The continuation of the exhibition “In the Afterimage of Dreams” (November 2013) has been displayed in the Michał Twerd Gallery at the II General Secondary School. The two photographers Bożena Gałan and Mirosław Putyra have not exhausted the formula of discovering femininity and the female interior through photographic portraiture. They have enriched it with new ideas and arrangements.
The two artists look at women through the camera lens attentively, inquisitively and passionately. Fascinated by femininity and delighted by it, Mirek and Bożena have created highly interesting, mature and expressive photographic portraits.
Compared with the previous exhibition, the novelty is the expressive, colorful portraits of Kasia Sas. They radiate joy and madness, standing out graphically against the other photographs. “At first, Bożena shyly suggested that she paint me,” recounts Kasia Sas. “I immediately liked the idea. We had a photographic afternoon session. Even the painting with brushes was pleasant. Everything turned out wonderfully.”
Katarzyna Sas is also shown beautifully and nostalgically in Mirek Putyra’s portraits. Alicja Kowal, in changed arrangements, has very interesting, joyful and lively portraits taken outdoors in the historic center of Bolesławiec. Her portraits sparkle in the sun, with a dancing rhythm and atmosphere.
The portraits of Maria Walczewska are deeply spiritual and ethereal; in them, Maria is Mary Magdalene from Caravaggio’s paintings.
As always, the exceptionally rich personality of Róża Urbanik made it possible to create a series of excellent works. Róża Urbanik contains a hundred women, and all of them are captivating, rich and intriguing, bringing viewers to their knees. Bożena Gałan’s portrait “Róża with a Rose,” in which the model bends her head over a flower, conveys an image of a woman’s fate—sometimes difficult and painful, marked by numerous scars left by life’s blows. It is a fate with which the woman in the photograph has come to terms; although it has left its mark on her, it has not defeated her. Mirek Putyra’s portraits of Róża show the model differently. The artist succeeded in portraying an extraordinary woman in very simple, ordinary situations, such as the moment when the model sat down on a bench in the Market Square or stopped in front of a bookshop window.
Bożena Gałan found one more model, demonic, disturbingly beautiful and strikingly expressive: Natalia Mojsa (a student of the II General Secondary School), who posed for photographs with Artur Kucharczak.
During the opening, the photographers thanked Mirosław Sakowski for his hospitality and strong support. The opening at the II General Secondary School, in the Michał Twerd Gallery, was enhanced by a violin performance by Celestyna Koszak (a student of the I General Secondary School).
(information: Grażyna Hanaf)