Bosschaert’s Flowers in Warsaw 2020

Curator: Oh, this piece just vibrates with energy! It's called "Bosschaert’s Flowers in Warsaw" by Iwo Zaniewski, painted in 2020. It's an oil painting, thick with impasto. Editor: It hits me like a dissonant chord – those bright flowers juxtaposed with the austere, almost Soviet-looking buildings outside the window. It's unsettling, yet captivating. Curator: Exactly! Zaniewski is riffing on classic still life, but placing it within a very specific, modern context. There’s a tension between the beautiful, fleeting blooms and the rigid urban landscape, all rendered with such expressionistic fervor. It feels incredibly personal. Editor: The composition itself is fascinating. That vase of flowers dominates the foreground, practically bursting out of the frame, while the external world feels flattened, distant, like a painted backdrop. Note the table, which the artist also uses to lay pencils, eyeglasses and an eraser… Are we to assume those are his own? Curator: I see the interior and exterior views as psychological spaces. The vibrant interior reflects the artist's creative impulse, while the outside hints at a sense of place, maybe even alienation in this modern, urban environment. I love the tension created with that bookshelf packed with knowledge, ideas. It’s brimming with creative potential but remains fixed, permanent against a bright collection of colourful flowers in their death throes. Editor: Absolutely, and that's amplified by the impasto. You can almost feel the artist's hand, the urgency and immediacy of his gestures. He is building up the surface with visible brushstrokes. There’s a certain visual anarchy which underscores everything Zaniewski wants to express. Curator: I also feel it speaks to a desire for beauty, a defiant embrace of color and life, even in a world that can sometimes feel bleak. You can sense this desire of bringing color inside… Editor: I agree. And while "still life" might imply a sense of stillness, of quiet contemplation, there’s an undeniable vitality present. Curator: It makes me wonder, too, about the enduring power of painting itself – a centuries-old genre, reinterpreted with a very contemporary sensibility. Editor: It's as if Zaniewski has taken a historical genre, turned it inside out, and set it on fire, all whilst staring out his living room window. What a remarkable image. Curator: And maybe that's the enduring magic of art – to see the familiar in new and surprising ways. This work invites reflection. It made me question so much in my surrounding life… from fresh versus sterile objects. Editor: For me, it reveals a deeper complexity of existence as Zaniewski’s art creates questions, without answers… And like all truly fascinating art, there are no wrong perspectives or insights.