Exhibition of works in Lipnik

In February, the Community Culture Centre and Centre for Education in Lipnik organized authors from Leszczków for an individual and a retrospective exhibition of an individual’s work. The exhibit started on Saturday February 18th. Crowds of people surrounded a huge wooden sculpture in front of the Centre of Education in Lipnik. The sculpture showed prince Mieszko I and the King of Czech with eagle and game. The form of the lords was majestic and dignified. On the corridor by the stairs were lavish pictures, mainly portraits. At 4 p.m. a private viewing started. Vernissage was opened and led by director of the Commute Culture Center – Sebastian Szymański. Next a member of the Lipnik community – Józef Bulira – gave a speech. He emphasized the advantages and talent of Zygmunt Niewiadomski and his function in society and cultured life in the region. He also discussed the author’s exposition work and reviewed typical dissertation for his work. Later there was a presentation of a poetic book “Moja ojczyzna” (“My homeland”) written by Niewiadomski and redacted by Myjakpress, a publisher from Sandomierz. The author’s pictures adorn the poems. An editor and a writter, Józef Myjak, talked about Niewiadomski’s poetry. Karina Wywiał also spoke. Afterward, Zygmunt Niewiadomski, the hero of the evening, talked abouth conveying emotions creatively. He announced that in the near future he would open a Garden Gallery in his mansion in Leszczków. Artist Beata Dzik created a portrait of Niewiadomski which she gave to him. After the official part of a vernissage the director Szymański showed music gave a musical surprise as Słabuszewice accompanied him on a saxophone. The exhibition also featured a catalog created by Community Culture. Many visitors came from the culture world from artists to directors of cultural estabilishments such as: Marian Sus from Culture Center in Ożarów, Elżbieta Baran from Urban Culture Center in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, Patrucja Sus-Lutyńska from Urban-Community Culture Center in Zawichost, an artist sculptor Gustaw Hadyna, a chairman of district council – Stanisław Mazur and many others.

Zygmunt Niewiadomski’s exhibition is an exposition which is full of quality works, references to diversity, technicality and various sizes and materials. In the wooden sculpture are different sized figures and figurine’s people at work and figures of knights and kings. People see a tiny wooden sculpture of a horse pulling a trunk. It shows the horse’s great efforts. Its motion is harmonized with the driver’s motion and efforts, who is going beside the horse. The slightly raised trunk line gives the impression of motion. This impression makes the horse’s motion seem convincing. Small singing figures portray other aesthetics, made-up in black and white colours. Full of expression of shapes they seem to sing with open mouths, in a sympathetic, cartoonish humour. John Paul II is growing upbound as if from the earth onto a big wooden relief. The author’s oil-based self-portraits have similar character. Two canvases with parents’ portraits are the most beautiful in the exhibition. The pictures are made very professionally. The people on the landscape’s background have good scheduled space. Their faces are work-worn and show the concerns of life. This imagery suggest America’s realistic portrait art from the inter-war period. This is similar to the struggle for Polish independence and emerges from Ziemia Sandomierska (Sandomierz ground) as the general officer Stanisław Grzmot Skotnicki, colonel Belina Prażmowski or Zdzisław Jabłoński from Usarzów. Pictures crowd character of this format, as do sculptures – including knights and kings. We can see an artist’s patriotism in the landscape’s subject area, which shows the Small Homeland’s views (author’s hometown). Also shown are various natural landmarks and monuments: Nikisiałka, Włostów, Międzygórz, Ujazd and Karwów. The artist strives to show not only similarity but motive. He wants to picture sunlight; for example on the ground and leaves, building an atmosphere, a tonal contrast and even colour. During painting (e.g. mansion in Nikisiałce) the author shows it exotically like folk artists. The monument is presented bright and crystalline clean in fabulous vibe. It sets deeply into space create a nostalgic climate, a longing for something outlying. Trees in the foreground look like exotic flowers. The best landscapes on the exhibition include: green corners, a small canvas with tree whose leaf collapses and big grove with little trees over the stream. The last one was decorated traditionally. The horse’s image which hung next to the landscape looks very similar. In the same room–second exhibition hall–are canvases with fantasy figures from the science fiction literary genre. One scene shows a rider as a hunter with a falcon. He wears a nineteenth-century outfit and is situated against the background of a palace in Włostów. It is named “Włostów’s fantasy” (“Fantazja włostowska”).

In conclusion I want to say it was an extremely successful opening and a valuable and interesting exhibition.

Tomasz Staszewski