The exhibition is the culmination of an artist’s work, sometimes months, sometimes years in the making. It is usually a special time for reflection. This is a unique and significant moment in the creator’s life.
In the past, an exhibition was the primary way to share one’s art with the world. However, now many things have changed. As life has moved online, art has also begun to transform.
Perhaps for some, real-life meetings at vernissages are merely relics of the past. However, I believe they are still important and significant events. After all, it is a time when the artist can meet directly with the audience.
Undoubtedly, the profession of an artist is inextricably linked to public opinion, and it is impossible to escape from it. Not everyone can handle criticism, which is why they often retreat into their own safety zones. It’s understandable, because although an exhibition is a special moment, it can also be stressful for many reasons. One is getting everything ready on time. Proper arrangement of the exhibition space is another. Additionally, there is the moment when dialogue occurs between the artist and the audience, as well as the moment when the viewer encounters the art.
Moreover, no one knows what the opening night will be like or what will come of it. Will the audience arrive in large numbers, or will it be limited to a close circle of friends and family? Or maybe the artist will be alone? It takes inner strength to make this decision and to bear all the difficulties associated with it.
The opening day of an exhibition is primarily a place for meetings but also a great unknown. Each person who attends brings their own energy and contributes to the whole event. The more people, the more diverse energies come together, not to mention the energy of the presented works. All this accumulated energy is expressed in emotions, opinions, comments, impressions, or criticism.
By presenting their works to the public, the artist consciously opens up to this confrontation. Just as an actor needs an audience and a musician needs listeners, an artist needs viewers. These are dependencies that cannot be changed.
The present times are changing so rapidly that it is impossible to know what the near future will bring. The very development of the Internet, especially social media, has created a virtual world that intertwines with real life. This technological advancement has opened up many different opportunities, including for artists.
Despite this, exhibitions, concerts, and performances are still very popular. This is primarily because they provide the audience with the opportunity for direct, almost physical interaction with art, as well as with the artist themselves. Technology cannot replace the real, live contact with art, especially the contact with another person.
However, it is worth revisiting good memories. Therefore, with this post, I invite you to take a journey back in time to July 10, 2023, when the opening of my first exhibition took place in Kielce. In the city where I was born and where my family lives.
Life is like a journey. In some places, we stay only for a moment, in others, we fall in love instantly, some we pass by quickly, in others, we put down roots, and some become an inspiration for something new. There are places we don’t want to return to and those we head towards unknowingly.
Life is like a journey from which we draw lessons we want to learn. It is up to us to determine what is important and what is not. We have the power to choose.
Everything is constantly changing. The beginning instinctively strives for realization, for becoming, for completion. But sometimes it also seeks suspension, waiting, for the right moment.
So there are different stages. For some, a mere thought and a moment for materialization are enough. Others need more time, experience, specific space, or a particular point in time. Everything, however, strives toward its own goal of realization.
The same applies to my works presented in the exhibition. Mainly, they are series. Only the artist’s book ABOUT A WOMAN is a single copy, but it is still a collection of poems. It is a project in which I personally prepared the “pages” from fabric, printed them, and embroidered them with my own hair.
Projects like: LETTERS, ABOUT A MOUNTAIN, ABOUT HOME, GLASS MANDALAS are open projects to which I return whenever I feel the need. I leave them space. I don’t have to finish them definitively. Not yet. They are in progress, just like I am.
It was a wonderful opening. From the bottom of my heart, I thank everyone for coming that day, as well as in the days following the exhibition. Thank you for your presence. Thank you for all the beautiful words you shared with me. Having such guests is an honor. I am immensely grateful for this time, for the opportunity to hold the exhibition in such a wonderful place, and for meeting such exceptional people. And especially, I thank those without whom this exhibition would not have happened. You know who you are…
