National Maritime Museum in Gdańsk, 04.10 – 14.12.2025
Integration of the classical tradition of romantic landscape painting with the precision of geometric abstraction… Images that do not merely depict nature; rather, they create an opportunity for reflection and the enquiry of whether it is still feasible for an observer to establish a profound, personal relationship with nature in the age of the Anthropocene, digital perception, and data – these words used by Mariusz Hoffman, Vice-President of the Gdańsk District of the Association of Polish Artists and Designers, to describe Łukasz Patelczyk’s work perfectly capture the essence of the artist’s exhibition at the National Maritime Museum in Gdańsk. Contemplative, surprising in their synthesis of styles and expressive aesthetics, the paintings of this year’s winner of the Kazimierz Ostrowski Award are on display at the Museum’s main building on Ołowianka Island from 4 October till 14 December 2025.
Łukasz Patelczyk, a graduate of the Faculty of Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk, has presented his work at nearly 20 solo exhibitions and over 40 collective ones. His works have been viewed by audiences in Poland, including in Warsaw, Poznań, Łódź, Gdańsk, Toruń, Wrocław and Kraków, as well as abroad: in Ukraine (Kyiv), Austria (Salzburg), Germany (Budelsdorf), Hungary (Budapest), the USA (New York) and South Korea (Daejeon). The artist’s works can be found in the collections of the National Museum in Gdańsk, the PKO Bank Polski Collection and numerous private collections. He is the recipient of many awards and scholarships. As he himself says about his work and creative process: ‘The theme of my work is the symbiosis of styles, which involve the integration of classical landscape painting with the language of abstraction. I look for solutions where the two languages harmonise and produce a cohesive work. (…) The most important thing in the painter’s work is the concept. The painting itself does not require as much time as the process of contemplation or the pursuit of solutions. (…) I read a lot, watch a lot, and I listen to music. When something interests me, I conduct a thorough examination of the subject matter. Ideas for works arise at various times, something catches my eye, or I hear something that moves me. For some time now, I have been fascinated by computer painting – I love seeing the achievements in the field of 3D graphics, where I see the future of visual arts’ (Interview for Vogue, January 2022).
According to Mariusz Hoffman, the meaning of Łukasz Patelczyk’s creative explorations is perfectly captured by Władysław Strzemiński’s statement: ‘Modern art is not a decoration of reality but a method of understanding and organising it.’ In the artist’s paintings, ‘geometry is not only a formal construction but also a metaphysical tool’, writes Hoffman. ‘His artistic style aligns with the aesthetics of global minimalism (R. Ryman, D. Judd) and the principles of post-conceptualism (J. Kosuth). Signs, such as lines, axes, and rectangles, are not merely compositional devices but also thought-provoking impulses. Patelczyk appears to be a romantic of the data age as he employs the logic of contemporary visuality to pose questions regarding the unspoken and the unrepresentable. His painting prompts the question of not only how we perceive, but also for what purpose. In the world where everything is analysed and filtered by algorithms, is vision still recognizable as the experience of sense, rather than a technique of representation? Can admiration exist, not as a substitute for knowledge, but in spite of it, or even because of it, to open us up to contemplation?’ The public is welcome to look for answers to these questions at the exhibition co-organised by the Gdańsk District of the Association of Polish Artists and Designers and the National Maritime Museum in Gdańsk.
The Kazimierz Ostrowski Award
An award promoting Polish contemporary art, granted since 2002 to artists by the Gdańsk District of the Association of Polish Artists and Designers for outstanding achievements in the field of painting. The main idea behind the award is to honour artists who do not succumb to passing fads and whose artistic output has timeless value. Previous winners of the award include Teresa Pągowska, Kiejstut Bereźnicki, Jacek Sempoliński, Stanisław Fijałkowski and Teresa Miszkin.
The patron of the award, Prof. Kazimierz Ostrowski (1917–1999), was a symbol of an outstanding painter and a great patriot for several generations of Tri-City artists. Under his guidance, many painters, now renowned in Poland and abroad, obtained their diplomas. He remained associated with the Gdańsk District of the Association of Polish Artists and Designers until the end of his life.
