Cultural events at Impresja

The welcoming thresholds of Impresja Art Resort invite you to a vernissage tomorrow (August 10). The vernissage will be combined with the premiere of the album “Siudmak. Hommage à Chopin”, containing the artist’s works and studies by Prof. Irena Poniatowska. Wojciech Siudmak, a painter and sculptor, was born on October 10, 1942, in Wieluń. He graduated from the High School of Fine Arts and the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. In September 1966, he left for Paris and began studies at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. He lives and works in France. He is considered a leading representative of fantastic realism, which has its roots in surrealism, represented by Dalí, Magritte, and de Chirico. Siudmak shares with Dalí a virtuosity in rendering the three-dimensional illusion of space, a sense of light and shadow, and linear and aerial perspectives. His works are known worldwide and used as music, theater, and film posters, as well as album and science-fiction book covers. They illustrate prestigious events, such as the Film Festivals in Cannes, Montreal, and Paris. In Poland, he is known, among others, to the masses of readers of the “Fantastyka” magazine. In 2021, he designed the scenography for the opera Don Carlos and Chopin for the Grand Theater in Łódź. He considers himself an heir to fantastic art, traces of which can be found in the wall paintings in the Lascaux caves, through the visions of Hieronymus Bosch and surrealism. He is inspired by the universe and the work of physicists and astrophysicists. His first major retrospective exhibition took place in 1989 at the Palais de Tokyo/Museum of Modern Art in Paris. Particularly prestigious was the official exhibition on the Eiffel Tower, symbolizing Paris and France, on the occasion of the beginning of the Third Millennium. On his initiative, the World Peace Project was created, the symbol of which is the “Eternal Love” monument, a bronze sculpture 4.5 meters high, unveiled in Wieluń on August 31, 2013. In 2012, the artist founded the Eternal Love Peace Prize. Its laureates include Wojciech Kilar, Jan Tombiński, Prof. Remi Brague from Paris, George Weigel, and Shevah Weiss. “This exhibition is a coincidence of many circumstances and a certain energy that has been generated around our hotel’s gallery. Every year during the festival, we organize exhibitions of various artists. At the same time, we host piano concerts and lectures by Prof. Irena Poniatowska, who is an authority not only in the field of music. She can synthesize many disciplines of art, creating an interesting narrative. It was her idea for this exhibition to appear here,” says Dorota Pieńkos, owner of Impresja Art Resort and curator of the exhibition. Wojciech Siudmak is known primarily as an artist creating science-fiction art. As it turned out, he is also a lover of Chopin, in whose works he finds many dimensions. After reading Prof. Irena Poniatowska’s books, he noticed that she also perceives Chopin’s music in a similar way to him and is the only person with whom the artist can execute the project of translating Chopin’s Nocturnes into the language of visual art and words. The fruit of the cooperation was supposed to be an exhibition in France, but for various reasons, it did not happen. “The idea was doomed to ‘death’, but Prof. Poniatowska, during the festival in Duszniki, had an epiphany that this exhibition should take place right here in our gallery. She persuaded Wojciech Siudmak to her idea, convincing him that Duszniki, a city where Chopin lovers meet every year, is the perfect place for this,” says Dorota Pieńkos. She adds that bringing Wojciech Siudmak’s works to Duszniki was a major logistical challenge. The artist lives and works in France. At Impresja, we can admire reproductions that are certified by the artist. The vernissage will take place on Tuesday, August 10 at 7:00 PM, admission by invitation only. The exhibition will be complemented by the premiere of the album “Siudmak. Hommage à Chopin”, containing works by Wojciech Siudmak and studies by Prof. Irena Poniatowska. “This album was probably created thanks to the magic of Chopin. Its authors, Prof. Irena Poniatowska and Wojciech Siudmak, met for the first time in their lives only here in Duszniki, two days before the exhibition. The Rebis publishing house also rose to the occasion to complete the printing on time. The book came out of the printing house on Saturday, August 7,” explains Dorota Pieńkos.