Polish Art Gallery Art Collections

Zdzislaw Beksinski

Zdzislaw Beksinski (24 February 1929 - 21 February 2005) was a renowned Polish painter, photographer, and sculptor who is best known as a fantasy artist. Beksinski executed his paintings and drawings either in what he called a 'Baroque' or a 'Gothic' manner. The first style is dominated by representation, with the best-known examples coming from his 'fantastic realism' period when he painted disturbing images of a surrealistic, nightmarish environment. The second style is more abstract, being dominated by form, and is typified by Beksinski's later paintings. Most of his paintings are monochromatic fantastic compositions loaded with disquieting weirdness and peril - like visions from the nightmare. His works are executed with technical perfection; he was also always interested in artistic experiments erasing the borders between techniques and disciplines of art. Since the 1980s he achieved significant popularity in Western Europe, the United States and Japan. In the latter part of the 1990s, he discovered computers, the Internet, digital photography and photomanipulation, a medium that he focused on until his tragic death. This exhibition presents some of the computer collages signed by the artist (very rare!) as well as few of his original paintings.