"GOSIA SEWERYN - ROYAL STORIES"

I look for and throw away...
I discover and lose...

I carefully search for words by which I could describe the Gosia Seweryn's world. Because there are no words in her world. Though titles appear at times. There isn't talkativeness, however ambiguous stories are spuned out. A silence dominates it but its usully the silance before a storm. It seems that in the moment the air blows out of the growing tension. Or on the contrary it is still shaking from the cry which ceased in this second. It happens that such silance remains from time immemorial.

There is usualy lack of people. Absence?

Maybe they sleep or they have just gone somewhere... Or they perished because of unknown catastrofy, they destroyed their kind in destructive war of worlds... Maybe people never lived there... Only signs of some high developed civilisation remained, sometimes very similar to our ones. Paving stones, walls, narrow streets, arcades, stairs, sometimes churches, towers and even sky-scrapers. No flower, tree, cat or dog, no grass. Light and shadow.

How therefore, looking at Gosia Seweryn's lithographies do we draw that deep inward conviction that thay refer to us. Our lives, our hesitationsand choices our defeats and flights? Why those appearently dead, stony gardens are vibrant with mysterious life? Why there is sometimes sadness and sometimes fun? Who is there?

The main hero of "Royal Stories" is a crown. However it is not an ordinary one to wear on a head, casted away by unknow ruler but flet and stony one like a lithographic plate. It's the crown simplified to the symbol - the cuboid with three teeth cut from the top. Maybe because this crown doesn't become a forgotten trinket, but it lives its own life, aims to something, avoids something, is afraid, flies up and falls down. A thing itself, which we will never know well.

On the other hand, the crown is a symbol of a king, so noble, unique, honest, unblemished person. We know true and fabulous stories from our childhood, about an expatriator, who defeats his own fear and dangers, and comes back to his kingdom. It is easy to identify with such a hero.

Is there anyone who has not dreamed secretly to be somebody unique. To get away like in "Separation" from exhausting wall of a commonplaceness, to catch silvery horn like in "Moon Story" and to fly away to the world. Who of us has never hiden in a shadow of "Transition" to calm a heart before coming into a lighted room. Who hasn't daydreamed that a door in an arcade of the royal tower would open just for him, or that after a dark, court wall he could find "Second Life" full of a shine. A propos an identification... Did you notise that the crown is so similar to an initial of full name of the artist (Malgorzata)?

Hopeless solitude of a ruler among courtiers and subjects is similar to our loneliness of crowdy officers and cities, isn't it? If the crown or somebody who is as unique as each of us can feel good in modern, unindividual, concrete town, where crafty "Crime" and "Mc King" is ruling? Here the crown is "Spy" or "Risker". Here You can come a cross the "Dreams Hight" which appears to be a sharp spire of the Chrysler Building when you come closer.

Each power adduces to true or false, historical or legendary roots in order to implement its reign. It is so in the Gosia Seweryn's country. "Guardes of Royal Couple" are stony, Sumerian priests and warriors, the background of royal "Returns" are characteristic arcades from Munster, there "Meteor" lands, black and white crowns found out their own "Middle"there too. Careful observer will perceive "Italian Stories" on the wall of Piza Tower, invisible at first sight and greatly enigmatic record of future or... past events.

When people appear in this kingdom they are always the persons for whom the crown lies heavy as a inscrutable fate. Beautiful "Princess" betrayed by a shadow, impressive "Maria Magdalena" experienced by painfull emptiness, "Prisoner", and the author of those graphics as a daughter signed by "Royal Seal" in the end.

Besides, You can surely find a lot of your own Royal Stories in Gosia Seweryn's lithographies. Because they are exceptionally inspiring, full of beautiful, humanistic references, deep and wise. And in conjuction with that you can watch them with great pleasure, because they are just magnificently made. Her graphics are charecterized by the mature charines of means of expression, reduced colouring, soft sign of lithographic crayon and perceptible, rough facture of stony plate whose borders in biger prints save its natural, irregular line. Compositions are based on diagonal lines which brings an expresion of dynamic, strong contrasts of a light and a shadow, darker foreground builds expression that the most important things are played somewhere, still behind the drawing, may be in a spiritual sphere.

Gosia Seweryn knows what she wants to say and know how to do it. She consisently creates her world, which by atmosphere and especialy through emptiness and silance of town spaces, lengthened shadows or disquiting shake of a logic of perspective lines. For art critics it could be an association with Italian metaphisical painting espacialy with an early creation of Giorgio de Chirico. It is also a sensible association with astonishing compositions of items and jokes in surrealistic painting of Rene Magrite, notabene the study on the same Antwerp Academy connects Gosia Seweryn with Magrite.

Flamish Scholarships for study at Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, excellent lithographic diploma in Pedagogical University in Częstochowa, I-st Rector's Award of this University for artistic and scientific achivements, several individual exhibitions in Poland and abroad, a part in several group exhibition in the whole world - are extraordinary achivements for such a young person. Gosia Seweryn is also busy with photography, oil-paiting, and in graphic field with linocut, silkscreen, etching and monotype. This time we exhibit only lithographies. Hurry up to see those graphics before they disappear like many of her works in the world collections.