Mikołaj Szpaczyński
Mikołaj Szpaczyński
Mikołaj Szpaczyński’s activities are always connected with landscape art. His pictures painted several years ago and the films he makes now have a lot in common. They are almost always set in the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland, close to where the artist lives.
In place of the expected dynamics, Mikołaj’s films introduce a slow, leisurely pace and often focus the viewer’s attention on the act of moving in space. The climax of the story comes without a bang or artificially created tension.
Paradoxically, Mikołaj Szpaczyński seems to aim at the non-human perspective even when the camera focuses on the main protagonist. This impression comes from the sense of peace and quiet exuded by nature in relation to humans. In this contact, Mikołaj is always unarmed, bereft of new gadgets or protective equipment. The calmness of the environment seems to provoke him to take risks which prove to be harmless but at the same time leave him without any sense of victory. Another frequent, recurrent motif is the protagonist’s leap, yielding to gravitation, to nature.
These simple (in a good sense) film stories are open to interpretation but closed to emotions connected with loftiness or exaltation. They may serve as reminders of the right proportions in the man-nature relationship which have been reversed; they may be interpreted as praise for voluntary restraint and locality, human and interspecies friendship developing in the real world. Szpaczyński’s work is yet another very interesting voice of a young artist for whom the interactivity of nature provides more inspiration and source of experience than the virtual world.
Dominika Kowynia
Education
- 2017 Akademia Sztuk Pięknych w Katowicach, Wydział Malarstwa
Individual Exhibitions
- 2015 Wszystkie drogi wychodzą bokiem, rondo sztuki, Katowice
- 2017 Uziemienie, Galeria Szara, Katowice
- 2019 Na końcu spojrzenia (z Izabelą Łęską), Miejsce projektów Zachęty, Warszawa
- 2019 Bez ustanku, Trafostacja sztuki, Szczecin
Collective Exhibitions
- 2015 Mocne stąpanie po ziemi, BWA Katowice
- 2016 Widmo, BWA Katowice
- 2018 Serce Wyspy, BWA Olsztyn
- 2018 Ziemia w słońcu, Galeria Widna, Kraków
- 2019 Cień wolności, BWA Bydgoszcz
Mikołaj Szpaczyński’s activities are always connected with landscape art. His pictures painted several years ago and the films he makes now have a lot in common. They are almost always set in the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland, close to where the artist lives.
In place of the expected dynamics, Mikołaj’s films introduce a slow, leisurely pace and often focus the viewer’s attention on the act of moving in space. The climax of the story comes without a bang or artificially created tension.
Paradoxically, Mikołaj Szpaczyński seems to aim at the non-human perspective even when the camera focuses on the main protagonist. This impression comes from the sense of peace and quiet exuded by nature in relation to humans. In this contact, Mikołaj is always unarmed, bereft of new gadgets or protective equipment. The calmness of the environment seems to provoke him to take risks which prove to be harmless but at the same time leave him without any sense of victory. Another frequent, recurrent motif is the protagonist’s leap, yielding to gravitation, to nature.
These simple (in a good sense) film stories are open to interpretation but closed to emotions connected with loftiness or exaltation. They may serve as reminders of the right proportions in the man-nature relationship which have been reversed; they may be interpreted as praise for voluntary restraint and locality, human and interspecies friendship developing in the real world. Szpaczyński’s work is yet another very interesting voice of a young artist for whom the interactivity of nature provides more inspiration and source of experience than the virtual world.
Dominika Kowynia
Education
- 2017 Akademia Sztuk Pięknych w Katowicach, Wydział Malarstwa
Individual Exhibitions
- 2015 Wszystkie drogi wychodzą bokiem, rondo sztuki, Katowice
- 2017 Uziemienie, Galeria Szara, Katowice
- 2019 Na końcu spojrzenia (z Izabelą Łęską), Miejsce projektów Zachęty, Warszawa
- 2019 Bez ustanku, Trafostacja sztuki, Szczecin
Collective Exhibitions
- 2015 Mocne stąpanie po ziemi, BWA Katowice
- 2016 Widmo, BWA Katowice
- 2018 Serce Wyspy, BWA Olsztyn
- 2018 Ziemia w słońcu, Galeria Widna, Kraków
- 2019 Cień wolności, BWA Bydgoszcz