The term graphics has spread to all the fields of the contemporary public life. Currently, this is how practically all forms of visual record are being defined. It leads to numerous misunderstandings when every expression of optical handicraft or its mechanical illustration is defined with this once honorable name. Meanwhile,the term itself comes from Greek and Arct’s dictionary from 1935 explains it as adding language tones by using letters, the art of drawing, special knowledge of diplomatic writing and the total amount of letters, specific to a certain language, used by a certain author. Seemingly the same, but as if more nobly... And obviously, a graphics artist is a person who pursues this art...
Artistic graphics and its perception – methods, techniques- has undergone a revolution over the last 100 years but its structure has actually not changed. From the very beginning, its most important determinent (as in Rembrant) was ‘duplication’. The first ‘revolution’ happened at the beginning of the 20th century when the concept of a poster came into life. It provoked numerous debates concerning the bounds of utylity. The second ‘revolution’ was connected with the appereance of photography techniques joined with handicraft elements (it concerned photography as an art and its techniques which could be replicated indeed). The third one was a pop art-conceptual revolution, when the traditional graphics, carried out as outwork in the background of the workers’ ritual, was subjected to the element of screen printing and offset techniques (also known as typically utilitarian duplications). The last turning point – the emergence of digital techniques, was the reason of seemingly depreciation and trivialization of the term ‘graphics’.
Meanwhile, it turned out that like painting and graphics did not destroy drawing, photography- painting, film – photography, so digital technique would not destroy television or neither of the previously mentioned fields. On the contrary, it would broaden their domains. Nowadays, when we follow international presentations like Directory of Print or Icon Data organised by the International Society of Graphics Artists (Cracow), the answer to the question about the identity of graphics seems obvious.
First of all, at the beginning of the 21st century graphics artists returned to the virtue of handicraft skill. By using computers and imitating the dry needle or wood engraving they do it in a way so as to reveal the beauty of the technique but conceal its secrets. (Besides, this is what made artistic graphics magical for ages, painting was asif less ‘concealed’) Secondly, in spite of certain national conventions, graphics, as opposed to painting, has undergone visual globalisation. You can see seemingly very ‘Japanese’ works in Poland or typically ‘American’ motives and illustrations in Lithuania. However, there is something which makes Polish graphics, which had its international boom as far as publicity is concerned in the 70s, distinguishable throughout the world – a big dose of symbolism and visual metaphors which are characteristic not only for our contemporary painting but also in multimedia techniques. This can be observed in those big ‘posterlike’ works of Agnieszka Cieslinska – Kawecka who uses strong stain of colour. Her works are made traditionally in etching, mezzotint and dry needle. The same thing can be observed in subdued, monochromatic big-format digital works by Adam Romaniuk (‘Deposits’) who ‘imitates’ traditional techniques or in Krzysztof Szymanowicz’s works which cultivate the tradition of 70s and 80s and connect metaphisics and everyday props. Alicja Snoch-Pawlowska, also using digital print, refers to specific features that are characteristic to both linecut and metal techniques while presenting variations of ornamental designs of the cross and the triangle, including an element of realistic human face at the same time. Many Polish graphics artists’ identity demonstrates itself in a variety and abundance of motives, both in the whole mainstream and in specific authors who are not tightly attached to one technique and one way of illustrating throughout their whole work.
This can be proved by looking at Andrzej Kalina’s works (diversified as far as colour and motives are concerned) ,Stanislaw Baldyga (romantically perfect linecuts), Malgorzata Baldyga – Nowakowska ( happy decorative computer printouts) or Piotr Lech and his seemingly happy but anxious in their texture’s thicket works. There are some authors who consequently deal with the previously chosen subject matter of iconography: Grzegorz Banaszkiewicz referring to photographically presented motives of the urban pavement’s planetarium, Zbigniew Lutomski and his amorphous, half-organic, half-abstract organisms, Ryszard Otreba with his symmetric universe, Piotr Szubek consequently entrusting the expression of monochromatic self-portrait or Barbara Sosnowska-Baldyga who purifies computer-cosmic 3D filmson digital print- outs.
In his concealing their nature linecuts, Grzegorz Dobieslaw Mazurek demonstrates monochromatic wide gallery of faces coming out of the shadow. I think that some artists trust self-interestedly the spontanous gesture . Andrzej Dworakowski (spacial forms), Artur Popek (faithful to mezzotints, etching and litography’s tradition) and the ‘drawing’ Jacek szewczyk could be gives as examples here. Jan Pamula is loyal to geometrical abstraction where autonomic universe is created by the combination of perpendicular and parellel lines. Magdalena Bak is rather into characteristic for America and Japan tendency of pop - art texture. However, she adds our native spirit. Similarly in a sense could be viewed works by Miroslaw Pawlowski, Grzegorz Handerek (close to me by showing me the beauty of walls and industrial buildings) or Wojciech Muller (experimenting with photographic material, famous for his templates and patterns) and last but not least Waldemar Wegrzyn (immortalising insects, probably n a way they see themselves).
Slawomir Plewko uses graphics artistically, allegedly in an instrumental way, by including it as a material in a wide scope of other actions. Zbigniew Liwak creates peculiar diary cards, a poetic record of the moment and entitles them ‘Little Consumption Graphics’, and Henryk Ozóg produces, close to many figurative streams of Polish painting, full of irony but friendly to their protagonists classical novels. Tomasz Kukawski entrusts logotype’s logic and consequence and Andrzej Labuz- primary painting’s stain’s esthetics under some graphics treatment. He also deals with unconventional, intuitive composition, so his works are in a sense the archetype fo graphics in general. Surrealism is rare in Polish graphics. If it appeares however, the context is always a bit ironic, which we can observe in Maksymillian Snoch’s work. Andrzej Weclawski, similarly to Andrzej Labuz, entrusts the crafted composition- spontanously abstract and monochromatic in that case (colour reduction is a kind of a standard for the Polish graphics). To finish with, I should mention the concept of syntetic graphics – objects created by the representatives of Polish ‘book art’ Elzbieta Banecka together with Franciszek Ferenc (who continues the Polish tradition of chiaroscuro-metaphisical aspect). And what is graphics’ identity? It’s no longer a kinship with techniques but rather an affinity with artistic existance...
Jacek Kasprzycki
Artistic graphics and its perception – methods, techniques- has undergone a revolution over the last 100 years but its structure has actually not changed. From the very beginning, its most important determinent (as in Rembrant) was ‘duplication’. The first ‘revolution’ happened at the beginning of the 20th century when the concept of a poster came into life. It provoked numerous debates concerning the bounds of utylity. The second ‘revolution’ was connected with the appereance of photography techniques joined with handicraft elements (it concerned photography as an art and its techniques which could be replicated indeed). The third one was a pop art-conceptual revolution, when the traditional graphics, carried out as outwork in the background of the workers’ ritual, was subjected to the element of screen printing and offset techniques (also known as typically utilitarian duplications). The last turning point – the emergence of digital techniques, was the reason of seemingly depreciation and trivialization of the term ‘graphics’.
Meanwhile, it turned out that like painting and graphics did not destroy drawing, photography- painting, film – photography, so digital technique would not destroy television or neither of the previously mentioned fields. On the contrary, it would broaden their domains. Nowadays, when we follow international presentations like Directory of Print or Icon Data organised by the International Society of Graphics Artists (Cracow), the answer to the question about the identity of graphics seems obvious.
First of all, at the beginning of the 21st century graphics artists returned to the virtue of handicraft skill. By using computers and imitating the dry needle or wood engraving they do it in a way so as to reveal the beauty of the technique but conceal its secrets. (Besides, this is what made artistic graphics magical for ages, painting was asif less ‘concealed’) Secondly, in spite of certain national conventions, graphics, as opposed to painting, has undergone visual globalisation. You can see seemingly very ‘Japanese’ works in Poland or typically ‘American’ motives and illustrations in Lithuania. However, there is something which makes Polish graphics, which had its international boom as far as publicity is concerned in the 70s, distinguishable throughout the world – a big dose of symbolism and visual metaphors which are characteristic not only for our contemporary painting but also in multimedia techniques. This can be observed in those big ‘posterlike’ works of Agnieszka Cieslinska – Kawecka who uses strong stain of colour. Her works are made traditionally in etching, mezzotint and dry needle. The same thing can be observed in subdued, monochromatic big-format digital works by Adam Romaniuk (‘Deposits’) who ‘imitates’ traditional techniques or in Krzysztof Szymanowicz’s works which cultivate the tradition of 70s and 80s and connect metaphisics and everyday props. Alicja Snoch-Pawlowska, also using digital print, refers to specific features that are characteristic to both linecut and metal techniques while presenting variations of ornamental designs of the cross and the triangle, including an element of realistic human face at the same time. Many Polish graphics artists’ identity demonstrates itself in a variety and abundance of motives, both in the whole mainstream and in specific authors who are not tightly attached to one technique and one way of illustrating throughout their whole work.
This can be proved by looking at Andrzej Kalina’s works (diversified as far as colour and motives are concerned) ,Stanislaw Baldyga (romantically perfect linecuts), Malgorzata Baldyga – Nowakowska ( happy decorative computer printouts) or Piotr Lech and his seemingly happy but anxious in their texture’s thicket works. There are some authors who consequently deal with the previously chosen subject matter of iconography: Grzegorz Banaszkiewicz referring to photographically presented motives of the urban pavement’s planetarium, Zbigniew Lutomski and his amorphous, half-organic, half-abstract organisms, Ryszard Otreba with his symmetric universe, Piotr Szubek consequently entrusting the expression of monochromatic self-portrait or Barbara Sosnowska-Baldyga who purifies computer-cosmic 3D filmson digital print- outs.
In his concealing their nature linecuts, Grzegorz Dobieslaw Mazurek demonstrates monochromatic wide gallery of faces coming out of the shadow. I think that some artists trust self-interestedly the spontanous gesture . Andrzej Dworakowski (spacial forms), Artur Popek (faithful to mezzotints, etching and litography’s tradition) and the ‘drawing’ Jacek szewczyk could be gives as examples here. Jan Pamula is loyal to geometrical abstraction where autonomic universe is created by the combination of perpendicular and parellel lines. Magdalena Bak is rather into characteristic for America and Japan tendency of pop - art texture. However, she adds our native spirit. Similarly in a sense could be viewed works by Miroslaw Pawlowski, Grzegorz Handerek (close to me by showing me the beauty of walls and industrial buildings) or Wojciech Muller (experimenting with photographic material, famous for his templates and patterns) and last but not least Waldemar Wegrzyn (immortalising insects, probably n a way they see themselves).
Slawomir Plewko uses graphics artistically, allegedly in an instrumental way, by including it as a material in a wide scope of other actions. Zbigniew Liwak creates peculiar diary cards, a poetic record of the moment and entitles them ‘Little Consumption Graphics’, and Henryk Ozóg produces, close to many figurative streams of Polish painting, full of irony but friendly to their protagonists classical novels. Tomasz Kukawski entrusts logotype’s logic and consequence and Andrzej Labuz- primary painting’s stain’s esthetics under some graphics treatment. He also deals with unconventional, intuitive composition, so his works are in a sense the archetype fo graphics in general. Surrealism is rare in Polish graphics. If it appeares however, the context is always a bit ironic, which we can observe in Maksymillian Snoch’s work. Andrzej Weclawski, similarly to Andrzej Labuz, entrusts the crafted composition- spontanously abstract and monochromatic in that case (colour reduction is a kind of a standard for the Polish graphics). To finish with, I should mention the concept of syntetic graphics – objects created by the representatives of Polish ‘book art’ Elzbieta Banecka together with Franciszek Ferenc (who continues the Polish tradition of chiaroscuro-metaphisical aspect). And what is graphics’ identity? It’s no longer a kinship with techniques but rather an affinity with artistic existance...
Jacek Kasprzycki
For more information about this exhibition, email: editor@artbahrain.org