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 Grażyna A. Kashdan about Maria Dziopak'I love Nature, I love the wind, rain, clouds, and the sunshine forcing itself through them, I love the sea and its rough waves, I love the crisp mountain air, the smell of hay, flowers, and herbs. I love the changing shades of all these phenomena'. Maria Dziopak It was at the Skulski Art Gallery exhibition that I had the first opportunity to become acquainted with the paintings of the Polish artist Maria Dziopak. This famous painter has visited New York on several occasions, but was never left with enough time to present her own paintings here. It is worth emphasizing at this point that Maria Dziopak and Elżbieta Sawczuk co-own a prosperous 'SD-Gallery' in Warsaw which represents the most outstanding Polish artists. Last year's Art-Expo in New York had for the first time in the history of this fair a Polish gallery present, and it was precisely that of Maria Dziopak and Elżbieta Sawczuk. So much involved in promoting and presenting the artists of her Gallery, she had never had the time to put up her own exhibition, so it is very positive that she has finally agreed to come to New York with her own works. Maria Dziopak graduated from the Painting Department at University of Silesia under Professor Andrzej Kowalski. When she first started painting, her. works showed gray and sad images of her native Silesia, so close to her heart, but just as she says about these first works, they were not so much depressing, as romantic. Her painting changed when she had moved to Cracow which she madly fell in love with. It was in Cracow that she created the series of ‘courtyards’, that she painted old houses, faithfully rendering the atmosphere of her beloved city. Her next address change once again influenced her art. Having moved to Warsaw, she did not feel at home in the new and unknown city. Trying to escape the depressing nostalgia, she began painting Polish countryside, showing much affection for floral compositions seen against rural architecture. Her paintings are but a direct reflection of the emotions resulting from a sensitive, yet penetrating observation, a spontaneous reaction to the fascination with nature, and they are this nature’s reliable studies. Painted rapidly, energetically, they are to retain what is essential in the fascination. They contain strong dynamics, a spreading on impact of emotions which accompanied the Artist in the creative process. Maria Dziopak travels the world a lot, and during those journeys new painting series are created. Enchanted with the severe landscape of Norway, she returned there for a number of years to paint dramatic severe landscapes. Her landscapes reveal a unique documentary-character. Her fairy-tale-like gardens were influenced by floral compositions which she discovered in the botanical garden in Sweden. Later on, Maria successfully proceeded to painting the Orthodox churches of Moscow. She lived in that city for several years and painted its lofty, monumental buildings, as well as God-forsaken dirty streets. She was fascinated with the Orthodox churches. And although historically it was not the period that favored sacral painting, Dziopak's talent allowed to overcome some barriers and she had a one-woman show set up at the prestigious Central Painter's House at Malaia Tretiakovka, which actually proved to be a great success of the Polish painter. Maria's trip to Turkey in 1992 was commemorated by the Gold Medal of Lord Mayor of Istanbul awarded to her for her oeuvre and by her one-woman show which participated in EURODIALOGUE. On the occasion of receiving the prize, the Artist was hosted at a party held at Sultan's palace she recalls it by saying that 'it can only be compared to the Tales of A Thousand and One Nights'. Three years ago, Maria Dziopak received yet another prestigious prize awarded for her artistic achievements by the French 'Colas' Foundation. Although the Artist has painted some different and distant places of the world, dominating in her oeuvre is a romantic, beautiful, and subtle Polish character. Apart from participating in exhibitions and world travels, the Artist eagerly takes part in artistic plein-airs which provide not merely an excellent opportunity to meet on the artistic and social levels, but first of all an opportunity to exchange experience with other artists, and to become acquainted with their workshop. Discussing Maria's biography, one should not forget about her charity involvement: she has willingly participated in a number of auctions aimed to assist children. Each year, some of her paintings are given to charity in the hope that they might bring some joy to the most needy. It will not be an overstatement to say that the works of this outstanding Artist can be found in museums, galleries, and private collections all over the world. People eagerly buy her works during exhibitions and as much as her fabulously colorful flowery canvases fit so well in spacious galleries and exhibition halls, their most appropriate location is the intimacy of an apartment where in close contact they reveal all their qualities, of which peace and friendliness are the most important in our today’s busy world. Moreover, it can be said that they are a special example of a manifold perception of reality. Many art critics ask Maria about her painting style. In one of her recent interviews she replied: 'I think, I will slowly leave aside clear and distinctive landscapes in order to focus more on internal painting. I might go back to my old style where preciseness came together with a romantic touch. Who knows, I may even enshroud it all with an atmospheric mist and mystery?' In one of the articles, Maria Dziopak was defined as the only living Polish Impressionist working in nature. In order to agree or disagree with this opinion, one needs to get to know her works. For many years now, the Artist has painted traditional landscapes: be it Norwegian fiords, or typically Polish fall landscape, architecture of a severe Scandinavian coast, or the peace of homely Polish recess, all these works come to existence in a direct contact with nature. The world, as shown in her paintings, is the world of vivid colors of the sun in a harbor town, of Burgundy red of a tree in the fall, or the white-turquoise wave of the rough northern sea. German gardens flooded with sunshine and mysterious Italian streets, or Egyptian oases blooming with the green, all of these smile at the Beholder. An original bringing together works of such different 'atmosphere' would allow us to call the whole exhibition A Sunny Impression. Grażyna A. Kashdan, The Voice, New York, December 2002 | |
| Galeria SD, designed by Michał Piecuch, 2004 |