New toys of a dirty boy – Eric Fischl

A gifted boy with dirty imagination is back.
Eric Fischl (b. 1948, NY) has apparently abandoned his flamboyant yuppies and bad boys lost in their hedonistic activities on daddies’ yachts and in flashy apartments. Or rather – he grew up with them, since the new characters of his painted stories are middle- aged couples, lost again, [...]

“First step…” – Western Contemporary Art in Poland

Phillip Taaffe, Artificial Paradise (Loculus), detail,  2008, oil on linen

Miquel Barcelo, Des Meduses, detail, 2000, mixed media on canvas

Eric Fischl, The Bed. The Chair. Touched, detail, 2001, oil on canvas

Andreas Slominski, Untitled, 1993-94, bike/plastic bags
Well, this exhibition may serve perfectly those who know, how the bipolar disposition works.
One moment – one is proud and full [...]

Contemporary Art (6) – Jakub Julian Ziolkowski

Untitled , 2007,  oil on canvas,  15.75″ x 12.5″

The Great Battle Under the Table, 2006
Oil on canvas
190 x 165 cm / 74 3/4 x 65 in

The Garden, 2008
Oil on canvas
105 x 82 cm / 41 3/8 x 32 1/4 in
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Jakub Julian Ziolkowski (b. 1980) – Polish painter, lives and works in Krakow, Poland.
Well, there [...]

Polish Theatre gets the clapping!

I just couldn’t miss this great opportunity to dive in the memories of my family town – Krakow (‘Cracow’ as it is misspelled sometimes).
The annual,  intensely energetic festival of theatrical performances – the “Divine Comedy” hosted by Krakow’s stages has made the arts news in the Irish leading newspaper. In the recent edition of the [...]

The Art of Winning

And now, again, for something completely different – yet, curiously similar to the whole endeavor of making, dealing with art:
Sunday 08 June 2008 – Robert Kubica takes his maiden win in the GP race
in Formula 1 car on a tor in Montreal.
Have been his warm admirer right from the first day he entered the [...]

“That Youth of Ours”…

Legendary Polish cabaret “Piwnica Pod Baranami” (“The Cellar under Rams”) has his stage underground indeed – just under ‘the rams’ – under the very dignified part of Krakow’s main square. It used to be a truly magic place, in a cellar, lit by candles with an ‘extravagant’, improvised scene (that meant all sort of [...]

Blame me, if you have never been melancholic…

Yes, do blame me… If only words and expressions like ‘blue is my favourite colour’, ‘hey, all of you, just leave me alone (and I mean it)’, ‘every word is like an unnecessary stain on silence (Beckett)’ etc. – do not ring any bell, and never did – it’s OK… Just leave now and enjoy [...]

Marek Grechuta – Kantata

This is one of these almost-impossible-to-translate poems, when all the charm and even meaning of the text is being jeopardised by an attempt to find the proper expressions in a different language. And a translator (doomed to clumsiness and frustration) has to choose between being literally ‘loyal’ to the original (which will result in a [...]

Few words on poetry…

I just couldn’t help myself with that… I had to share my amazement with you… Quite recently I’ve came across Damien’s Rice ‘9 Crimes’ hugely popular song, which – being nicely performed with some sublime moments (especially the original video does have a visual impact) – is nothing more than one more piece about love. [...]

View from 8/3

This is a short story I wrote few years ago (in Polish) reflecting on human condition. My characters are, partially, genuine people I met. Thinking about them I’ve got a panorama of an average post-communist Polish city – the concrete desert with humans functioning like in the Play-station reality invented by a sadistic, imagination-unspoiled [...]