Wlodzimierz Ksiazek (Polish, b. 1951) Untitled

Description:

Wlodzimierz Ksiazek (Polish, b. 1951)

Untitled, 1997-1999
Signed "Wlodzimierz Ksiazek" on the reverse.
Oil and cold wax on canvas, 60 x 75 in. (152.4 x 190.6 cm),unframed.
Condition: Good.

Provenance: Purchased from the artist.

Exhibition: "You Can't Go Home Again: The Art of Exile," Philadelphia Art Alliance, February 8-March 19, 2000 (illustrated in exhibition brochure)

N.B. Ksiazek's work is regarded by many to be deeply personal, both in content and form. The artist, an early supporter of the pro-democracy Solidarity movement in Poland, had been practicing and exhibiting in Poland for almost ten years when marshal law was imposed to curb anti-communist support. Of this time, Ksiazek notes, "…There were tanks on the street, people were murdered, and we had no way of knowing when the situation would normalize...I felt so discouraged that I knew I must escape. My artistic work at that time reflected my disgust with the totalitarian system, and this was expressed by the visual language I developed." (1) Ksiazek fled Warsaw for the United States in 1982, and has been a resident of the East coast since.

Critics have commented on the labor-intensive quality of Ksiazek's works, which can take several years to complete. Of his process, Ksiazek notes, "…as I apply layers onto the surface each layer responds to the previous one. In a sense I am working together with the painting itself, which is growing, accumulating and subtracting painted matter, is reshaped, creating and forming its own history." (2)

Critics have called his works "archaeological," which can be seen in the present work. The visible fingerprints emphasize the sensuousness of surface but also its wall-like impassivity. A warm yellow, orange and red ground lies beneath the heavy impasto, revealed only in small gaps which the viewer must "dig" for. In terms of composition, the grooved structure at the center evokes a number of associations with passages-trenches, labyrinths, ancient portals. All have the potential to lead the viewer somewhere, but because of the worn, decomposed effect of the layers, prohibit entering.

(1) Harris, Mark. "An Interview with Wlodzimierz Ksiazek." Think of It: Recent Paintings by Wlodzimierz Ksiazek. Leicestershire: Loughborough University, 2000. Pg. 44.
(2) Ibid.

Estimate $6,000-8,000

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