Lecture „FORM AND THOUGHT – Iridescent Semantics. Contemporary Art Personalities from the Faculty of Sculpture and Intermedia Art, Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk”

April 23, 4 p.m. at the Ceramics pavilion (Respublikos str. 3) will be host a lecture by Dorota Grubba-Thiede, PhD, and Katarzyna Podpora, PhD „FORM AND THOUGHT – Iridescent Semantics. Contemporary Art Personalities from the Faculty of Sculpture and Intermedia Art, Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk”.

This richly illustrated lecture is, in fact, a kind of an essay presenting, as if from a bird’s-eye view, the fascinating creative work of the art tutors employed at the Faculty of Sculpture and Intermedia Art, Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk. The introductory part highlights the achievements of the founders and co-founders of the Faculty of Sculpture, including laureates of famous international exhibitions, such as the Venice Biennale:  in 1962, the poet of contemporary sculpture, Stanisław Horno-Popławski, and in 1960 Alfred Wiśniewski, a classic inspired by the harmonies of archaic art; as well as Anna Pietrowiec and Janina Stefanowicz-Schmidt.

Each of the personalities mentioned  has developed a distinct creative language, unique to them. Almost all of the artists who were invited to partake in the „FORM AND THOUGHT” show have been presenting their artwork internationally for years. Progressive values resonate within the exhibition space, for example, the contexts of ephemeral, multimedia, and metahumanist art, engaged in sublimating interpersonal and inter-being relationships. Some works serve as metaphors for social and geopolitical relations. Hermeneutic values and archetypal motifs (such as axis mundi, a border, a tree, a boat, a heart, etc.) are also prominent. The show is co-created by personalities of cybernetic, virtual, and also, ecological art. Notably, several of the exhibition participants, possess other competences, such as achievements in cultivating art theory, as well as successful organizing of artistic events (such as international plein-air workshops), creating new artistic venues; and finally, the skill of composing exhibition scenarios – to mention the curatorial duo behind the „Form and Thought” exhibition: Alicja Buławka-Fankidejska and Dmitry Buławka-Fankidejski, whose experimental ceramics were recently exhibited at Mark Rothko Art Centre in Latvia (2024).