'Ancient ruins of the future' - Polish artist Igor Mitoraj's conversations between past and present

The activity of Polish creator Igor Mitoraj has fascinated some critics and audiences astir nan world for decades. His monumental sculptures, often depicting fragmented bodies and faces, evoke ancient traditions, but astatine nan aforesaid clip reference concerns still recovered successful nan modern world.

"I deliberation this is simply a breakthrough, a infinitesimal erstwhile Poles are rediscovering Mitoraj. I americium very funny to spot really acold this fascination will go. But for maine nan astir important point is that we are bringing Mitoraj backmost to Poland," Mitoraj's biographer Agnieszka Stabro tells Euronews.

'Tindaro' - nan return of monumentalism to Poland

"Tindaro" is simply a monumental bronze formed of nan caput of a young man. It stands complete 4 meters tall, was created successful 1997 connected nan orders of nan world consulting patient KPMG. It primitively stood successful beforehand of nan company's French office astatine La Défense, nan modernist business territory of suburban Paris. For immoderate 20 years, it formed an integral portion of this chopped architectural landscape.

The activity is 1 of Mitoraj's astir awesome creations: not only successful position of size, but besides shape - nan backmost of nan sculpture contains 2 pillars connected by a beam, reliefs, a mascaron alluding to nan "Mouth of Truth" aliases "Bocca della Verità", an ancient Roman disguise pinch an enduring medieval myth. According to legend, liars who spot their hands wrong nan marble disguise will person their hands bitten off.

"Tindaro", therefore, is much than conscionable a portrait. Rather, it is besides a building successful which nan sculpture builds a speech pinch different clip periods, cultures, and artists.

The sanction "Tindaro" besides embodies this symbolism - it refers to nan fig of Tyndareos, King of Sparta and begetter of Helen of Troy - yet different mythological reference, which is often coming successful nan artist's work.

Bringing "Tindaro" from Paris to Warsaw is not conscionable a commercialized transaction - it is simply a taste arena that allows residents and nan nationalist to interact pinch monumental sculpture connected a regular basis, building a section discourse for reflection connected taste heritage, beauty and time.

A life intertwined pinch art

Igor Mitoraj was calved Jerzy Makina connected nan 26th of March, 1944 successful Oederan, Germany. His mother was a Polish female forced to activity successful Germany, his begetter a French Foreign Legion soldier, besides of Polish origin.

After nan war, he and his mother returned to Poland. He spent his puerility successful Grojec adjacent Oświęcim.

Mitoraj studied coating astatine nan Academy of Fine Arts successful Kraków nether famed creator and movie head Tadeusz Kantor. In 1968, he near for Paris, wherever he continued his acquisition astatine nan École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts. Initially he worked successful coating and printmaking, but later - aft galore world trips, including to Mexico - he began to activity connected sculpture. In 1979 he visited Carrara, past successful 1983 he group up a workplace successful Pietrasanta, Italy, a region known for its marble quarries and sculptural tradition.

He died connected 6 October 2014 successful Paris; however, his atelier, useful and bequest unrecorded on, and successful nationalist places astir nan world his sculptures are a recognizable awesome of nan nexus betwixt nan classical and modernist movements.

A 'citizen of nan world' who ne'er forgot his Polish roots

The artist's biographer, Agnieszka Stabro, emphasizes that Mitoraj was supra each a "singer of beauty" and an creator who "brought ancient civilization person to Poland and Europe". Although he spent astir of his life abroad, his creation ever carried traces of his wartime puerility experiences and nan tone of Polish melancholy.

Born successful Germany, he spent his puerility and younker successful Poland, not acold from Auschwitz.

"The proximity of this place, its history, nan ambiance of nan post-war play - each this had a immense effect connected his [artistic] sensitivity," Stabro notes. Under nan tutelage of Tadeusz Kantor astatine nan Academy of Fine Arts successful Kraków, Mitoraj learned to comprehend beauty arsenic thing that is not obvious, but moving.

Although he travelled extensively - from South America to Asia - Europe was his home. Two homelands successful peculiar person marked his path: France and Italy.

He spent 20 years successful Paris and past settled permanently successful Tuscany, successful Pietrasanta, adjacent Carrara - known for its marble that has been utilized for creator useful for centuries, including by Michelangelo.

"He ended up location by chance, looking for a foundry. But erstwhile he saw nan town, he fell successful emotion pinch it. Pietrasanta had everything: marble, tradition, traces of Michelangelo and that Italian sun he loved truthful much," Stabro emphasizes.

The manner successful Tuscany, its lightness and joy, suited nan creator much than Polish mundane life. "In backstage conversations, nan group of Pietrasanta told maine that he conscionable loved nan sun and nan weather. But I deliberation it was not conscionable nan climate, but nan full ambiance of Italian life," notes nan biographer.

"I deliberation this is an illustration of an creator successful whom life and productivity are inextricably linked," she adds.

His characteristic style is that of monumental sculptures, often fragmentary - heads, torsos, missing limbs, cracks, bandages - each deliberate intends of expression. Mitoraj draws connected mythology, antiquity, but didn't trust connected inexpensive copies: his useful are a speech pinch nan past, memory, clip and transience.

His creation has go a metaphor for life - connected nan 1 manus monumental, referring to classical proportions, connected nan different - wounded, incomplete, revealing nan fragility of quality fate.

Reflections: beauty, transience, fragmentation

Mitoraj utilized to opportunity that creation should intrigue - not uncover everything astatine once, time off room for discovery, for mystery. In "Tindaro", this effect of creating a speech betwixt viewer, shape and abstraction is peculiarly strong. The monumental head, but besides nan rear building is simply a sculpture "in sculpture".

The pillars and reliefs unit nan spectator to spell astir it, to attack it from different sides, to look astatine it from various angles.

"It is besides a spot of a metaphor for life successful general, that everything has 2 sides, thing is achromatic and white. It's worthwhile to hunt precisely, not to extremity astatine nan aboveground of reality, but to look further," explains nan biographer.

The creator was keen to tie connected antiquity and Greek mythology, but nan sources of his fascination pinch monumentality should besides beryllium sought successful Aztec culture.

Mitoraj was keen to weave ancient motifs into his works, including nan mythological Medusa. "Medusa appears successful his activity very often and has various meanings - sometimes arsenic a awesome of female strength, sometimes of justness and honour. Nothing successful his sculptures is accidental. Every item has a meaning," Stabro points out.

Another of his trademarks is nan rima - repeated successful almost each sculpture. "They are nan rima of nan artist, a benignant of signature," says his biographer.

Art historians often accent that Mitoraj's sculptures are not only a general experiment, but besides a metaphor for nan quality condition. Missing arms, cloaked eyes aliases cracked torsos go symbols of nan fragility of civilisation, nonaccomplishment of personality and taste memory. This fragmentary creator connection is sometimes compared to archaeological excavations - arsenic if Mitoraj were creating "ancient ruins of nan future".

Contemporary artists and critics picture his useful arsenic "monumental and friendly astatine nan aforesaid time". Monumental, because they often predominate municipality space, specified arsenic nan celebrated "Testa Addormentata: successful Pietrasanta, Italy, aliases "Eros Bendato" successful Kraków. Intimate, because each of these forms hides silence, reflection and melancholy - thing that brings them person to belief aliases philosophical contemplation.

"He created his ain universe," says Stabro, "these sculptures correspond pinch each other, creating a Mitoraj world wherever beauty meets frailty."

"Michelangelo is simply a fig whose footsteps he really followed and whose traces successful Pietrasanta tin beryllium recovered astatine virtually each turn," she adds.

Critics compared him to Auguste Rodin, pointing to his inspiration from nan Italian masters but, arsenic Stabro notes, his spot lied first and foremost successful his originality. "It is difficult to comparison him to anyone. Yes, you tin find traces of influence, but he ever created his ain language. It is this originality that makes him a postmodernist - because he collapsed nan classical pattern, made his ain changes and searched for caller meanings."

'Tindaro' will stay successful Warsaw

Although nan astir costly sculpture successful nan history of nan Polish auction marketplace remains Magdalena Abakanowicz's activity "Tłum III" [Crowd III] (1989) which fetched conscionable complete €3 cardinal successful 2021, nan waste of Mitoraj's sculpture is arsenic significant.

According to nan Polswiss Art Auction House, "Tindaro", which stood connected Three Cross's Square astatine nan opening of September, will stay successful Warsaw's municipality space.

Where? The reply to that mobility truthful acold remains unknown.

Until nan extremity of September, nan sculpture tin beryllium seen successful beforehand of nan entranceway to nan Sheraton Grand Hotel successful Warsaw.