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Born in Poland in 1944, Wojtek has been a resident of London since 1968. He first studied art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow under Prof. Jacek Puget. After finishing his studies in Poland he came to London and became a student at the City & Guilds of London Art School followed by the Slade School of Art, University College London, where he studied under Prof. Reg Butler. His work has been shown in a number of galleries in England, Scotland and Poland.
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What is it that thing we call art and in particular art today?
It is the “today” that seems to contain all questions and uncertainties.
Perhaps we can answer it by asking what “Art” is not.
It does not have to be a masterpiece in a conventional sense, highly crafted, uniquely commissioned by a patron of arts – but it can! It does not have to be crafted in conventional materials, preserving its longevity and value for future generations – but it helps when it does.
A brief measure of the problem sketched out above only begins to open the Pandora Box full of ideas for examination.
Therefore, do I dare to name at least some of the attributes that art today has?
Well, it has to be practised now! That is TODAY.
It has to convey the artists thought, attitudes, consciousness, relevance to his or her state of mind, though perversely art can be conveyed in contradiction to all of the above.
There are no hard and fast rules. If a contemporary artwork wishes to find its audience it seems essential that it has to find a resonance in a viewers mind.
Art is not made for the viewer or with the viewer in mind, but it helps when it finds it audience because it is in front of the audience that it stands or falls.
Yet, I recall many masters of the past who struggled without appreciation in their lifetime only to find their audience well after their death.
Ergo, what is it to be an artist?
Taking all of above into account, the artist has to be a person of an unsound mind, who battles against all odds in a vein hope of bringing some sort of an experience to You, the viewer.
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