Ryszard Konikowski

I do not imitate the world.

I only picture it.

My view is my own... and my own alone.

Considering art, one usually views is as a source of beauty.

Creating beauty is a complex and difficult process, as beauty manifests itself in many different ways, yet it is rare after all.

I endeavour, through my work, to influence people's sensitivity

and moral values, providing a means of self development.

I believe that to create art one must take into account general human condition, understanding what it takes to be a human.

In our times, every day work becomes very routine, and cannot

bring deeper satisfaction or inspiration. It tends to depersonalise our experiences. We rarely think of our place in this world, what becomes of us, making our bodies and our minds very common.

Exhausted from our work effort we have little chance to look after our minds, yet alone getting involved in art.

Therefore, in my artistic work, I am trying to express a link between the physical world and human body.

A body that is erotic and mortal art at the same time.

In my work I picture a lot of naked bodies. This is my way of expressing the truth about humans.

As an artist, I am constantly on a path of self development,

better understanding of my own inspiration and my own mind.

Although riddled by questions and doubts, I struggle on.

...I only depict the world...

The most entertaining surface on Earth is the human face.

G. Ch. Lichtenberg

" Well, of course, we are meat, we are potential carcasses. If I go into a butcher's shop I always think it's surprising that I wasn't there instead of the animal."

Francis Bacon

Imagination revealed - drawings by Ryszard Konikowski

Although his work encompasses a broad spectrum of visual arts, such as painting, graphics or applied art (posters, illustrations), it is in his drawings that Ryszard Konikowski finds his fullest expression.

Majority of his drawings are rendered in pastels but owing to the author's virtuoso craftsmanship, vision and the sheer amount of work involved, they surpass by far the sketchiness inherent in this technique by utilizing a full palette of painting effects, glaze, colour schemes, chiaroscuro, which make them autonomous and complete works of art - so often expressive of powerful emotions and tensions and yet, in their essence, an intimate record of the

author's esprit.

Presumably, the roots of Ryszard Konikowski's artistic pursuits reach back to Dadaism, or to a larger extent, to surrealism. The connections with the latter are visible in the hints as to " the dark side" of human psyche, its subconscious level called " Id" by Sigmund Freud, and to anamorphic transformations of the human body and the human face with its grimaces, scowls and masks.

Ryszard Konikowski's work breaks down in two fundamental motifs, two constructs: the first is the human face, and the second is the human body. Both of these themes emerge subjected to various modifications, transfigurations and

visual manipulations.

The human body is, after all, just "the system of organs" where all kinds of biochemical and physiological transmutations take place. And, therefore, it is presented in its physiological completeness after prior modifications which intensify its artistic expression. So, for instance we look at a corporate body, resembling a fear - inspiring, fierce dog with human, authoritative face - "Red Carpet'

A fashionable, trendy, celebrity - like body as presented in "Design for upcoming seasons"

A lonely body, curled up and hugging itself, as it is typical of people who are

feeling alienated and lost - "Loneliness"

Social scientists and anthropologists have coined the term „post - humans" to describe the subjugation of contemporary societies by so called collective norms, mass - media dictate, and commercials which affect people and the choices they make. People are manipulated and our culture has become the source of suffering - as Freud claims in his " Civilisation and its Discontents".

Within its confines we are bombarded daily by the images we all aspire to but cannot attain, like the images of human body, especially female body; alluring, tempting and so tantalisingly close, seemingly within reach.

Evidently, we are witnessing a total sexualisation of the body which becomes objectified and disconnected from the psyche. This phenomenon seems to have inspired such works as " Paper Anatomy " or " Lost Moment".

Naturally, the author, being true to his temperament, inevitably imbues his drawings with irony. To conclude the body theme, I can't resist mentioning another Polish artist, S.I. Witkiewicz - "Witkacy", who refers to the body subjected to " social processing" as " a mechanised improductive" - this concept seems to reverberate in the works " Who am I?" or " Amor - Fortune teller'

These images evoke the enigma of human body - an issue which thanatologists and anthropologists encounter in their work - particularly when it is a dead body, a corpse, to put it bluntly. Is it still something more than just an object?.

Are dead bodies still persons, but just devoid of spirit?. And who is, or what is an old man with Alzheimer disease? Is the term " vegetable" just an euphemism?

I am not claiming that such dilemmas harass the author, but they definitely harassed me when I was contemplating his work.

"There are quantities of human beings, but there are many more faces, for each person has several. There are people who wear the same face for years; naturally it wears out, it gets dirty, it splits at the folds, it stretches, like gloves one has worn on a journey.

"These are thrifty, simple people; they do not change their face, they never even have it cleaned."

Rainer Maria Rilke

As I mentioned before, the artist is particularly preoccupied with the human face. He often puts a mask on it which serves as a disguise for its real features.

He models and drapes the mask over it as if it was a freshly washed facial cloak equipped with ears, nose, nerves and dimples. The study of relation between facial expressions, visible character features and an environment dates back to the works of Hippocrates. A desire to reveal the true self of a model, the spirit, the essence of being human has always driven portrait painters and portrait photographers. This desire can be seen in Ryszard Konikowski's works - especially in " Before I fall asleep: or " Prompter".

Throughout the history of European culture the face has become a "condensed image of humanum". It is noteworthy that ninety percent of film images show faces.

The faces that walk, talk, move about cinematic screens or television screens.

The human world is the world of human faces.

Author own statement is: "I do not imitate the world. I present it." And, indeed, it is a "presentation", but the world he presents is filtered through the lens of his imagination, sensitivity, defiance and ultimately, irony.

In his artistic pursuits Ryszard Konikowski makes some insightful comments on the narratives of the world of mass culture, with their razzmatazz and cheap tinsel, but he does so by creating the works of extraordinary visual beauty which are, as it were, quite a different story.

Ryszard Ratajczak

Poland