To tame the infinity

The reality created by Jacek Galewski occupies a place somewhere in the middle of a huge space spanning between the micro and macro world. Seemingly abstract motifs have their source in what surrounds us and is subject to perception. It is enough to look closely at the surface of paper to see an infinite number of various forms similar to those which occur in nature. On the other hand, Galewski’s visions are only a model of the vast universe, as if its microscopic reflection.
Both observing the micro-world and exploring the mystery of the universe in its infinite dimension becomes a source of metaphysical experience. Here, Galewski’s virtually Benedictine work as an artist is enriched with scientific and philosophical, almost religious aspects. The artist realizes that too thorough research can cause astonishment, fear and finally awe. Galewski is equally fascinated by the complexity and infinity of the world, as well as human cognitive abilities, supported by science and advanced technology. From the beginning, Jacek Galewski’s artistic activity has been revolving around references to the world of nature. Nature that is treated as an inspiration and as a juxtaposition of pictorial motifs that cover the planes of his works.
The artist tries to find an artistic equivalent for the real and simultaneously poetic reality. Some of the imagery motifs strike with allusions to specific structures. Apart from the geometric element, there is also a biological factor present in his artwork. In the reality, which is the basis for further actions, the artist is fascinated by the natural composition of planes, the course of lines and, above all, the richness of adjacent textures. The world presented in his artwork is thus enriched by the arrangements of cracks and scratches, fractures and slits, similar to the ones the artist noticed on the surface of the wall, or those whose form was derived from the admiration for the complexity of manifestations of nature, for example the composition of tangled strands or creepers.
Spectacular structures, thickening of tiny forms of which the plane is composed take on the weight of disturbing signs, creating a message not read yet. They have a dimension of a mysterious language used by the surroundings to communicate with us. That is where the metaphorical overtones of the works come from. However, the motifs are ambiguous. The artist leaves a wide field for interpretation to the viewers.
When the artist focuses on architecture, on the solid, he examines its form, geometrizes it, tries to give it not only a specific look, but most of all, expression.
The works are progressive and infinite in nature. The visual structure initiated by the first creative gesture develops gradually, grows, the layers overlap. The artist meticulously fills the drawings or graphic prints with successive signs, lines and points. The initiating trace is finally transformed, as a result of subsequent developments and alterations, into a cumulative structure of a multi-layered work.
This is the result of referring, among other things, to the potential of various disciplines. The range of means of expression used by Galewski, once limited to drawing and graphics – often occurring together also in one work – has been expanded to include the features of digital printing and painting (he also uses photography). The artist combines techniques, taking advantage of the inherent qualities and possibilities of each one.
Today, Galewski repeatedly transforms the reality he has created. Over time, a drawing or a graphic work take on the form of a digital copy, which is the basis for further interference. This new version, copied again, can be a base for further artistic activities. It is an unlimited process, a kind of work in progress. When inspired by the world of nature, Galewski reproducer becomes in an additional sense a maker, creating his own, existing and non-existent worlds, which can be transformed again. All the imperfections resulting from the nature of digital processing of the image and its printing are also significant in this process, changing the original, made in the technique of drawing or graphic art composition into a partially blurred, different from the original equivalent, the same, and yet not the same.
Selected motifs are also explored many times in different works and eventually obtain a different shape. Such actions are an expression of the artist’s intentions to document the evolution to which particular ideas were subjected and how they developed in time. The process of transforming the initial image, especially in case of drawing, is difficult to grasp. Subsequent changes can only be documented by technical means, for example a camera. In Galewski’s works, the realistic space is reduced to an almost abstract universe composed of planes and solids affected to a different degree by brightness and darkness. Light plays a significant role in this world: it builds and defines forms, sets directions, creates a mysterious atmosphere. Its streaks break through the darkness. They look for cracks and breaks to illuminate the plane. They are outbursts of energy, the seedbed for life. Sometimes, in a finished work, a bright point emerges from the darkness, the beginning of something new, a pretext to continue to deal with the chosen motif.
Galewski’s works are not flat surfaces. The use of several techniques, their combination allows the author to accumulate layers of different height. Although it is hardly visible, the individual layers of printing ink, graphite or acrylic are raised to micron heights. The artist strongly emphasizes the granularity, all roughness, spatiality of the surface. He pays great attention to the variety of textures, which are adjacent to each other in the world of presented works. Thus, the texture differences not only have a visual dimension, which is important when contemplating the relations of adjacent planes, but also actual, physical when thinking about overlapping layers and their thickness.
Composition of many works is centrifugal, the works look as if they were a reflection of the rotating firmament in its slow motion, concentration of stars, constellations and planets moving over the heads. Other compositions are sometimes ruled by the lines and areas marked out by the artist with different signs, their density, tonal differences. The diagonal, horizontal or vertical streaks running through the plane determine the lines of tension, bring order and are the source of clarity of the structure. In spite of the multiplicity of traces visible on the plane of a work of art, it acquires the value of moderation and calm.
Galewski does not tend to burden his works with excess of colour accents. He moves within a monochromatic world, but the juxtaposition of various planes, condensation and dispersion of points and lines, the selection of textures make us have the impression of tonal and colour richness, usually built only by different shades of black and white. The artist rarely uses colour, and if he does, he uses a limited palette or tints selected fragments of planes with acrylic. Such experiments correspond to the artist’s recent purely painterly activities, but here the scale of colour values is still limited. The more strongly shines then the sparingly used colour, becoming a vehicle of almost metaphysical values, determined also by the choice of imagery forms and constitutive qualities of the composition.
The infinity and openness of Galewski’s works is also emphasized by the decisive function of the trace, the basic category as far as the origin and interpretation of his artwork are concerned. What I have in mind is not only the gesture initiating the work, which is the starting point for subsequent actions and becomes the center around which the artistic idea develops, but also the trace which appears – focusing our attention – on the plane of the seemingly completed work and may be the first prickle of the surface provoking the following interferences and expansions.
At the same time, it is very important for the artist to be aware of the development of the creative act. Through contact with the work of art, the viewer can perceive the course of the process itself and at the same time become a witness to it.
The presence of an element of incompleteness and uncertainty results in caution in calling an artwork a finished piece and provides an incentive to constantly complete the picture with tedious visual calligraphy. In this respect, the creative work takes on almost spiritual qualities.

Dariusz Leśnikowski

Transl. Elżbieta Rodzeń-Leśnikowska