"Gesture Strategies" – a new exhibition in the Level 4 Gallery.

NEWS | 27-07-2021

We are happy to invite you to the Level 4 Gallery on Wednesday, August 4th at 7 pm.
The exhibition, the first after a very long break, will present the paintings by Małgorzata Szymankiewicz and Paweł Book, the artists associated with the Academy of Arts in Szczecin.

The word "gesture" comes from Latin and means both the movement of the body that accompanies speech and the action itself. In the Middle Ages, which was based on the culture of gesture, the anthropological opposition of order and chaos was willingly emphasised, opposing "gestus" (predictable movement, harmonious movement) and "gesticulatio" (expression leading to collision, confrontation).

Gesture has always been a full-fledged act of communication. Its nature "is a semantic movement that is both an image and a process (action). It is semantic and performative, using privileged vision as a cognitive tool" (Aneta Załazińska). It breaks the dichotomy of words and images, metonimically captures an important, special part of a complex concept.

Prof. Kamil Kuskowski, curator of the exhibition, "Gesture Strategies", outlines the fields of dramatic tension/tension, from the beginning of the concept:
"The juxtapositions in one exhibition of two such different attitudes as represent Szymankiewicz's work and books provide an excuse to reflect on the essence of a creative act based on a gesture strategy. [...] On the one hand, portraits of Paweł Książek, stopped in ecstasy, on the other, refined compositionally abstractions by Małgorzata Szymankiewicz. In both cases, what is endearing is contained in the strength of the painting gesture, understood as the sum of the processes finalizing in the work."

Małgorzata Szymankiewicz once said in an interview with Magda Roszkowska: "From painting we expect it to "tell us something", but it does not say anything at all, but merely suggests. [...] Meanings are built up through different ways of contextualizing and the analysis which we should take as the recipients.".

Paweł Książek when asked about his art, said: "I usually focus on composition, form. I wonder if this form, the convention is appropriate.
However, the color is intuitive, I don't think about it at all. And maybe the fact that I trust intuition is beneficial for these images. Cold – hot statements are due to the fact that I can not be consistent. But if something is erratic, then there is a chance that it is unique. [...] My paintings are inconsistent, just as I am."

The exhibition was created in cooperation with the Academy of Arts in Szczecin and the Trafostacja of Art in Szczecin.

The Level 4 Gallery is open on selected days of the week and during the concerts and events organized by the Philharmonic Orchestra. In this way, it complements the evenings that music artists spend in the Philharmonic, giving them the opportunity to meet not only music.
For the first week since the opening of the vernissage, visiting the exhibition is free. Please note that the number of entrance tickets is limited. During the tour there is a sanitary regime (masks, keeping the distance and disinfecting hands). The Philharmonic reserves the right to cancel the tour.

The exhibition will be open to the public on the following days and hours: