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Krzysztof Sołowiej's sculptures provoke and invite interpretations, whether they are lofty, full of symbols, poetic, or a mystification. They are an attempt at guiding us into a labyrinth, providing the viewer with the wrong clues to culturally encoded meanings. Esthetically conjured, they let us "dive" into the ocean of meanings, myths and fairy tales, only to notice shortly after that our impressions have been imposed on us by our own encoded cultural and historical experiences. Upon pondering the works longer, everything becomes confusing. Through the artist's work, the Old Slavic Svetovid turns out to be a football fan, the ingenious Byzantine mosaic of the Idol is made of beer caps, and the Egyptian-like god-dog has more in common with Gothic Madonnas. The artist plays on our constant expectations towards the art. He provides us with objects filled with meanings and symbols, handcrafted with artistry, a craftsman’s honesty and work, all proving that he treats our expectations extremely seriously. "(...) We are struck by the elaborate finish which blends elements of the ordinary world with the realities of nature. The artist’s works are not far removed from classical sculpture, due to their flawless finish and his thorough knowledge of available technology. He is aware of his material and its properties. Thanks to this, his works attract the eye, and act like the encouragement to open a beautifully bound book. Only later do we realize the elaborate narration and the artist’s play on our imaginations. Significantly, the language and style of the “book” are homogeneous and spring from the same kind of poetics. This aspect of the artist’s craftsmanship, which is characteristic of a period in the past when productivity and functionality were not the most important criteria, is responsible for the inner balance and homogeneity of his works. The result is that they may exist on their own, independent of the environment. Yet these are not classical sculptures. Not only do they include ready-made elements but, as in installations, we see that forms built by the artist bring out both new meanings and interrelations. This is usually achieved through a clash of contexts and the blurring of meaning. Such procedures often consist in the simple juxtaposition of objects with a varying degree of historical and cultural references. Let us imagine what may impress us for its confrontational quality. To name but one example, an American Indian’s spear stuck in a television screen. Through Sołowiej, in turn, we are always dealing with transformation. "He accepts no slapdash, clumsy work. His forms are technically and intellectually finished. He accumulates symbols and forms which may bring to mind a room lined with mirrors, where reflections and collisions of different beings are subject to re-definition. This in turn brings out other rhythms and melodies; the usual order and the logic of reality are upset. Instead of the familiar casualty, we have a new kind of reality created by the artist in which the usual becomes unusual." fragment from Dariusz Głowacki text  Girl-Figure Skater, 1996 - wood, polychromy / from exhibition in Gallery Biala/  Sainte Chapelle, 1993 - papermache, neons / from exhibition in Gallery Biala/  Sainte Chapelle, 1993 - papermache, neons / from exhibition in Gallery Biala/ | |
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"(...) In the spiritual sense, he is a sculptor, but one can sense some great color sensitivity in his works. He has been painting for a number of years. (...) In Sołowiej’s installations, one can notice great fascination with Gothic and Baroque. We may guess that he experiences with immense involvement a seemingly miraculous accumulation of forms and colors in churches, such as Baroque ones, where stone-made fabrics worn by saints flow lightly over the altar or in the aisles. The artist translated such an atmosphere into his own language of artistic expression, where equally significant are fascinations with the surreal world, where the dream becomes reality. Sołowiej’s art speaks to us in an inconspicuous and ambiguous way. Sometimes we get the impression that the artist is trying to hide from us, as he uses such distinct esthetics which are impudent in their meaning. The decorativeness of his works mingles with the substance of deeply contemplated reality, articulated by him through his installations. They bring us an accumulation of many meanings, often mutually exclusive at first, yet they create their own individual atmosphere of perception. This happens through both the artwork itself and the meditated reality. Krzysztof Sołowiej is a poet, a mood poet. He is not one of those artists who analyze, step by step, the developments and objects around him. He acts intuitively and according to what his soul dictate. Can we follow in his footsteps of experience, of his creative world? The question remains disturbingly unanswered." text by Tomasz Wilmański "(...) The artist himself considers his installations as remnants of great ideas, which would determine the faith of nations and virtually the whole world in the past, while at present their sometimes mystical functions have been turned into tourist attractions. This world, derived from memories, touches, or collective memory makes us feel it as though it is something obvious, archaic, something being the history, heritage, an archetype, or maybe even a fetish. Yet we feel it this way only with our first thrill...It is a kind of obligatory perception, when we approach something sacred by tradition. Only then a moment of deeper contact occurs, and then it turns out that apart from the surface, emanating with gleam, there is also a streak of meanings, which constitute the essence and justification of this artistic procedure." text by Jan Gryka "(...) The aesthetic value of Sołowiej’s works is a separate and important issue. He is aware and not afraid of it. To Sołowiej, aesthetic means as much as visual impressions, where perception begins. The artist’s peculiar treatment of the aesthetic layer encourages us to step beneath it. In effect, his objects are aesthetically transparent and our attention focuses on what is behind the aesthetic veil. Krzysztof Sołowiej does not share what seems to be the naive trust of most contemporary artists, which is the faith that the aesthetic quality may be overlooked. He knows that one cannot forget the aesthetic aspect, as it is the sole thing that remains in the end. Rather than being just an introduction to our perception, it is where perception begins and ends." text by Dariusz Głowacki  Sketch for Garden of Pleasure, 1996 |
OTHER WORKS |
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Anamnesis, 2005 / ceramic 206 x 30 x 30 cm ■ more works |
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Idol I, 2001 wood 256 x 28 x 28 cm Idol II, 2000 caps, stone 266 x 36 x 28 cm Idol III, 2001 caps, diodas 257 x 36 x 36 cm |
