Jan BERDYSZAK (1934 - 2014), Corner passe-par-tout, 1994

acrylic, canvas pasted on board; 232 x 125 cm;
Signed, dated and inscribed on back: AKRYL / JAN / BER / DYSZ / AK / 1994, next to: NAROZNE / PASSE- / PAR-TOUT, below: 232 x 125 cm.

PROVENANCE:
- private collection, Poland,
- collection of Waldemar Andzelm, Lublin.

EXHIBITED:
- Berdyszak, Gierowski, Kalucki, Kamoji, group exhibition, Museum of the City of Lodz, 22.10.2010 - 29.01.2011.
REPRODUCED:
- Berdyszak, Gierowski, Kalucki, Kamoji, Anzelm Gallery, Lublin 2010, pp. 14-15,
- Jan Berdyszak. Works 1960 - 2006, [edited by] Marta Smolińska-Byczuk, Wojciech Makowiecki, Mirosław Pawłowski, Poznań 2006, p. 181.

What is between let's say light and shadow, between a painting and a frame? The work of Jan Berdyszak - an artist who analyzes space and the relationship between it and the objects placed in it - tries to answer these questions. The painter began with deconstruction - at first he succumbed to the sub-image, which from rectangular or square became circular and rounded, rather unsuitable for placement in traditional frames. Circa. 1965 the first structural painting with a hole is created, where the cut-out line does not coincide with the outer perimeter of the work. Then the artist addressed what most people miss - the "light" existing between the work and the frame, that is, the passe-partout or, as the creator wanted pass-par-tout - the transition towards the whole. Touching upon the issue of space, its filling in or filling out, what limits or frees it, has been a leading theme in Jan Berdyszak's work. This probably simplistic characterization does not take into account the entire spectrum of the artist's interests, and the spatial compositions most often presented at auctions do not exhaust all the forms used to explore space, which were also installations, sculpture, graphics, photography and artist's book. An opportunity to get acquainted with a cross-section of Jan Berdyszak's work was provided by exhibitions organized at the turn of 2006 and 2007, in Poznan galleries (and Toruñ's Wozownia gallery), summarizing almost 50 years of the artist's creative work.