“I’m sitting behind the large desk piled with drawings of wondrous landscapes which are half-real, and half-fantastic – forms layered on each other, their shapes being similar to cones, pyramids, barrows with stones between them – ovoid pebbles dreaming in the ground, and – to enhance the mysterious atmosphere – torn flags and banners flutter in places. Such is the world that Zbigniew Olszewski – graphic artist, practitioner of linoleum block printing, metal artist, illustrator and oil painter – invites us to. The world full of understatements, yet with kind of innuendos, hard facts and symbols at the same time, and most definitely – personal fascinations and fears.

At a first glance it might seem that Olszewski’s drawings present the “moonlike” landscape, which is fantastic for sure – like it was taken out of a fantasy novel, yet not entirely, for all of his favorite props like stones, towers and cones appear as the strict link to reality. For an example, smoking chimneys are disintegrating smokestacks, the geometric buildings with the bricks falling off make one ponder about blinding speed of erosion and destruction process, which the modern architecture undergoes. Such is the way in which Olszewski shows us that abandonment, helplessness and loneliness concern not only people facing the end of 20th century, but also their everyday’s life creations. These horrifying, yet true, processes of destruction, self-annihilation, ageing and decay, regardless of their reason – are one of Zbigniew Olszewski’s greatest inspirations, perfectly visible in his works. Everything he draws emanates with his moods, feelings of danger and fears, which are also the emotions of the end of the century – or the end of the millennium, indeed. After all, the artist, being the unexceptional “man in the street”, with more sensitive soul, is aware of the end of something old and well-known, and the beginning of the new, more than any of us would be. He’s looking for the summaries and inspirations, with ideas fresh yet not uncovered, searching for the trails that have never been walked before.

Olszewski keeps searching, tries to find the expression proper enough to face the strongest of critiques – coming from the creator himself. One of the equivocal symbols appearing in his latest works is a drawer, niche or cavity. It may be empty or falling off something, or even containing something undefined. These drawers have various and strange handles. One of the latest works pictures the multistory tower with several dozen drawers falling off it – like if they were blown out with a major vehemence. The tower rises from the ground and ascends into the symbolic infinity. Some of the drawers are gone, the empty niches being everything that’s left of them.

The author doesn’t make it easier to acknowledge the meaning of his works – usually they have no titles.  When the idea comes up, he sits down and gets to drawing. Sometimes one session is enough to cover the subject, sometimes he needs a couple of them. The requisites appearing in his works are sometimes suggestive in the terms of interpretation, but the author himself would rather leave us in the state of free deliberation and personal interpretation.

Usually, he doesn’t come back to previously used themes. As he states: “The man needs to constantly come up with new ideas and search for the most suitable forms of their expression”.

In his meditations about ever-changing world, Olszewski prefers working in his own studio. Usually, but not always, he works while listening to his favorite tunes, surrounded by books which he loves to reread. Perhaps this is the origin of the narration appearing so often in his graphics, drawings and paintings.

There is no fortuity in his works, the detail is playing a major role in them. The soft chiaroscuro modeling, balanced composition, multiplicity of sets and diversity of value make his creations complete.

Zbigniew Olszewski is sensitive to the nature’s beauty – inexpressible with words, yet so affective for human’s mind. He’s charmed by wildlife, so he enjoys being outdoors and - while not exactly being fond of the travelling itself – discovering and seeing new places, buildings and monuments of architecture.

The stones, being one of the artist’s favorite props, often appear in his drawings, graphics and paintings. He admires their shapes and structure, draws them in their nature, as if he was trying to uncover their secrets.

He is rather withdrawn – not much fond of talking about his work. He states that his creations come naturally, out of the inner need and implicit will of expressing his feelings and experiences – those sad and unpleasant. According to him, the joys are much harder to express.

Zbigniew Olszewski, being very critical of himself, doesn’t mind admiring the others: for instance, Hieronymus Bosch or Pieter Bruegel the Elder. After all, some pieces of their style are echoing in some of his works. Of the modern artists, he respects and holds dear the art of Zdzisław Beksiński and Zbylut Grzywacz.

The drawings from the 90’s, still having titles, like Tower II, Aqueducts or Labyrinth, state the testimony of artistic experiments, struggling with artist’s own imagination which is so broad, placing the viewer in the middle of symbolic labyrinth which paths, tangled as they are, lead to the human’s most desired exit – the freedom. For the artist, freedom means the ability to search for the new ways in the darkness of the world. In my opinion, this is the core of Zbigniew Olszewski’s art – the art full of sublime atmosphere and distance, mystery and understatement, hiding the face of its creator himself in the form of personal symbols and props.”

 

 

"The fantastic realism of Zbigniew Olszewski" - Agnieszka Kuśnierz, "Na przykład" 46/97