Marek Chlanda, Number X, mixed media, 1979

Marek Chlanda experiments with form and medium, transgressing the traditional boundaries of drawing. The work Number X (1979) uses the artist’s own technique: pencil, paper and three-dimensional elements such as string, fur, thread and tape. The focal point of the picture is a dark square, reminiscent of Kazimir Malevich’s suprematist tradition, but here complemented and disrupted by physical, organic elements, the texture of string and dynamic pencil marks. A tension is created between the precisely composed geometric structure and chaotic, almost destructive additions—a combination which gives the impression that the work balances between order and decomposition.

The work’s delicate spatiality, enriched by the materials attached to the picture plane, gives it a sculptural dimension, a fundamental element of Chlanda’s practice. The artist often explores the boundaries between two-dimensionality and spatiality, inviting the viewer into an active perception— here the materials incorporated are raw, fragile and vulnerable, emphasizing the temporality of human action. At the same time, his aesthetic, rooted in the spirit of modernism and engaging in a dialogue with art history, introduces elements of breach and deconstruction.

Natalia Andrzejewska