Andrzej
Szewczyk in the spotlight explore ,, A work of art is a mirror in which the world is reflected
Andrzej Szewczyk More about
the artist

Andrzej Szewczyk’s achivements are sometimes compared to the Orthodox tradition of icon writing and the Russian etymology of the word ‘painting’ – żywopis (Russian: живопись), which refers to painting as a living record of life Katarzyna Piskorz Karol Sienkiewicz

Marta Smolińska
Concepts such as library, icon, copying, book, scripture, list, writing, manuscript, and text have become permanent fixtures in the artistic vocabulary of Andrzej Szewczyk. He was interested in language not only as a tool of communication but as a fundamental source from which everything originates. “ In the beginning was the word.” Szewczyk was sometimes compared to
a mystic and philosopher, fascinated with literature, poerty and various kinds of spirituality, be it Christian, Buddhist, or Far-Eastern.

The Power
of Patterns Paintings created with a paint roller What he did was a mechanical multiplication of pre-existing patterns (for instance, a palm-tree pattern of Picasso-inspired pattern). There was no design in it and no artistic decisions were made. Wiesław Borowski This apparently simple method unveils the same motif, which is the repetition of painting. Wiesław Borowski Marek Meschnik His realizations – mostly from the seventies – recalled the interiors of Silesian apartments, where walls were covered with serial decorative designs that had been made with the use of paint rollers.

The pencil and pistachio texts keyboard_arrow_down Function in design

The works from the Erotics series are united by the material used – pistachio nut shells. Szewczyk painted with pistachios on book covers, ironing boards, cigar boxes or used envelopes. Krzysztof Morcinek

Tadeusz Sławek The nut shell when affixed to a leaf of paper, already occupied by other shells, it acts as a letter which co-makes a text. Thus, it is impossible to separate the function of the husk from that of the “shelter”, “case” which houses the “truth of the fruit” and meaning of the text

Ink applied on paper with a brush and pen – this is classic writing workshop. A scrap of pencil crayon is something more. Jan Trzupek

the alphabet they represent has a universal appeal. He regarded whittled pencils and crayons as a transfiguration of letters that anyone can read, as Anda Rottenberg

The Art of Alignment The Monuments of F. Kafka’s Letters to F. Bauer I started working in the lead in autumn of 1981. It stemmed as if from the emotion of Franz Kafka’s letters to Felicia Bauer. I was to be absolute writing. I was going to make large stele of oak and stuff them with equal rows of lead writing. Sad writing, melancholy writing. Andrzej Szewczyk The compulsiveness, eroticism and corporeality of Kafka’s sentences is “poured” into lead. Marta Smolińska Szewczyk would validate the metal stains with the imprint of a stamp, aware that “print” is precisely “pressure”. Jan Trzupek Andrzej Szewczyk stamped oak boards with molten lead to convey the weight of the words that comprised Franz Kafka’s letters to Felicja Bauer. Anda Rottenberg

The splotches that make up the Alchemical Manuscripts take different shapes. They resemble tongues of fire, puddles, blobs, and are ordered or independent like islands. Andrzej Szewczyk Krzysztof Morcinek The Alchemical Manuscripts These are dozens of emotions in ink on the pages of an old chemical encyclopedia. The black ink on the print, it is as if the words rebelled, the blackness of the words rebelled. This work is alchemical to me.

Szewczyk’s triptychs, titled with the names of successive moths, due to the use of natural materials exude an unusual intimacy and sensuality. “March, April, May”
“June, July, August”  Katarzyna Piskorz Triptychs

While confronting Szewczyk’s ouvres, our subjectivity is called into question as it realizes the material presence of the body and its mortality. The browned stains of blood were tenderly encircled with lines in pencil, as if with rings or islands. Marta Smolińska Marta Smolińska

Footnotes for photos 1. Photo Stanisław Wenglorz Footnotes for quotes 1. Conversations about Art. Jaromir Jedliński talks with Andrzej Szewczyk, [in:] ‘Andrzej Szewczyk.… calamum in mente tinquebat… pióro maczał w umyśle,’ Contemporary Art Gallery BWA in Katowice, Bielska BWA Gallery in Bielsko-Biała, Katowice – Bielsko-Biała 1996, p. 8.
2. K. Piskorz, “Roma Hałat | Andrzej Szewczyk. Repeat | Recall,” Sztuk Dwie Foundation, Warsaw 2023, p. 9.
3. K. Sienkiewicz, „Andrzej Szewczyk” for culture.pl: https://culture.pl/pl/tworca/andrzej-szewczyk
4. M. Smolińska, “Szewczyk(s) in the Simulart Collection: On the Passionate Collecting of the Creative Ouvre of an Artist Who Hated the Term Creative Ouvre,” [in:] “Words Imbued with Experience: Andrzej Szewczyk from the Simulart Collection,” State Art Gallery in Sopot, Sopot 2020. Footnotes for photos 1.Andrzej Szewczyk, Untitled, from the “Painting” series, undated, acrylic/cardboard, 70 x 100 cm, fot. Błażej Pindor Footnotes for quotes 1. M. Meschnik, “He won with a long long looking…”, [in]: “Andrzej Szewczyk 1950-2001: Works from the Polish Contemporary Art Collection of the Upper Silesian Museum,” edited by M. Meschnik, Upper Silesian Museum, Bytom 2007, p. 7.
2. W. Borowski, “To start painting anew”, [in]: “Andrzej Szewczyk 1950-2001: Works from the Polish Contemporary Art Collection of the Upper Silesian Museum,” edited by M. Meschnik, Upper Silesian Museum, Bytom 2007, p. 25.
3. W. Borowski, “To start painting anew”, [in]: “Andrzej Szewczyk 1950-2001: Works from the Polish Contemporary Art Collection of the Upper Silesian Museum,” edited by M. Meschnik, Upper Silesian Museum, Bytom 2007, p. 25. Footnotes for photos 1.Andrzej Szewczyk, „Under the Volcano”, 1995-1996, acrylic, pistachio nut shells/board, 190 x 25 x 4 cm, fot. Marcin Koniak
2. Andrzej Szewczyk, „Erotic”, 1995, wax, pencil shreds/board, 190 x 20 x 5 cm, fot. Marcin Koniak
3. Andrzej Szewczyk, Untitled, 80. XX w., paper, plywood, pencils, 24 x 35 cm, fot. Błażej Pindor
4. Andrzej Szewczyk, Untitled, 1987, paper, pencils, 48 x 53 cm, fot. Błażej Pindo
5. Andrzej Szewczyk, Untitled, undated, paper, pencils, 35 x 24 cm, fot. Błażej Pindor Footnotes for quotes 1. K. Morcinek, “In Search of an Argument,” [in]: “Andrzej Szewczyk: an Artist Is an Argument,” edited by J. Legoń, Bielska BWA Gallery, Bielsko-Biała 2022, p. 164.
2. T. Sławek, „Without. Andrzej Szewczyk’s Pistachio Texts”, [w”Andrzej Szewczyk 1950-2001: Works from the Polish Contemporary Art Collection of the Upper Silesian Museum,” edited by M. Meschnik, Upper Silesian Museum, Bytom 2007, p. 214.
3. J. Trzupek, „A Whole of a Fragment”, [in]: “Andrzej Szewczyk: an Artist Is an Argument,” edited by J. Legoń, Bielska BWA Gallery, Bielsko-Biała 2022, p. 184.
4. A. Rottenberg, Ku czemu wszystko ciąży?, „Atlas Sztuki” nr 87, 2017, p. 7. Footnotes for photos 1. Andrzej Szewczyk, Untitled, from the “Pomniki listów F. Kafki do F. Bauer” series, 1981-1984, lead, wood, 26 x 15 x 5 cm, fot. Błażej Pindor Footnotes for quotes 1. A. Szewczyk, „A propos Pomników listów Franza Kafki do Felicji Bauer”, [in]: „Andrzej Szewczyk. Biblioteka – Bazylika”, Krzysztofory Gallery, Kraków 1989-1990.
2. quote from: K. Sienkiewicz, „Andrzej Szewczyk. Pomnik listu F. Kafki do F. Bauer” for culture.pl: https://culture.pl/pl/dzielo/andrzej-szewczyk-pomnik-listu-f-kafki-do-f-bauer
3. M. Smolińska, “Szewczyk(s) in the Simulart Collection: On the Passionate Collecting of the Creative Ouvre of an Artist Who Hated the Term Creative Ouvre,” [in:] “Words Imbued with Experience: Andrzej Szewczyk from the Simulart Collection,” State Art Gallery in Sopot, Sopot 2020.
4. J. Trzupek, „A Whole of a Fragment”, [in]: “Andrzej Szewczyk: an Artist Is an Argument,” edited by J. Legoń, Bielska BWA Gallery, Bielsko-Biała 2022, p. 184. Footnotes for photos 1, 2, 3. Andrzej Szewczyk, Untitled, from the “Alchemical manuscripts” series, mixed techniques, paper, 26 x 17,5 cm Footnotes for quotes 1. Andrzej Szewczyk’s letter to Wiesław Borowski, 4.10.1983 r., manuscript, the archive of Foksal Gallery. Quote from: K. Morcinek, “In Search of an Argument,” [in]: “Andrzej Szewczyk: an Artist Is an Argument,” edited by J. Legoń, Bielska BWA Gallery, Bielsko-Biała 2022, p. 163.
2. K. Morcinek, “In Search of an Argument,” [in]: “Andrzej Szewczyk: an Artist Is an Argument,” edited by J. Legoń, Bielska BWA Gallery, Bielsko-Biała 2022, p. 163. Footnotes for photos 1. Andrzej Szewczyk, “March, April, May” – triptych, 1995, pencil, blood/paper, 39,6 x 29,6 cm (each), fot. Paweł Bobrowski
2. Andrzej Szewczyk, “June, July, August” – triptych, 1996, pencil, semen, blood/paper, 37 x 27,5 cm (each), fot. Paweł Bobrowski Footnotes for quotes 1. K. Piskorz, “Roma Hałat | Andrzej Szewczyk. Repeat | Recall,” Sztuk Dwie Foundation, Warsaw 2023, p. 15.
2. M. Smolińska, “Szewczyk(s) in the Simulart Collection: On the Passionate Collecting of the Creative Ouvre of an Artist Who Hated the Term Creative Ouvre,” [in:] “Words Imbued with Experience: Andrzej Szewczyk from the Simulart Collection,” State Art Gallery in Sopot, Sopot 2020.
3. M. Smolińska, “Szewczyk(s) in the Simulart Collection: On the Passionate Collecting of the Creative Ouvre of an Artist Who Hated the Term Creative Ouvre,” [in:] “Words Imbued with Experience: Andrzej Szewczyk from the Simulart Collection,” State Art Gallery in Sopot, Sopot 2020.