic crosses, geometrical figures, hieroglyphs, details of mosaics, and patterns usually decorating tablecloths, bedlinen or wallpapers. Przyjemska often arranged them in such a way that the canvas gave the illusion of fabric, its decorativeness enhanced by rich colour schemes. On the one hand, the rhythm in the arrangement and the monotonous repetitiveness of elements imbued the composition with an air of tranquillity, so that the viewer communed with a painting that was virtually contemplative; on the other hand, they directed attention towards the figurative qualities, towards the motif as such, its form and its relation to other elements of the visual structure.

The painting dates from the same period as the socially involved projects by Zbigniew Libera, Grzegorz Klaman¹ or Konrad Kuzyszyn². Przyjemska’s work belongs to the opposite current, which bears the mark of the artists’ “introvert” approach. This current embraces works that are an expression of meticulous analyses of the creative process itself (including the central figure of the creator), the formal language and the matter on which the artist operates. Much later, Przyjemska returned to a similar creative manner, with the focus on form, ornament and the visual aspects of a picture; the result was her 2007 series of canvases. Tense, vibrant and balancing on the verge of abstractions, they evince affinities with the works of Robert and Sonia Delaunay derived from the experience of Cubism.

Izabela Kopania

translated from Polish by Klaudyna Michałowicz

1. See e.g. Katabasis, 1993, in the Collection II of the Arsenal Gallery in Białystok.
2. See e.g. Kondycja III [Condition III], 1995, in the Collection II of the Arsenal Gallery in Białystok.