Kazimierz Kalkowski has already won the hearts of a wide audience by presenting his sculptures at the BOK-MCC Long Gallery in last year’s exhibition. On 5 October, the residents of Bolesławiec had the opportunity to discover his incredible talent and reaffirm their appreciation of his work by attending the opening of an exhibition devoted this time to painting and drawing.
The artist’s distinctive creative manner, both in painting and drawing, can certainly be felt by every viewer of his works. The highly refined world depicted in its grotesque form presents a unique spectacle of the painter-sculptor’s dual nature, partly sinful and partly “saintly.” Kalkowski poses fundamental questions bordering on Shakespearean reflection: To be or not to be? If one is to be, then what kind? Good or evil? Or perhaps a little of each...? He translates the multifaceted nature of humanity into visual language and dissects it into its basic elements, both in the external and internal spheres.
The many themes in his works can be examined through the correlation of two concepts: GOOD AND EVIL. Mysterious and enigmatic compositions—seemingly chaotic and deformed—are a “metaphor for theatrum mundi, where the drama (comedy?) of our civilization unfolds in successive scenes,” as Władysław Zawistowski wrote about Kalkowski’s work. Like a demiurge, in his inimitable, somewhat theatrical style, the artist transforms archetypes, myths, cultural symbols, virtues and vices. Layer by layer, he reveals the “theater of human life,” a fiction that closely resembles reality.
Kalkowski graduated from the Gdańsk PWSSP. For more than 30 years, he has been creating “his enchanted world, accessible not to everyone, but open.” He paints, sculpts, draws, creates stained glass and wall compositions—in short, he is a one-man orchestra. As the artist himself admits, he specializes in ceramic sculpture, but he is returning to painting and drawing ever more often...
The exhibition will be open until 30 October 2012.
(information: Katarzyna Klepaczek/ii)