Colineation II

Kolineacja II (1969) by Stefan Krygier is one of the works in a series, throughout which the artist continued to work on the issue of form, as well as space and communication of the work's message. Colineations, a term borrowed from geometry, are – according to the author himself – transformations of abstract forms at various points in space on straight lines, as well as the spreading of these forms in specific zones. Konflikty was yet another series dealing with this issue – it explored the interplay of shapes and colours as a result of transformations. Both series led the artist to create the Form Condensation Centre – a collection of shapes of a specific character in an open space. Placed in various configurations by the author and the audience, they created an arrangement of open imagination and free play. Krygier referred to colineations, conflicts and the form condensation centre as the elements of his artistic search, in which the manifestations – paintings, reliefs and sculptures – were the consequence of the evolution of the form of the shapes and colours. Stefan Krygier also carried out architectural and urban planning projects. As a graduate of the State Higher School of Visual Arts in Łódź and Warsaw University of Technology, he skilfully combined artistic and technical aspects of seeing and creating space in paintings. He was a student of Władysław Strzemiński, author of the famous work Teoria widzenia, who was also his close friend. For both artists, art, its understanding and practising were – to quote art historian and critic Bożena Kowalska, a product of intellectual inquiry. Like his master, Krygier explored the problem of visual awareness, highlighting the role of imagination in the visual perception of works of art, as he wanted to create a piece, which would be an emanation of space.

Marlena Chybowska-Butler