OPEN SPACE

Jerzy Jędrysiak is a strange artist. He is a painter who has given up colour. He has left himself only black and white. Or, to be more precise, a white background, which he varies with smears of black. One might suspect that this is some form of asceticism or recklessness. But this conjecture is also wrong. For these are not smudges. Every black line in his prints is the result of painstaking, thoughtful work - each has been chiselled into the thankless surface of ordinary linoleum and then imprinted on white paper. And these lines are plentiful. Some are thick and brutal, others thin and delicate like spider thread. From their combination, neighbouring and intertwining, the images that emerge are actually complex stories about the world. Almost colourful.

 

Jędysiak's friends say that in private he is a talented storyteller. A careful observer of his graphics will understand this very well. For the black and white surfaces he creates are storytelling, plots, stories. There are so many layers and details in them - sometimes surprising and incomprehensible - that they can be read like books. For a long time, with thought, pondering their meanings. Someone wrote that a magnifying glass can come in handy when looking at them. That's right. Because they are not flat, two-dimensional. They have a depth that draws the observer in and invites us to participate in these stories - to interpret them, to add our own associations and to be surprised by them. And also - because, after all, this is what art is all about - to have a conversation with their author.

Krzysztof Środa