Agnieszka Gniotek – When I stand to one side and listen – 2016

Color. Does it always have to be present? Of course, white and black are also colors. That is the color. Basic. The most important. If only they exist, then for many artists the creation process would be closed, it would be impossible. For Jacek Mirczak it would not be a problem. Many of his works are limited only to these two colors, and the expression of the canvas does not lose anything. Sometimes it even gains, because these two-color compositions are more primitive. Brought to the necessary minimum, they communicate on the primary level.

There is a lot in Jacek Mirczak’s compositions – gesture, texture, significant format, intense color. And yet it is pure painting; it can be said that it is voiced. People sensitive to music will find in these works a relationship with firmly sounding chords of percussion and woodwinds, maybe with contemporary music and maybe with opera. In any case, with the music sphere in which it is not about the pleasure of listening and illustration, but about emotions and making an impression. Again these emotions. For Miraczek’s painting, however, this is the key.

Mirczak’s paintings are non-figurative, and there is no narrative in them, and this basis is emotions. The artist admits that this is the most valid issue for him. This emotion accompanies him during the creation and should also be present in the reception of works, although not necessarily the message given and received must be identical. It is crucial that painting does not leave the viewer indifferent. Usually, he does not disappear, because Jacek Mirczak is lucky for sensitive recipients.

He admits that he likes to know how “his pictures are felt.” Sometimes he tries to listen to comments during an opening or the exhibition anonymously. He is particularly pleased when he encounters an “interpretation dispute.” His paintings do not have one, proper definition, but such an emotional quarrel about some specific canvas, some regardless of its substantive content, in itself is the best interpretation.

The artist’s works generate a powerful message. For some, they can be too intense. There are several reasons. A powerful gesture of painting. There is nothing to hide – Mirczak in his creation enchants the original energy of character. Also, a colored spot dominating in the composition. No frills, no finesse. Everything is primitive, natural, and vital.

Often, also structure, impasto, something that is very intensely happening on the surface of the composition. And black. Also always present. These are the first impressions. Brutally. That is why it is worth giving yourself time, allowing a more profound dialogue with the work of Mirczak, because this painting requires a bit of distance. It also needs space. The artist’s works are complicated in the arrangement. Hence each of his exhibitions is a big challenge. Isolated images constitute closed worlds, and the construction of a collection of them is an art in itself.

The text comes from the catalog of an individual exhibition of paintings
by Jacek Mirczak in Galeria Milano entitled “When I stand on the side and listen.”
More information about the exhibition on the “Rynek i sztuka” portal.