DOI Artikel:
Żakiewicz, Anna: Marek Jaromski's Religious Art in the Collections of the National Museum in Warsaw
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18949#0158
Jaromski is an extraordinary artist - angels are real beings to him. He
seems to be in contact with them everyday in which he is close to medieval
creators, to whom crucifixes carved out of lime-tree wood were not just
sculptures or painted Madonnas - pictures. His approach to art is nowadays
unheard of. Like an old craftsmen he produces paper himself to create uniąue
religious works of art based on the Holy Bibie, so he may be easily suspected
of an anachronism or an opportunism. These suspicions however cannot be
taken seriously in Jaromski’s case, which confirms the authenticity of his art
with his entire life. A prize-winner in Poland as well as abroad he is not subject
to easy temptations and creates always according to his own rules.
Sometimes Jaromski needs a fire. During the celebrations of Corpus Christi
in 1998 in the garden of the “Ars longa” gallery in Milanówek the artist
arranged an extraordinary performance reflecting the essence of his creation.
He sent a burning letter to a deceased friend, a well-known traveller Tony
Halik. It consisted in a solemn setting; he ignites a ribbon hanging eight
meters long, madę of joined together works on Japanese tissue paper. Works
typical for Jaromski’s art, religious themes - lamb, shroud, Crucifixion,
ąuotations from the Holy Bibie, and Marcin Bryczyński’s poem Trial by Fire.
A specific fervent prayer - religious and at the same time ąuite personal,
willingness for transcendence but also a dedication of his works to his
deceased friend by their physical annihilation.
Many of Jaromski’s works look outwardly primitive - they are grey, their
edges are torn, and tattered, in some of them pieces of straw, seeds, and
pieces of leaves can be seen. Nevertheless, almost all of them have an internal
light brightening them up from the inside, as on 17th century paintings of
Dutch masters, while rich and differentiated texture treatment adds an
unexpected depth.
Recently the artist has decided to include himself into popular tendency
of making money, however, he has done it quite perfidiously in his own
specific way. Namely he has created a series called Heavenly Coin. Large
denominations of several thousand are madę of two-meter long lime-tree
panels, paper madę coins being a dozen centimetres or so in diameter. It
should not be a surprise that Jaromski called this money Golden Angels/
Angelic Zlotys. What other name for the means of payment invented by
someone to whom the inhabitants of Heaven are as real as people could
possibly apply...?J
In the collection of the Department of Contemporary Prints and Drawings
in the National Museum in Warsaw there are 15 graphic works and one
drawing by Marek Jaromski.4 Eleven of them are religious works from the
years 1985-1999. In March 2000 Jaromski began to paint a composition
J A direct inspiration for the series Heavenly Coin was from a poem by Marcin Brykczyński
under the same title, works were shown in 1999 in L.V Verselbusch in Germany and in 2000
in Powszechny Bank Kredytowy’s (Popular Credit Bank) Gallery in Warsaw.
4 Six of them are the artist’s deposits, which we hope to obtain either by purchase or as a donation.
156
seems to be in contact with them everyday in which he is close to medieval
creators, to whom crucifixes carved out of lime-tree wood were not just
sculptures or painted Madonnas - pictures. His approach to art is nowadays
unheard of. Like an old craftsmen he produces paper himself to create uniąue
religious works of art based on the Holy Bibie, so he may be easily suspected
of an anachronism or an opportunism. These suspicions however cannot be
taken seriously in Jaromski’s case, which confirms the authenticity of his art
with his entire life. A prize-winner in Poland as well as abroad he is not subject
to easy temptations and creates always according to his own rules.
Sometimes Jaromski needs a fire. During the celebrations of Corpus Christi
in 1998 in the garden of the “Ars longa” gallery in Milanówek the artist
arranged an extraordinary performance reflecting the essence of his creation.
He sent a burning letter to a deceased friend, a well-known traveller Tony
Halik. It consisted in a solemn setting; he ignites a ribbon hanging eight
meters long, madę of joined together works on Japanese tissue paper. Works
typical for Jaromski’s art, religious themes - lamb, shroud, Crucifixion,
ąuotations from the Holy Bibie, and Marcin Bryczyński’s poem Trial by Fire.
A specific fervent prayer - religious and at the same time ąuite personal,
willingness for transcendence but also a dedication of his works to his
deceased friend by their physical annihilation.
Many of Jaromski’s works look outwardly primitive - they are grey, their
edges are torn, and tattered, in some of them pieces of straw, seeds, and
pieces of leaves can be seen. Nevertheless, almost all of them have an internal
light brightening them up from the inside, as on 17th century paintings of
Dutch masters, while rich and differentiated texture treatment adds an
unexpected depth.
Recently the artist has decided to include himself into popular tendency
of making money, however, he has done it quite perfidiously in his own
specific way. Namely he has created a series called Heavenly Coin. Large
denominations of several thousand are madę of two-meter long lime-tree
panels, paper madę coins being a dozen centimetres or so in diameter. It
should not be a surprise that Jaromski called this money Golden Angels/
Angelic Zlotys. What other name for the means of payment invented by
someone to whom the inhabitants of Heaven are as real as people could
possibly apply...?J
In the collection of the Department of Contemporary Prints and Drawings
in the National Museum in Warsaw there are 15 graphic works and one
drawing by Marek Jaromski.4 Eleven of them are religious works from the
years 1985-1999. In March 2000 Jaromski began to paint a composition
J A direct inspiration for the series Heavenly Coin was from a poem by Marcin Brykczyński
under the same title, works were shown in 1999 in L.V Verselbusch in Germany and in 2000
in Powszechny Bank Kredytowy’s (Popular Credit Bank) Gallery in Warsaw.
4 Six of them are the artist’s deposits, which we hope to obtain either by purchase or as a donation.
156