Leon Tarasewicz

The exhibition shows the evolution of the works of Leon Tarasewicz, from his graduation of the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts in 1984, through the presentation of large-format paintings during the 1980s and 1990s, to the recently created examples of spatial compositions. Leon Tarasewicz has been consistently crossing the boundaries of painting for over three decades. His works occupy increasingly more space - he paints on large canvas, annexes walls, floors and elements of existing architecture, transforms structural surfaces into independent painting installations (both indoors and outdoors) made of scaffolding, wood and paint, he makes the viewers trample the pictures or get lost in the mazes of painting installations. Tarasewicz enters the public space, deceives the senses and creates illusions, multiplying his painted structures and their natural surroundings in mirrored reflections. In his recent activities, more and more often he sets the rhythm of reality with light itself, using glowing plastic forms filled with pure color.

At the exhibition, elements of the “out of frame” painting are combined with activities in the space understood as a specific place. The event includes three complementary zones referring to the expanding limits of Tarasewicz’s painting - from traditionally understood canvas and paper works to site-specific projects designed for the Museum of Architecture and adapted to its gallery. Large-format paintings with characteristic, regularly repeating motifs inspired by nature, which gradually transform into simple signs of painting matter - stripes of color and light as well as irregular colors patches will be juxtaposed with three-dimensional works of picture-place. The painting and light installations are integrated with the architecture of the former Bernardine monastery, contemporarily housing the Museum of Architecture. The exhibition includes works from the collections of the National Museum in Wroclaw, the Zachęta Gallery in Warsaw, the Arsenał Gallery in Bialystok, the Upper Silesian Museum in Bytom, as well as private collections and the own collection of Leon Tarasewicz. The presented exhibits, complemented by site-specific projects adapted to the exhibition venue will allow observing the dialogue of painting and architecture and create a polisensory image of the activities of one of the most interesting contemporary artists. The exhibition will be accompanied by a publication containing articles of art critics and theoreticians discussing key issues of the artist’s work, as well as photographic documentation of Leon Tarasewicz’s works presented at the exhibition.

Curator: Małgorzata Devosges-Cuber

Organizers: Museum of Architecture in Wroclaw and the Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Art and Design in Wroclaw