According to Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro: “In the medieval tradition, Beksinski seems to have believed that art is a warning about the fragility of the flesh – all pleasures that we know are doomed to die – so his works manage simultaneously to induce a process of decay. Time and the endless struggle for life. During this period his works gained significant popularity in Western Europe, the USA and Japan.
Generally, it is believed that the early period of the work contained expressionist color with a strong style of utopian realism” and surreal architecture such as an apocalyptic scenario. Beksinski created his paintings and drawings in what he called “or method”. He also decided to use the illustrative technique.
After World War II he also created a series of paintings that included a series of crosses, although it is unclear if this motif is religious or not. He continued to paint intriguing works of art during the communist period in Poland, when forms of creativity and art were frowned upon, especially by the Soviet government. The works of Zdzislav Beksinsky can be described as abstract and surreal, depicting grim scenes of death, decay, distorted faces and deformed bodies.
Although all his work was rather obscure, his early work was focused on dystopian apocalyptic landscapes and employed expressionist colors, while his later work was more abstract, formal and used a muted color palette. In Poland his work has influenced many rock musicians and more recently the creators of the adventure video game Tormentum. The famous Mexican director Guillermo del Toro who directed the Oscar-winning movie “The Labyrinth of the Pan” is a well-known fan
Although there are dozens, if not hundreds of such works, I invariably remain under the influence of one of Beksinsky’s most popular paintings, the opera AA72. This choice may not be very original or advanced, but this is the first work of an artist I saw as a child.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, his art focuses on monumental or sculptural representations in a narrow (and sometimes muted) color palette, including a series of crosses. His highly detailed drawings are often quite large and may resemble some of Ernst Fuchs’ work in their intricate and almost intrusive execution. In the end, Beksinsky became interested in painting and worked on it in a more professional manner.
Beckinsky’s art is displayed at the National Museums in Warsaw, Sanok, Krakow, Poznan and the Gothenburg Art Museum in Sweden. His ability to manipulate lighting effects quickly became a hallmark of his work, and he called this period “fantastic” and lasted until the mid-80s.
After graduating in 1955 he returned to Sanok and worked as a section manager and bus designer. He survived World War II and continued to paint provocative works during the communist period in Poland, when many art forms were frowned upon, notably by the Soviet government.
It is difficult to know what to think of an artist like Zdzislav Beksinski who has argued that there was no symbolism in everything he painted ; when audiences saw dark, foreboding and genuine apocalyptic horror he only made an effort to bring his performances to life.
Beksinsky was born on February 24, 1929 in Sanok, South Poland and studied architecture at the Krakow Polytechnic Institute, and after completing his studies in 1955 he returned home to work as an engineer and inspector, which he hated. For the majority of the time he was however firmly convinced that he did not know the meaning of his works and was not interested in them.
Beksinsky avoided a concrete analysis of the content of his work, stating: “I cannot imagine a reasonable statement about painting” He was particularly dismissive of those who sought or offered simple answers to the meaning of his work, but pointing to films which reflect his work’s atmosphere is not an easy task.
Each month, KafkaGallery immerses itself in the world, universe and life of Central Europe’s most captivating artists and artists through exclusive interviews with art experts, museums and gallery curators or contemporary artists. This week we met with Jaroslaw Serafin, the artistic director of the Sanok History Museum in Poland, to talk about Zdzislaw Beksinski (1929–2005) the great Polish master of mysterious figures, dystopian worlds and disturbing forms. The largest exhibition in the world
And the motive for the murder, as it later turned out, was that Beksinsky refused to lend an amount to the merchant equal to around $ 100.
