Mieczysław Wasilewski – Drawing and poster
Solo exhibition
Exhibition: June 03rd, 2024 – September 15th 2024
Opening: June 03rd, 2024, 6:00 PM
Retroavangarda Gallery, Al. Jerozolimskie 146D, Warsaw
Exhibition Curator: PhD Anna Kłos
Organizers: Retroavangarda, Apollo Rida and WIT Academy
The newest retrospective exhibition
of Mieczysław Wasilewski, the master of Polish poster, presents his works from the 1960s to the newest pieces. The exhibition showcases his famous movie, theater and social posters, as well as less known illustrations published years ago in “Problemy” magazine.
The author’s inspirations with traditional art of China and Japan reveal themselves not only in the choice of technique (brush and ink) but mainly in the fascination with shortcut, concise symbols which despite the simplicity of form can express so much. Most posters, illustrations and drawings of Mieczysław Wasilewski balance between abstraction and figuration. All of the pieces are spot on commentaries to the presented subject, created in the spirit of “less is more”.
I cordially invite everyone to see the exhibition in Retroavangarda Gallery, which will be open to visitors from June 3rd until mid-September.
PhD Anna Kłos
In the beginning was the image…
An important book for our civilisation informs us that “in the beginning was the Word”. This is how it was translated into English, although it was, after all, the Greek logos meaning idea, sense, rationality, order. But in ancient Rome, Greek was the language of the elite, and this is how the history of the monotheistic world was originally written down – so the meaning of an important concept may have become confused somewhere after multiple translations. But the thought contained in the title, which is indeed iconoclastic, is closer to the truth than is commonly believed, especially in our country (it is about the unwarranted association of Slavism with the word).
The attachment to the written word results in the marginalisation of the image. I am constantly reminded that our “A” is the fruit of the transformation of the Egyptian image of the bull’s head (Apis?) through Aramaic writing, the Hebrew “aleph”, the Arabic “alif” and the Greek “alpha”! He is a descendant of the image! Linguists find similar genealogies for languages recorded in different cultures, such as Chinese or Indian writing.
The panic caused by the recurring dominance of the value of the image in everyday life is naturally alien to us visual artists. After all, we know that an image often carries more content than a thousand words. After all, a traffic sign is an image and we all know what content it carries. We do not resent emoticons, we do not consider the term “pictorial civilisation” to be an invective, because it has always existed. Forms and preferences change; the dominance of the written word (in excess) must succumb to the rules of abbreviation (a sign of the times) – and nothing conveys thoughts and feelings as quickly as a picture. The works of Luke Cranach the Elder or Vermeer van Delft are also vehicles for a message, although not as obvious. They are considered to be a language for the chosen few, not stemming from a heritage of blood, but from a simple sensitivity, available in every environment and in every generation. The propaganda of religious values addressed to the illiterate resulted in magnificent illustrations and frescoes, what is now known as the “bible pauperum”. A similar thing happened here in the last century when travelling cinema was sent to unprepared audiences. In villages without access to electricity, it was a sensation and an attraction. And the films, whatever their merits, were always accompanied by posters: often outstanding works of art, though cheaply printed on cheap material. But they were, and they probably did a better job of familiarising us with the present than the balloon-dropped leaflets sent out from Free Europe. The authorities of the time knew and appreciated the value of image agitation. In view of the “national” sensitivity to words, the censors were not too keen on the visual message. This is how the later world-famous Polish Poster School was born. Henryk Tomaszewski, one of its fathers, was a graduate of the Painting Department of the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts and knew the value of drawing! His right-hand man, facilitator of hundreds of artistic endeavours and populariser throughout the civilised world was Mieczysław Wasilewski. He, too, begins everything with drawing, because it is the daily rhythm of life, like breathing. Knowing them both, I am convinced that Mieczysław’s free, spontaneous drawings influenced Henryk’s similar freedom, which distinguishes the late work of the master. After all, it is obvious that we react to each other, and no one involved in art education who lives in society can escape this influence. One of Zygmunt Bauman’s most pertinent thoughts on “liquid modernity” is strangely similar to a statement by Heraclitus’ (aka Dark) from Ephesus that a characteristic of life is change: panta rhei, everything flows.
Such reflexive drawing, seemingly uncontrolled, coming out, it may be, from an accidental blob, is a great value in any creative workshop. Freshness and authenticity without obligation is often the impetus or cue for excellent realisations. The world then wonders where he gets such ideas, where these sensual shortcuts come from, who draws the eye and the hand, male-female relations in such a way. And Wasilewski uses just such little drawings, almost conference ones, of which he has plenty around, because he makes them himself in his spare time. Lucjan Motyka, Minister of Culture in the People’s Republic of Poland, was distinguished by the fact that he was ambidextrous: he added spice to party “meetings” by writing official party memos, while with his other hand he drew portraits of communist bureaucrats. Quite successfully.
Mieczysław Wasilewski makes use of the treasures of the nonchalant note, which he leads by way of a shortcut to stunning results. The world of culture even in the remotest countries undoubtedly places him among the best. Who has the courage to show the intimate secret of success? Here is an opportunity for the kind of friendly privacy that the little people of success (there are some) hide from. The concept of plastic intelligence has emerged in American culture. It’s hard to define for advocates of word domination, but it alone describes the best among us who “don’t seek, but do find”. Stories of muses and inspiration serve to popularise creative work. And doesn’t it happen to an engineer or scientist to find a sensational solution to which one then has to forge a logical path? In any field, one can be a creator or a doer. It is a matter of choice and historical circumstances. A little and talent too. I have had the opportunity in my long life to meet several people who were truly outstanding. They were all distinguished by an extraordinary modesty – almost like the Socratic know-nothing. This trait dominates Mieczysław’s personality. Huge global recognition, experience of working in many countries, in different cultures, an absolute lack of (frequent in our industry) narcissism – and at the same time the certainty that, despite the accelerating pace of time, all good things are still ahead of him. We were both born on the same day, but He a year earlier; both in a completely inappropriate place and time: Warsaw under occupation and Volyn just before the orgy of nationalism. But we are not complaining about fate. We do what we like, we have met many wonderful people, and among them those who like our way of expression. Our Language. What more could you want…
prof. Rafał Strent
Mieczysław Wasilewski
M. Wasilewski was born on January 1 st, 1942, in Warsaw. From 1960 to 1966, he studied on the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, Faculty of Painting and Graphics, and obtained his diploma in the Atelier of professor Henryk Tomaszewski´s. The area of his activity is poster, illustration and editorial graphics. He works as a professor in Academy of Fine Arts and WIT Academy, both in Warsaw. In both schools, he´s the head of the Graphic Design Atelier. He was a visiting lecturer in artistic schools in Holland, Syria, Germany, France, Mexico, Chile, Canada, United States, Iran and Switzerland. He took part in hundreds of national and international exhibitions concerning Polish poster and illustration. He also participated in dozens of international artistic enterprises in the poster area. He obtained numerous prestigious awards and praises in the field of poster as well as editorial graphics.
Photo report from the opening of the exhibition: