opening: Friday, March 21th, at 7:00 PM
exhibition: 21.03-25.04.2025
organizator:
partner:
place: Galeria Piekary
ul. Św. Marcin 80/82
CK Zamek, Dziedziniec Różany
61-809 Poznań
exhibition open Monday – Friday 10 AM – 6 PM
admission always free
media patronage:
-become-
One’s personality is shaped at the juncture of their inner potential and social expectations. Jolanta Brach-Czaina observes that we consciously develop only those traits that are socially accepted, leaving the rest—our “other side”—hidden in the realm of the unconscious. This latent mental life, structured by both individual experience and the collective, archetypal substance, is the underpinning of our inner conflicts. The more our genuine self deviates from social norms, the more of its original structure is revealed.
The inner opposition against “nothingness” reads the desire to discover the absolute truth and the meaning of individual existence. The value of authentic manifestation of feelings, experiences and thoughts is associated with freedom—not only as an abstract concept, but above all as the freedom to wander, i.e. openness to new paths and perspectives that make life more pleasant in the simplicity.
The journey of the paintings shown at the exhibition dates back to period of psychological crisis I went through. The time, came across the term “subject present” in a legal document, which I found intriguing. It sounded dehumanizing, more like a description of an object than a human being. This wording inspired me to reflect deeply on the egocentric fear of losing control and uncertainty about the future. The determinism of events provokes fear for one’s own existence, but the “subject present” has become for me a symbol of existence that does not concern solely material affairs.
In the initial phase of working on paintings, I treated myself and my actions as object of research, trying to refrain from evaluating my actions in the creative process, so as to rely on intuition and self-acceptance instead. Then I analyzed my impulses and behaviours in order to get to the truth and find liberation from suffering.
My experiences were reflected in my creative work, which represents a record of the successive stages of emerging from the crisis and becoming initiated into an increasingly abstract understanding of reality. At first, they would create according to rigid patterns, based on drawings and designs, but this time went by I abandoned that method in favour of intuition, eschewing any assumptions.
That process resembled building a painting, layer by layer. First, the horizontal record of experience, which over time shifted towards the vertical, then the diagonal and the three-dimensional dimension—despite the initial indeterminacy. The physicality of the material, namely felt—soft and protective, reminiscent of fur—gradually gave way to an immaterial idea. The way the felt was worked with a wire brush rendered the surface raw and primordial, simultaneously linking the material world with the realm of dream and archetype. This means I was looking for an alternative structure, detached from material reality, a bridge between the tangible and the spiritual and symbolic.
My work is where I find a continual dialogue between consciousness and the unconscious. Step by step, I discover new perspectives in this process, and each subsequent layer of the image is a record—an attempt to understand myself between two worlds: the material and the immaterial.
Mateusz Dąbrowski
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Mateusz Dąbrowski (1980) studied at the Faculty of Graphic Arts, Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. Holding a postdoctoral degree, he is currently an associate professor at the Academy, where he teaches screen printing. In addition, he is also a drawing instructor at the WIT Academy and a coordinator of the KISSPRINT art group, which promotes graphic art created by students.
As an interdisciplinary artist, Dąbrowski combines spatial undertakings with contemporary media. His work focuses on the aspects of reality that are invisible, imperceptible or illogical. The abstract forms he creates stem from an attempt to comprehend the new, post-modern humanism. The artist strives to forge a relationship between the object he creates and personal, human emotions and experiences, such as loneliness, sensitivity or the inevitable confrontation with the oppressive environment in which one lives. The artist deliberately uses raw or industrial materials to underscore the analogy with the present times. His objects are “active” in that they involve movement. Dąbrowski’s art represents a combination of two areas of interest, namely science and artistic creation, through which he can convey both his fascination and the uncertainty arising from everyday life and reflection on time.
Dąbrowski has received numerous accolades, including an honorary mention at the International Graphic Arts Biennale in Taiwan (2010), the Grand Prix of Young Polish Graphic Art at the International Print Triennial in Krakow (2009), the Prime Minister’s Award for his doctoral dissertation (2010), the first prize funded by Siemens (2005), second prize – Fellowship in the Daniel Chodowiecki Competition in Sopot (2006), Honorary Mention of the Jury at the 3rd International Digital Graphics Biennale in Gdynia (2012) and the “Małe Berło” award of the Polish Culture Foundation (2010). Dąbrowski also participated in a residency in Gütersloh, Germany (2008). In 2010, the artist was nominated for the Polityka Passport Award and in 2006 for the Grand Prix in the 6th Triennial of Polish Graphic Arts in Katowice. He also received a six-month ministerial fellowship in 2010 and participated in the Radziejowice Symposia organized by dr Bożena Kowalska.
