Justyna Adamczyk : New Works at EC Gallery
by jeffery mcnary
“I don’t want to communicate directly with the thoughts of people seeing my art. I’d like to provide a road show which allows for personal reflection”, notes Justyna Adamczyk. Her current exhibition, New Paintings at the EC Gallery is a challenging row toward that ambition.
“In my work, for many years, I have tried many media, but over time I realized that I speak sincerely in the media which is painting. Painting gives me the opportunity to comment on my subjective reality. The work connected with the fatigue of everyday life, trivial but inevitable problems.” Theoretically, at least, she holds that in a highly structured world, there is need to experience spiritual growth. “Painting is my valve, which allows escape and turns them into tame pictures.”
“Cannibal”, acrylic on linen, as in her other pieces,appears spontaneous, with the artist being there, not just copying it. Here her pinks and orange are staggering, as if a silhouette’s hair has been set ablaze. The untreated, grayish brown linen hands the paint over to the viewer. It’s a new romanticism.
Determinately, her shades and stain on the fabric, the pastel rose, browns, yellows of varying tones, read aloud from the cloth, as if having been about for ages. It could be dry blood. It could be cancerous blobs. “I have always been attracted to the works of artists who pass themselves and their subjective view of punk”, she says.
One questions, has the artist returned to adolescence in, “Range of Flavors”, acrylic on linen. Not stating its inspiration directly, rather it plays with color, with shapes, and sometimes brushes about aesthetic presence with thorny figures, rained upon by Jungian dreams and complexes in the form of a lab experiment run wild upon the work. There is a special, different kind of authenticity in this experience.
In these images the viewer finds autonomy and color associations, visions and insinuations. Some appear soiled, and wander off, but hardly into the mundane. There cycles are short, but in there shortness form narratives.
Adamczyk touts Frida, Mark Ryden, Matthew Barney, and Kim Sooja as influences on her work. “These are characters from whom I have learned a lot. They are completely different, in views of reality”, she says. “In addition to this they differ personally and intimately. An important issue for me is the impact on the viewer. I’m looking for language that allows the viewer to feel my idea.”
It is difficult to find excess in the paintings. They’re almost involuntary. Adamczyk’s provocation is at the heart of artistic exhibitionism. “Any idea seems to be perfect when I got it in my mind or on a sketch”, she says, “but the battle begins at the time of transfer…the move to the real picture. I try to be as close as possible to what arises from the first thought or impression.” That, she maintains, is the impulse to the creation of the image.
With her, works are created and driven by a very personal inspiration. They are offerings…to us…and to what remains in each of us individually. This should be appreciated.
The artist’s works has been exhibited in a host of venues including Biennale of Painting “Bielska Jesien 2009, Poland; 9 Contest Gepperta, BWA Awangarda Wrocław, Poland; Joung polisch Painters I-XII, Bestregarts Gallery – Frankfurt am Main, Germany; 30 Premio Internacional de Pintura de Caja de Extremadura; More or Less, Musemu da Ciencia e da Industria – Porto, Portugal and Aula de Cultura de Plasencia. She received her MFA from the The Academy of Fine Arts in Poland, Wroclaw in 2007. This is her first U.S. exhibition.
Justyna Adamczyk : New Works will be on display at EC Gallery from January 15th to February 13th. EC Gallery is located at 215 North Aberdeen Street Chicago, IL 60607.
