„Masterly Narratives. Silesian Masters of Graphics” is an exhibition of artworks created by group of artists associated with Katowice and the history of its Academy of Fine Arts. Since 1929, when they established the first formal artistic association, these artists have been involved in graphics. The exhibition is also an attempt to illustrate not so much the history of this circle, but the durability of the master-teacher-student relationship, attachment to the workshop and technological tradition. The artists whose works are shown in the exhibition were students themselves, but they became masters for the next generations. In their works, they show the unending search for new possibilities, including images created through the use of plastic as a material for matrix making or, nowadays, computers and digital printing. Hence the title, which emphasizes the importance of the master as a teacher, of mastery in the area of workshop and imaging of content, as well as the freedom in interpreting what’s today an inseparable part of the site-specific trend. On this occasion, we display a small fragment of the Silesian Museum in Katowice own collection, that shows the creative output of this community.

The narrative of the exhibition is composed on the principle of interpenetrating „windmill wings”, turning from the literal realism to the arbitrariness of abstraction. It accentuates the variety of techniques. The layout reflects the space of meanings – from the classic landscape, an image of a human being, through city views, a fantastic vision of a journey, all the way to a symbol, arbitrariness and colour abstraction.

Curator:  Andrzej Holeczko-Kiehl

August 19–November 14, 2021

The Silesian Museum in Katowice

1 T. Dobrowolskiego St.