I don't remember exactly why I decided to visit the Centre for Contemporary Art that day nor how it happened that I found myself poking around the place where the exhibition was being prepared. I usually don't do it, especially if I have nothing to do with it. I rushed into the exhibition rooms where the artist, quite excited, 'was putting the finishing touches' to the show. Fortunately, his reaction to an unexpected intruder was friendly.
I didn't know Grzegorz. Frankly speaking, I wasn't fully aware of what was actually going to happen, what the tension came from, and what was going on at all. I noticed the series of Self-portraits – Prison Tattoos, the video Master and Apprentice, the work Barbecue Set, the wall photograph Bunking Off and the painting project Anonymous Letter. These works just didn’t need words. They functioned without unnecessary comments, a simpering attitude to the viewers or a particular care for adequate interpretation. Each work was a blow. I appreciated them immediately. Grzegorz Drozd was getting ready for the exhibition Lack curated by Stach Szabłowski. In a moment 'verdict' on the artist was about to be passed – he was going to defend his diploma work.
Only after a couple of weeks was I ready for the meeting with Grzegorz. There is this kind of fascination with the unknown, when step by step you are getting closer, yet you aren't sure how dangerous it is. This was the case. I decided to follow my intuition. Having just started with my gallery and working for several months only, I didn't have much to offer, but somehow I couldn't resist making closer acquaintance with the artist. This was how we met, and each such meeting made my interest in Grzegorz grow. Then I met Alicja, a co-author of Grzegorz's many projects who controls the situation with her endearing smile. It is important to mention that Drozd has got a 'seismographic' nature as an artist. His extraordinary projects manifest and prove his concentration on man's existence in society, the city and nature. Relations between individuals are among his major interests, as, for instance, in the project Expedition revealing human nature in extreme conditions or the action Information based on verbal communication. Grzegorz 'tracks down' a human being in his natural environment, which makes him a hunter with no desire for a trophy. His recent work 6,28, a neon project at Warszawa Wschodnia railway station, seeks to show the beauty of the modernist architecture to an anonymous traveler visiting the place. It's a surprise to a sensitive viewer rather than aggressive intervention in a passer-by’s daily life.
Yet the most powerful means of expression used by Drozd is painting. His paintings are intuitive and unpredictable. It is in painting that Grzegorz shows his many faces. One can find abstraction and figurative motives, both the great 'nothing' and everything. The painter is vulnerable to moods and reflections. His pictures seem to be like 'notes' on life, the past and fantasies. All these aspects surprised me very much, so I was even happier to be able to show his paintings at the first exhibition in my gallery.
Drozd is an uncompromising, impertinent and sensitive artist. He sometimes gets provocative and has to bear the extreme consequences of his attitude. His artistic work is based on dialogue. A viewer plays as important role as the artist.
Grzegorz, thanks very much for the invitation to write in this book. It's a great distinction for me. |
