Miejsce trąb 2019

Lech Jankowski made this drawing, Miejsce trąb, with graphite on paper. It’s like a landscape of feeling, isn’t it? I can see the artist building the image slowly, mark by mark, layer upon layer. Look at those linear striations in the upper left corner, like a curtain lifting or a veil being pulled back. I imagine Jankowski, leaning in close, squinting, really feeling the weight of the pencil in his hand. There is a solid form in the center, looming, like a boat, or perhaps a cloud. The artist coaxes a dark shadow around it, rooting it in space. I wonder if it’s a metaphor for something deeply felt, a vessel carrying who-knows-what across an ocean of unknowing… There’s a quiet intensity, but also a real openness here. The drawing reminds me of other artists, like Agnes Martin, who embrace nuance and understatement. It’s like they are all having a conversation, across time, about what a work of art can be.