The exhibition shows a wide selection of works by Henryk Lula - artist, teacher and professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdansk.
With over 100 objects, it is the most comprehensive presentation to date of the achievements of this outstanding artist, who has worked in the technique and medium of ceramics from the 1950s to the present day. The theme of matter emphasized in the title corresponds to the conceptual statement of the presentation as well as the artist's theoretical reflection on its role in art. The exhibition also explores the question of how the modern ceramic tradition has developed in Poland, which defies the criteria of applied art or design and has been very much alive on the Polish art scene since the 1960s.
Handmade unique pieces subject to the laws of physics, thermal and chemical processes - including bowls, bottles, plates, vessels, flat, round, concave and convex forms - are Lula's preferred repertoire of open and closed bodies and structures, understood as autonomous works whose integrity is co-designed by the colors and textures developed during the glazing and firing phases. The original glazes, which Henryk Lula created himself and which are precisely matched to the forms, enhance the works in such a way that they become an inseparable unity of ceramics, understood as the art of matter. Examples of works composed in sets based on harmony or contrast of forms show the complexity and nuances of ceramic design, which is determined by refined technique and artistic sophistication and is characterized by a wide range of possibilities.
The exhibition also features Henryk Lula's work and his involvement in the reconstruction of a Renaissance ceramic masterpiece - the Great Stove from the Artus Court in Gdańsk, an object of great importance to European cultural heritage.
February 23 to May 19, 2024
