Added Mar 18, 2011
"Various lines. Stains. Spots. Smooth planes.. The planes spotted and dashed. A wavy motion. Inhibited and fragmented movement. Retrograde Motion. Plexus, cloth. Topic of the wall, scaled system. One voice. Polyphony. Getting lost and gathering strength line, (the dynamics)."
Paul Klee
The quoted speech by Paul Klee (1879-1940), an outstanding artist and art theorist, perfectly captures the atmosphere of drawing and painting works by Dariusz Piekut. He belongs to creators of the middle generation. Gained his aristic education at the turn of the 70s and 80s of last century in School of Arts in Zamość, and then at the Institute of Artistic Education UMCS in Lublin. Good mastery of drawing and lithographic workshop in the studio of prof. Danuta Kołwzan-Nowicka opened him the way to the meticulously polished monochrome counterparts and he still remains faithful to them.
Early Piekut works made in lithography are characterized by an economical composition and poetic metaphor. In already made graphics the author combines elements of a stylized landscape and forms of structural motifs, giving them an expression of "space", the futuristic creations. Soft, delicate structure of the lithographic composition disappears in later years,geometric forms built from small and tipped densely next to each short straight lines appears. Fine structure of parallel, perpedicular and oblique lines the author collide- by a contrast- with geometric figures, forming a compositional dominate of the picture. In sharp contrast artist creates still mysterious and surreal compositions, by putting in a "space" landscape structual components of machines. In this period(90th last year) to the composition of black and white the author introduces colour.Economical from the beginning ,tested to the limit mark, gradually changing into a broad "spilled" spot, forming a sharp colourful dissonances comlementary colour and formal contrasts, colliding with each other with a soft spot with sharp geometric forms. These works done with pen and "ekolina" (concentrated liquid watercolour) graphic techniques reveal metal influences, particularly engraving and aquatint.
The author's technique of drawing with "ekolina" which started in his works in the middle of 90s begins to dominate. Currently still in the drawing works of the 90s sharp color contrasts undergo elimination, like compiled with each other lines of varying length. The author goes slowly away from the formal and artistic value contrasts. He built his compositions with the help of carefully tipped 1-2 inches short strokes, giving - depending on the volume - smooth value transitions. The colour appears sparingly, creating a combination of grey pencil and black mark featherweight compositions of pastel shade. In the modern Piekut 's works appear the architectural motifs. But it is not a real architecture, inspired by references to specific implementation. Piekut's architecture is an imaginary architecture, betraying a fascination with Russian Constructivism by Vladimir Tatlin and Cubist realizations by Ferdinand Leger and other avant - garde currents of the first decades of the twentieth century. Raw, rooted in an abstract void space architectural forms suspended in a vacuum cylindrical towers with pyramidal structures, comtrasting with the horizontal mazes, take us into the unreal, industrial space full of complex interconnected elements of a mysterious, symbolic meaning. It is difficult to find his inspirarion in this form of creativity in the immediate vicinity of the artist. He creates far from the industrial centres, in a village near Zamość which lies the area of '' Działy Grabowieckie''... His creative works are the evidence of famous Polish and foreign exhibitions...
Dr Piotr Kondraciuk
Zamość, June 2009