Andrew GIERAGA (b. 1934), Symmetrical, 2021

acrylic, panel; 30 x 30 cm;
signed, dated and described on the reverse: ANDRZEJ GIERAGA / SYMETRIC / ACRYL, PLATE / 30 x 30 (in marker).

Author of paintings from the geometric abstraction trend. Andrzej Gieraga's artistic concept has its sources in, among others, Władysław Strzemiński's theory of Unism and the theory of Constructivism. The artist uses sub-images in shapes considered perfect - these are the square and the circle. His work can be divided into two stages, the caesura of which is the early 1990s. Until then, the artist created paintings in black and white tones emphasized by textural structure. After that time, in Gieraga's paintings, color and another relief structure appear, giving the possibility of introducing a new element to the work, which is light, as mentioned by Bożena Kowalska - a prominent art critic dealing in particular with the geometric abstraction trend. Gieraga strives to achieve harmony in his paintings by introducing a new, unstable element - light - which can disrupt it, as mentioned by Grzegorz Sztabiński, "Light is characterized by extraordinary variability. Therefore, artists striving to achieve harmony in their works feared it, striving to unify or limit its modifications. Gieraga, as I wrote, desires balance, but still subjects it to the risk of confronting what can disrupt it."
Andrzej Gieraga studied at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Lodz, where he served as pro-rector from 1987. Since 1992 he has been a full professor, and since 1994 he has also been a professor at the Radom Technical University in the Department of Art.