Multipars Pictura - Krakow Polyptych

Join me in a new artistic venture “Multipars Pictura - Krakow Polyptych”. All artists - professional and amateurs - are welcome!

The goal of this project is to engage people of different backgrounds and ages in an active participation of creating a large, multi-part painting. This composition will not have a permanent form, but will be systematically modified and enriched with new fragments. The place of its presentation will also change so that the idea could reach the widest possible group of Krakow residents and guests.

During the COVID 19 pandemic, as a result of the rapid digitization, video calls became everyday life. The grid view of those videos inspired YouTubers and filmmakers. The social media was also full of mosaic-films. E.g we could watch a concert of several musicians, each of whom played individually from their home. The result was a harmonious mosaic of sounds and images. There were als sports videos: the person from one window passed the ball to the person in the window above, then the person to the right, etc. The phenomenon of mosaic-films strongly exposed the problem of social isolation and the need for personal interaction. Unable to meet and shake hands, internet users created a substitute of physical interconnection. Echoes of this experience will surely remain in the public consciousness for a long time. It seems natural to transform those experiences into artistic language, where the sum of individual activities becomes a common, real art work.

The idea is to create a large, multi-part painting consisting of approx. 150 smaller paintings (25 x 25 cm). And to invite various authors to this cooperation. All artists are welcome: professionals and beginners, young and old, people of different experience and stories to tell. 
This inclusion of representatives of various environments and generations will give the opportunity to exchange experiences both in the social and artistic fields.

The final composition has been designed so that each person who contributes to it, can express themselves creatively, without formal or stylistic restrictions. The participants will be provided with all necessary materials and accessories. The project emphasizes equality, tolerance, lack of hierarchy due to age, artistic experience, etc. Some institutions and NGO organizations in Kraków have already declared their participation in the project. 

The dynamics of the project is also determined by the fact that the Polyptych will be presented in various places in Krakow (art galleries, schools, cafes, etc.). Also the final exposition will be changing regularly. The artists have been asked to, while creating their artwork, follow the principle of continuation, so that, regardless of its place in the composition, the painting always “fits” to the neighbouring work.

An additional highlight of the project is the hidden identity of the artists. Participants will be asked not to sign their work on the front, but on the back. Thanks to this, the viewers of Polyptych will have to guess the artist, not knowing if e.g an artwork was made by famous artists or an amateur painter.

The idea for this project has developed from my art series created in 2015-17 called “Gravity”. The paintings of this series were presented in an unusual arrangement of polyptychs. Unusual, because each image was composed in such a way as to perfectly match another painting from this collection. The works could be freely rotated and arranged in various variants, always creating a coherent whole. Individually, each work could be an independent abstract image, but in combination with subsequent canvases, these fragments took on a different context, shape and meaning, changing our point of view. 

Assuming that the epidemiological situation improves, several workshop meetings are planned as part of the project.  The main events however will be the exhibitions. The first exhibition will take place at the end of 2021, and the final three shows are planned for the Spring 2022.

Are you interested in participating in the project? Check the details here.

Check the latest posts about the project!

The project is funded by Kraków Art Scholarship “Stypendium Twórcze Miasta Krakowa”.