Polyrhythm of events. Polyphony of sighs

Painting of gesture, color, and drama, with a certain rootedness in historical abstraction, references to the 1950s, the heroic decade of tachisme.

We followed the work of Maciej Przybylski on his social media: figurative works, experiments with materials, geometric works on paper. Diverse cycles of works. What captivated us were the abstract paintings—strong, expressive, painted from the gut, charged with emotion, and at the same time strikingly attractive and decorative. Instagram photos did not reveal the scale of these works; we only felt the power of these large-format paintings in the artist’s studio in Poznań.

While reviewing successive canvases, a conversation unfolded about painting that does not serve content, yet carries a whole load of meanings; about Jungian archetypes, extracting from chaos, searching for form, releasing painterly energy, expression, and the modality of emotions. Time and again, references appeared to Alicja Kępińska’s book Element and Myth, attempts to understand American action painting, and the hidden meanings of this art, difficult to decipher.

The conversation also returned to the theme of the interpenetration of painting and music, suggested as well in the title of the current exhibition. References to music often appear in the works and statements of Maciej Przybylski, painter and musician. He claims that music can retune our perception of an image and that it finally resonates consciously in his painting.