BIO
JERZY KĘDZIORA
Studied and got his qualifications from the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk, the University of Fine Arts in Poznań and LTP in Częstochowa as well as in a number of educational institutions both in Poland and abroad (Germany, Portugal, France). From the 1980s he created The Portrait of a Pole in the Times of Political Transformation and the Solidarity, comprising such series as “The Wavering”, “The Resuscitated”, “With Guy-ropes”, “Broken Voice”, “Hangers for” or “The Uniforms for the High Command”. Since the 1990s he has been working on a series of the sculptures of balancing figures.
As a university student in Gdańsk, he witnessed the beginning of the Solidarity movement, which ultimately led to the political transformation in Poland. This experience has made a lasting impression on his work, imbuing it with critical social and political aspects. “The Confession”, which grew out of this political and cultural climate, won the most import_ant sculpture competition of that time in Poland: “The Cross in the Life of a Modern Person”, held under the patronage of the Pope.
“The Balancing Sculptures” (The Grotesque of Transformation), the series of works infused with the same spirit, are the only statues in the world which, held in position only in one or two places, positioned, for instance, on a rope, a rod, a peak of the pyramid, still keep their balance defying gravity. The technicist rope in the first works of the series was a symbol of precariously thin boundaries between the extremes of our states, choices, situations. The more recent sculptures show solitary figures in the open space, who, to the rhythm of the movements of nature, perform mime monodramas displaying amazing acrobatic skills (“Walking Down the River Bank”, “The Little Gondolier”, “The Acrobat with the Chair”). Assembled into larger exhibition sets they form energizing spectacles acted out between the sky and the earth (Global Balances in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Above the Line of Sight in Berlin, On the Trail of the Mage in Orońsko, The Spectacle in the Sky in Lourdes).
The sculptures have been awarded a number of prizes and honorable mentions on various exhibitions and competitions (LICC in London, Winter and Spring Salons in Warsaw, Representational Art in Madrid, A Sculpture for the City in Lakeland). The artist’s other achievements in fine arts include awards on exhibitions, creative grants (also funded by the government), ministerial, Speaker’s and presidential awards as well as a number of sculptures and urban planning solutions that won various competitions. He is also the author of several monuments as well as a number of projects combining fine arts with virtual elements (The Great Presidential Simultaneous Exhibition on two continents under the patronage of the Council of Europe).
His works can be found in museums, galleries and governmental institutions, including the Presidential Palace in Warsaw and diplomatic posts in the United States, as well as in the public space, like the Avenue of Balancing Sculptures on the palace grounds in Olsztyn. Recently the artist was a special guest of such American events as Art Basel Miami, ArtExpo New York, Art San Diego, Art Palm Beach , where his works displayed at the entrance of the exhibition pavilions constituted informal secondary logos of the exhibitions.
DUŻE STAŁE WYSTAWY / BIG PERMANENT EXHIBITIONS
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od 2022 - stała preznetacja w Parku Schillera, Columbus, Ohio, USA (5 prac)
/since 2022 - permanent exhibition in Schiller Park, Columbus, Ohio, USA (5 works)
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od 2021 — "Theatrum rzeźb - Igrce Częstocha", Rynek Starego Miasta, Częstochowa (14 prac)
/since 2021 —"Sculpture Theatre - Igrce Częstocha", Old Market Square, Częstochowa, Poland (14 works)
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od 2016 — „Między wodą a niebem”, Kładka o. Bernatka, Kraków (10 prac)
/since 2016 —"Between The Water and The Sky", Father Bernatek's Footbridge, Krakow, Poland (10 works)
WYBRANE WYSTAWY / SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
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2022-2023 — "Przyziemieni w napięciu" — Miejska Galeria Sztuki w Częstochowie
/"Grounded In Tension" — Miejska Galeria Sztuki in Czestochowa, Poland
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2022-2023 —"Nad horyzontem Jeziora Erie" — Sandusky, Ohio, USA
/"Over the Horizon of Lake Erie - Sandusky, Ohio, USA
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2021 — udział w AILYOS 2021 art&nature — Aigle, Szwajcaria (12 prac)
/participation in AILYOS 2021 art&nature —Aigle, Switzerland (12 works)
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2021 — udział w ARTZUID 2021 - Biennale Rzeźby w Amsterdamie (4 prace)
/participation in ARTZUID 2021 - Amsterdam Sculpture Biennial (4 works)
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2019-2022 — "Zawieszenie: Rzeźby balansujące, natura i kultura — Park Schillera, Columbus, Ohio, USA
/"Suspension: Balancing Sculpture, Nature, and Culture" — Schiller Park, Columbus, OH, USA
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2019 — "Balans w naturze" — Old Westbury Gardens, Long Island, Nowy Jork, USA
/"Balance in Nature", Old Westbury Gardens, Long Island, NY, USA
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2019 — udział w ARTZUID 2019 — Biennale Rzeźby w Amsterdamie (7 works)
/participation in ARTZUID 2019 — Amsterdam Sculpture Biennial (7 works)
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2018-2020 — "Charlie Chaplin i przyjaciele" — St. Urban, Szwajcaria
/"Charlie Chaplin & Friends" — St. Urban, Switzerland
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2017-2018 — "Sztuka balansu" — Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Floryda, USA
/„The Art of Balance” —Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Florida, USA
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2014 — „Natural Balance” — Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens, West Palm Beach, Florida, USA
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2008-2012 — „Global Balance” — Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi, UAE
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2008 — „Northern Star Project” — Rotherham, England
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2007 — „Polscy artyści w cieniu Alp - rzeźba polska XX wieku” — St. Urban, Szwajcaria
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2006 — Bratislava, Slovakia (group exhibition)
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2003 — „Queens Balance” — Berlin, Germany
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2002 — „Above Sight” — Berlin, Germany
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2001 — „Art and Gardens” — Prague, Czech Republic
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1999 — „Balance in Art” — Nurnberg, Germany
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1997 — „Figuration in Art” — Madrid, Spain
I consider myself as a creator, as “a slave of an idea”,
the idea which I have to attain..
The created sculptures of mine identify the unreal dream of walking on a slackline, which accompanying many of people. However, we should interpret it in the broader context like some extraordinary ecstasy and finding oneself in a totally different reality. My art is aiming at receiving a new perspective which will change the current point of an observer’s view.
Unconditionally, the greatest advantage of the sculptures is their universality and timeless message, which enables the understanding by people from various cultures. I set my sight on widening and exploring the new artistic and cultural experiences among the societies of Mediterranean Sea. This task has been fulfilled through the manlike figure, mostly in motion.
My sculptures are generally contrary, surprising and half balancing on the edge of imagination.
These pieces of art are in a constant motion so that they cannot be defined as changeless, invariable or persistent. They cannot be also interpreted unambiguously. They are not only subjected to the metamorphoses and “maturation” to the new situations but also influence onthe changes in the surrounding.
The story of each carved figure could be its individual biography not shorter than the biography of any real man. The cycle “The Balancing” is a proof that art can bemingle, can coexist with a crowd and be its natural part. The hanging above the observers’ heads silhouettes behave similarly to the passing people – they observe them with fixed eyesight, follow, imitate and sometimes mock them.
It seems that the figures would like to say something, sometimes they stay thoughtful. The only boundary of interpretation is the imagination of a particular person, his or her mood, day or background. First and foremost, the balancing sculptures exist in the surrounded space-time. These works of art are not afraid of wind but they refer to human beings whose time will also intervene one day.
STATEMENT
JERZY KĘDZIORA
