We cordially invite you to unveiling of part two of the painting project „Modernising Modernism” A Colour Tribute to Krakow’s Modernism Era Bas Relief Sculptures of the 1930.
In addition to the original oil paintings, posters, collages and other various souvenirs will be available for viewing and purchase.
Attendees and folks passing by can also expect to hear and see some live music from various local musicians!
The paintings, poster you will see are colourful interpretations of Krakow bas-reliefs, referring to many entrances from the modernist architecture of the 1920s and 1930s.
The idea of painting these bas relief sculptures came to me a few years ago when I moved into an apartment on Żuławskiego Street. Between this street and another short street, Kolberga, there are several fantastic figures decorating the entrances to buildings.
The inspiration, as is often the case, came by chance, and then collectively, because one day, entering the building where I lived, I noticed a large, bulging sculpture of a knight trampling and killing a dragon (St. George). I was incredibly impressed and equally struck by the fact that I had not noticed it before, even though I had been living and visiting the area for several years.
Walking around the city, I began to notice them more and more often, wherever I could distinguish these emblems from other periods and ages of architecture.
The vast majority of them can be found in the vicinity of Krowodrza, Nowa Wieś, and then down to the Vistula River in Zwierzyniec. There are not many of them in the old town, there are a just few ( but very cool ones) in Kazimierz, and surprisingly, there are none at all in Olsza ( Osiedla Oficerski) where there are quite a few modernist buildings.
Overall, I estimate that there are at least a hundred of them, and in my opinion, they range from very impressive and unique (see Owls at Metalowców 5) to quite banal (see naked child sailing on a dolphin - Lea 20).So far, I have chosen to paint those that caught my attention.
It should be mentioned that the interwar period in Poland, although turbulent and full of problems in every respect, also brought a creative, artistic, and economic boom (mainly in cities, of course), which lasted until September 1939. Pre-war modernism and the post-war period of modernism are very different, especially in Poland, where the latter was strongly influenced by Soviet socialist realism. The 1920s and 1930s seem to have their own unique local atmosphere, especially in Krakow, which stands out from other cities developing at that time (or just being built, see Gdynia) - and one clear and defining reason is, in fact, these type of sculptures and the amount of them !
Almost all large cities in Poland at that time were experiencing a boom in modernist architecture (the aforementioned Gdynia has a city center that is entirely like this), but there is no emblem anywhere! *It should also be mentioned that at that time, Krakow was only the fifth largest city in Poland (after Warsaw, Łódź, Lviv, and Poznań).
These facts increase my curiosity and fascination with this period. A seemingly locally conceived concept, local architects educated in Krakow, each project diverse but consistent with a common vision and taste. This adds to the magic of Krakow, its romantic essence, and generally to what exists here in Poland.
In any case, the whole point of this project, to be honest, is that I thought and still think that some of these buildings and their Pokemon patrons could use a fresh coat of paint! So here's part one & two! As of now, I have no plans to stop
Autor i wykonawca pomysłu, artysta, muzyk
Łukasz Trębaczkiewicz
Also check out other Arts events in Krakow, Fine Arts events in Krakow, Music events in Krakow.
