It’s only till the end of the week that you can see “Legnica. Satirical impressions”. Showing the most popular, and seemingly most obvious symbols of Legnica, at closer look it surprises its viewers with the precision – the wealth of details, as well as with freedom and wit in juggling these details. On the other hand it conveys a universal message. Specially here – where we’ve been collecting the author’s works at “Satyrykon” for years following carefully his development – it lets us notice how much things have changed and how much they haven’t.
The author stays loyal to what makes him unique in the world of satire – traditional painting tools, pastel colours, delicate precision, avoiding ostentatious means, the contrast of idyllic composition and satirical content – and has excelled all of them. One can say that precision has become even more precise, apparent idyll has become even more idyllic and so on. At the same time the range of cycles devoted to particular topics, not only places but also things like cultural phenomena (wine and bike to take some recent ones) becomes wider and wider. At times this range becomes monumental indeed – like in the case of exhibition showing 21 centuries of world history. The sharpness of satirical concept, sometimes known from the earlier works, refers to not only to specific situation or individual existence, but to long-lasting existence of nations or societies.
Florian Doru Crihana ‘Legnica. Satirical Impresssions’ exhibition
Legnica impressions depict any place in central Europe, the world history in general and the history of history. What strikes is the imagination and endless creativity in finding picture analogies, as well as the ability to transform the metaphors into unusually deep contemporary symbols. It’s partially the history of passing, characteristically explained without showing the ruins. It’s rather a story telling us that “everything flows”. As the author put it in his radio interview, water and river are one of the most inspiring motives for him. But it’s also the story about the world which constantly destroys old forms.
So, as long as we still can, let’s watch the artist in the form of traditional exhibition. The author who stays loyal to traditional methods of creation and as the supporter of development eagerly awaits the moment at which the science will make us go without… computers.
The exhibition – as Crihana stressed it – is a gift for Legnica and its dwellers. Therefore, the catalogue has been published in Polish, English but also German language version, to respect Legnica former dwellers too.