Dobiesław Gała is an artist affiliated with the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, who creates symbolic reliefs. They are unusual hybrids of drawing and sculpture. His works are presented by galleries all over the world, and his work has even inspired world-famous… musicians. Any moment now, on 24 April, an auteur exhibition of Gała’s reliefs will be launched at the Espace 22 gallery in Monaco. However, these are not the only international events where the artist will be present. They also include the Venice International Art Biennale and exhibitions in Florence and Zurich.
Recognised galleries in Poland and Europe
One can see how innovative and inspiring Polish contemporary art is by following the artistic career of the Krakow-based artist and educator Dobieslaw Gala, who has exhibited his works abroad with great success. His exhibitions have been organised at the invitation of recognised galleries worldwide in Switzerland and Italy. They are proof of the great interest in his work among connoisseurs of world art.
Further encounters with his art are ahead of us. Also in Poland. This year, Dobiesław Gała’s works will be on display in the orangery of the King John III Sobieski Palace Museum in Wilanów (in July) and in the Municipal Art Gallery in Zakopane (at the end of the year).
“Spectacular artistic and cultural events”
However, it has not been known for a long time that the meeting place of the artistic elite is the famous Venice Biennale or the fairs in Rome and Padua.
“These are already shrouded in legend as spectacular artistic and cultural events attended by renowned artists with a major creative output. By following them, it is possible to see to what extent and how a particular artistic discipline and, naturally, a particular artist develops” – describes Barbara Woźniak, curator of Dobiesław Gała’s exhibitions. As she points out, the artist is unrivalled in this.
“His wonderful relief realisations are a real masterpiece. The perfect composition, although sometimes only focused on a selected fragment of reality, the means and media used, thanks to which each of his realisations emanates depth giving a sense of multidimensionality – these are the features that clearly distinguish Dobieslaw’s parka from others.”
An unusual idea for expressing his work
The very idea of creativity, i.e. expressing one’s artistic sensibility in the case of Gala, is atypical.
“Reliefs by nature are bas-reliefs. We are familiar with many such compositions from the history of art, which decorate architecture from antiquity through to the present day,” – wozniak describes. As he adds, their evaluation to modern times has come quite a long way, now taking on a modern and unusual form, which has been newly enriched by Dobiesław Gała.
“The artist knows a way to express what seems unimaginable to us and this seemingly in the solidified structure of the relief. When viewing a given relief, one can get the impression of a magnetic attraction, triggered by the appropriate gradation of pigments creating a fever of colours. The viewer thus enters into a dialogue with the work and with his or her thoughts”.
As he points out, Dobiesław Gała gives everyone freedom of interpretation, without imposing any ideology interfering with one’s world view. At the same time, he tries to talk about important problems, such as the destructive influence of man on the environment, the inevitable effect of time on matter and thought processes, among others.
how do we understand the meta-areas themselves in relief?
For this, it is necessary to reach back into the philosophical past. As Barbara Woźniak describes, the prefix meta in scientific discourse denotes a cognitive reflection of a higher order and a view of reality from an external perspective. This takes place in the face of a specific issue, a state of affairs.
“It is always this first part of the word that indicates a higher degree, consequence or variation of something. Dobiesław Gała has transferred this concept into the realm of his individual artistic work” – describes his work.
As he points out, the individual cycles, given adequate names, form a logical story on topics of great importance to contemporary man. These include ‘Structures of Information’, ‘Landings’, ‘Sublime Places’, ‘Places of Awakening’ and ‘Rivers of Information’.
According to art expert Dobiesław Gała, the artist also draws attention to the fact that similar processes occur in human consciousness. According to her, the artist has achieved his masterful way of interpreting phenomena by means of a technique known only to himself.
“His reliefs are perfectly thought-out compositions, whose almost Benedictine structure changes depending on the time of day and the intensity of the light. Illustrating ideas about the ephemeral and ephemeral nature of existence, they are thought-provoking and enthralling with an extraordinary array of interlocking colours and structures.”
Dobiesław Gała – who is he?
Dobiesław Gała was born in 1975 in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski. He is a graduate of the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, where he received his diploma in 2000 in the atelier of Professor Marian Konieczny. He holds a doctorate in art, is a teacher and deputy dean of the Faculty of Sculpture. The artist has won many prestigious awards. Among others, he is a laureate and winner of the Grand Prix of the 10th Triennial of Polish Contemporary Drawing.
He was honoured by the Academy of Fine Arts in Nuremberg, where he collaborated with the world-renowned sculptor Tim Scott. Dobieslaw Gala’s talent was recognised by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland, who awarded him a creative scholarship. In October 2023, he was honoured with the ‘Gloria Artis Medal for Merit to Culture’ by the President of the Republic of Poland.
Dobiesław Gała has presented his works at more than 90 solo and group exhibitions at home and abroad. His work is regarded by art critics as a new opening in Polish art. His exhibitions are always spectacular events that bring many new qualities to the discipline of sculpture.
It is worth getting to know the innovative work of the Cracovian artist and Academy of Fine Arts teacher, as he has a chance to set new trends in the discipline of art and design,” encourages Barbara Woźniak.
Read also: Culture | Art | Interviews | Featured | whiteMAD on Instagram
