Dimensions: 100 x 80 cm
Signed, dated, and inscribed on the reverse: 'MAN MOUNTAIN, MAN CLOUD | 1984 oil on canvas 100x80cm (varnish/chalk ground) | RYSZARD WOŹNIAK'
Exhibited
“Gruppa. The Myth of Solidarity,” Esta Gallery, Katowice, Dec. 8–31, 2017
Biography
He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw in S. Gierowski’s painting studio (graduated in 1981). Since 1982, he has been associated with Gruppa, participating in nearly all of its exhibitions and events, and co-edited its magazine “Oj dobrze już.” In 1987, he won first prize at the 2nd “Droga i Prawda” (The Way and the Truth) Biennial for Young Artists in Wrocław. From 1985 to 1989 (with breaks), he worked alongside M. Sobczyk on the polychrome decoration of the Neo-Uniate church in Kostomłoty in the Podlasie region. In 1986, along with R. Grzyb, he was on a fellowship in West Berlin. In 1991–92, he taught at a private art school in Warsaw, founded and run by J. Modzelewski and M. Sobczyk. Since 1992, he has led a painting studio at the Institute of Art Education at the Higher Pedagogical School in Zielona Góra. His work from the 1980s includes commentary on the reality of the People’s Republic of Poland (“Nowa fala popierdala” [The New Wave Is Going to Hell]), and he also creates expressive works in bold colors. Toward the end of the 1980s, a symbolic and metaphorical trend emerged in his painting. In the 1990s, he participated in numerous performances and installations.
