Striving for order and perfection are the traits of his personality, which find way in his art. The linocuts seem sterile due to large amount of white spaces (relief embossings) and little bits of pure color. Jerzy Grabowski is associated mostly with abstract graphic linocuts made of geometrical figures – usually Isosceles triangles. Math itself was an important reference point for him, he also used phenomena of optical illusions (op-art influences). His art is based on mathematical structures. All of his works were confined in thematic cycles, while the cycles consisted in tens of sketches, which in turn were labeled with detailed descriptions. In his art he was especially consequential. Privately, Grabowski was a very modest person. Now, after many years, I rediscover his pieces with better understanding, analyzing them through the prism of worldwide avant-garde art. The first time I encountered Jerzy Grabowski was when I was a student – he was my graphics workshop teacher. His art isn’t easy to understand but it has this quality that the longer we look at it and the closer we study it, the more interesting it gets. His art has visible influences of the Bauhaus’ color theory, Jahannes Itten, Josef Albers and Max Bill yet at the same time it is absolutely original, unique. Through these exhibitions and thanks to his wide range of contacts he promoted Concrete Art and optical art on Polish soil. It was his idea to change Polish exhibition “Color in art” into the International Graphic Triennal. In the 60s and 70s he maintained contact with artistic environments from Eastern Europe and he was in the jury of many prestigious art contests. Jerzy Grabowski is one of the most interesting representatives of geometrical abstract art in European graphics of the second half of the 20 th century.
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