Iza Staręga – Parallely

Wernisaż:

January 20th 2017, 6 p.m. - 9 p.m.

Data rozpoczęcia: 21.01.2017

Data zakończenia: 03.02.2017

Patroni i Partnerzy:

O wystawie:

Two ways of colour

Absolutely abstract thinking, despite being inspired by elements drawn from reality, set in a conceptual background devoid of detail often leaves a surreal impression. To decipher it is an individual adventure for every viewer and the author not naming her works doesn't make it any easier. Thus constructed paintings are accompanied by numerous portraits that have for years been enclosed in a single series entitled “Women in Kerchiefs, Men in Helmets”. Single pieces, also lacking titles. Again, we are left alone, facing a gallery of visages with strong features and piercing gazes. Iza Staręga develops these two varieties of painting simultaneously, hence the name of the exhibition.

The author developed her own technique of creating the works many years ago. She combines oil paints with special bases and plasters, obtaining a thick layer of painting, sometimes even impasto, with a matte surface and a subtle powdery texture. This hallmark makes it hard to mistake her paintings for the work of other artists. But her authorship is unmistakable anyway, as Staręga's style is absolutely distinct. However, admirers of her portraits, the better known side of her work, might still be somewhat surprised by her abstract compositions.

The world of the people portrayed by the artist is far from reality. The portraits are conceptual and imaginative and, consequently, antiqued. Toned down colours, sometimes contrasted by a decorative headpiece. Faces neither pretty nor young. The point is not to adulate the beauty of the model or the beauty of the world. The portrayals imaged by Iza Staręga are timeless and although we might often feel that they emanate sorrow, or at the very least great concern and solemnity, they still entice us. We establish an unparalleled connection with them. This phenomenon is no accident. In fact, the artist uses the visages to portray a special kind of contemplative spirituality, the reflection that is so much needed in this world of hurry and surplus. Her protagonists impersonate the state of continuous meditation, prayer or mantra.

Iza Staręga's abstract compositions entice us first and foremost with their delicate tonality and the disparity between the elaborate ornamental motifs and the empty and silent spaces. Upon closer inspection we can recognise the natural sources of all the portrayed elements, although they may vary in colour and they are certainly embedded in the space of the image differently than we would expect of their real-world counterparts. These both geometrical and organic structures knock us out from our everyday visual habits and they amaze us with their sophistication, simultaneously seducing us with the intensity of their counterpoints. Their secret is that somewhere within the depths of our imagination we all associate every element used by the author with something, albeit failing to fully grasp and name the relation. This feeling is both mercilessly vexing and pleasing, a combination that denies us any notion of detachment from these couplings and concepts.

Regardless of the aspect in question, Iza Staręga's painting is above all a story of colour. Delicate harmonies of tones revealing the author's exquisite sensibility to this domain of painting are a testimony to her virtuosity. That is just the first and by far not the only reason to take notice of her works.

Agnieszka Gniotek

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