The space in between is the place, that interests Wanda Czełkowska the most. The large scale
vertical installations consisting on canvases joint together on the recto by the raw material construction
have their beginning in the work Wall (1975). Metal, minimal, yet somehow drastic scaffolding on
which the work is leaning, confronts the viewer. It reveals the place occupied by the participant to
herself/ himself. This is a place in relation, not allowing indifference, triggering an inter-objective
empathy.
If we go even deeper into the past, the very idea of these works that by reduction of the space, liberate
it, occurs in a monumental concept of Ruthless elimination of the sculpture as a notion of shape
(1975-1995). Between post Minimal and conceptual, it has dematerialized the object, freeing the
space to the presence.
In Elegy (1990) that is part of the show, as well as in other works using raw canvases, the problem of
space has also one more aspect. It brings Czełkowska's dialogue or even a dispute with a tradition of
painting. As a declared opponent of a mimetism, the artist stresses out the importance of the materials
she usually uses, in case of canvases – charcoal and temper that are abraded and scattered on the
canvas organically binding with it. And on a formal level, the curve lines and circles are taken from the
realm of sculpture. As Czełkowska says herself: “The circles aren't the goal, they are a result”.
Regardless that Paul Czerlitzki's works are, strictly speaking, canvases stretched on wooden frames,
sometimes covered with pigments, in a given space they behave more like sculptural objects – they
engage in a close relation with the space, often playing a nonchalant game. It happens that they go as
far as outside of the exhibition room that they wander onto the roofs and facades of buildings (like in
the series Anna in Cologne and Zurich). Contrarywise, in Semptember series where large scale
canvases are 'filled' with huge, almost all-over round holes, the space is 'dragged into' the painting, it
penetrates it to the extent that it fills it almost completely. Ultimately, in the site-specific works from the
Untitled series dematerialized pigment 'shadows' of paintings are absorbed by precisely selected parts
of walls.
What becomes more important than the space depicted in the painting is the space between the walls,
the ceiling, and the floor that 'picture' occupies. Also, the space between the language and the
ineffable but tangible materiality that Johanna Graefield, addressing the Fleshout series, described as
follows: “Processing the canvas extensively with animal glue – a traditional technique that the artist
has learned by watching his mother in her studio, leads to structured surfaces that vary between twoand
three dimensionality. The usually soft and fragile canvas is turned into solid, robust base with a
sculptural appearance, being able to break light and colour in a way that it appears in a different scale
from each angle one stands”.
The word ‘picture’ is placed in inverted commas above, because Czerlitzki's works represent nothing
but themselves – what one can see is the material and the technique. In this way they encourage the
viewer to realize their ontological status and to consciousnessly experience what is given directly but
also, at the same time, to open to sensual impressions, to 'feel' the space.
As Laura Preston stated: “In forging out this space between, between language and traced tactility,
Paul Czerlitzki is moving around the medium of painting, almost to convince himself that it could get
more real.”
Ewa Opałka, Michał Woliński
In cooperation with Introspection Foundation; support by Stefan Gierowski Foundation
Courtesy of the artists, Piktogram and Introspection Foundation
Photocredit Bartosz Górka