In Praise of Chaos

Stanisław Ruksza talks about the legendary artist Andrzej Urbanowicz and presents a recently published catalogue complementing the exhibition Children of the Light.

A lecture on Andrzej Urbanowicz and his creative work set against contemporary Polish art, and a presentation of the newly released catalogue of the 10th Curated Exhibition of Bielska Jesień 2018 “Children of the Light” (Galeria Bielska BWA, November - December 2018). Stanisław Ruksza is both the curator of the exhibition, which shows the relationship between contemporary Polish painting and the art of Andrzej Urbanowicz, and the editor of the catalogue.

The graphic side of the catalogue was designed by Patrycja Orzechowska, one of the artists participating in the exhibition "Children of the Light", and the author of the visual identification of the exhibition. The publication contains a couple of introductory texts describing the idea behind the curated exhibitions of Bielska Jesień and providing justification for the choice of the artist  of the jubilee exhibition: Why Urbanowicz by Agata Smalcerz, and Children of the Light by Stanisław Ruksza. In his essay entitled Andrzej Urbanowicz and the psychedelic underground in Katowice, Stanisław Ruksza describes the life and work of the legendary artist (1930–2011), including both his activity in Polish Silesia and the several years he spent in the USA. Urbanowicz was a member of the Polish underground community during the communist period, when he co-founded of the legendary Oneiron Group, also known as the League of Spiritual Discernment (or LSD). The famous attic studio at ul. Piastowska 1 in Katowice, which the artist ran with his wife, the painter Urszula Broll, was an informal hub of artistic life for intellectuals from Silesia.

We learn more about the famous painter from an Jakub Gawkowski's interview with Małgorzata Borowska, Urbanowicz's wife, co-authpr and curator of numerous artistic projects which have been held in the studio since 2005 (Urbanowicz - art, magic, psychedelia).

Complementing the critical texts are thirteen essays in which the artists who presented their work at the exhibition describe their art and sources of inspiraton they have found in the creative activity of Andrzej Urbanowicz. They share their reflections on the philosophy of creation, and on the connections between art and human existence.

This generously illustrated 144-page catalogue (with essays and captions in both Polish and English) contains photographs of the exhibition by Krzysztof Morcinek, reproductions of works by the artists, including fragments of the unique collage by Andrzej Urbanowicz The Inexhaustible Divinity of Chaos  (courtesy of the Oneiron Foundation) and photographs by Patrycja Orzechowska of the attic studio at ul. Piastowska 1.

The catalogue was published by Galeria Bielska BWA (2018). Print run 500 copies


Note!
Each participant of the Stanisław Ruksza's lecture which is scheduled for Friday will receive a free copy of the catalogue.

Stanisław Ruksza – exhibition curator, art historian, songwriter, lecturer. Since 2017, the director of TRAFO Trafostacja Sztuki in Szczecin. In 2008-2017, the programme director of the Contemporary Art Centre Kronika in Bytom. He studied art history at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. Currently, he is a lecturer at the Academy of Arts in Szczecin and a guest lecturer at the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice. A one-time assistant of Andrzej Urbanowicz in the attic studio at ul. Piastowska 1 in Katowice, Stanisław Ruksza has researched the artistic underground in Silesia for many years.


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