PRÓBA W LUNAPARKU 1967

Editor: Here we have Kazimierz Mikulski’s “PRÓBA W LUNAPARKU,” painted in 1967. It looks to be acrylic on canvas. It's… rather striking. The colors are bold, and the composition is, let’s say, unconventional. What do you see in this piece? Curator: Formally, the composition is structured as a series of discrete planes and blocks. The juxtaposition of figuration against abstraction is notable, especially given the rather crude representation of the female form. The painting is very much interested in surface, as we might expect with acrylic application, each plane with its own texture, seemingly discontinuous with its neighbors. Editor: Discontinuous, yes, exactly! It feels… fragmented. Like it’s assembled from different pieces that don’t quite fit. Is that intentional, do you think? Curator: The intent is not ours to decide, however the disjunction could be a point of departure. How do you view the palette at work here? The artist offers very flat colours, a blue background contrasting against deep browns, and then red in the juggling balls as well as stripes within the suggestive corset. This division and the deployment of the colour must be closely observed to consider the totality of the work. Editor: I suppose the lack of depth flattens the imagery as well? And, although seemingly incongruous, these details create a strangely balanced work of art. Curator: I agree. Note, however, that it may only be by pushing these formal contrasts to extremes that it comes off as, as you say, balanced. What might be considered beautiful in traditional painting is almost turned on its head here. Editor: It certainly challenges the conventional. This examination, in particular, helped me perceive a different, even appealing, dimension within it. Curator: Yes, careful attention to the picture plane and the formalist dimensions will always reveal additional aesthetic detail.