Musical paintings by Wojciech Fangor at the Polish Baltic Philharmonic

The exhibition of paintings by Wojciech Fangor at the Polish Baltic Philharmonic Hall, “Musical Images”, is part of the celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of the artist’s birth and was prepared on the occasion of a concert dedicated to his memory. The works presented at the exhibition are linked by a musical motif – they all contain more or less obvious references to music.

Instruments had accompanied Fangor since childhood and fertilised his multimedia imagination, becoming playing sculptures. He would later render them on canvas, balancing the boundaries of the visible and the audible, searching for his own way to understand the mystery, the essence of the tangible becoming of sound. How to paint music, how to express sound with colour, shape, texture, silence, these were important, questions that shaped his work. The art of looking was intertwined with the art of listening, the musical experiment found expression in innovative visual approaches, such as the multi-perspective vivisection of the piano proposed in the painting “Bosendorfer” (1998).
In addition to painting, music became one of Fangor’s two most important passions in life, alongside astronomy. Although, as he admitted, he hated the piano lessons he had to take in his youth, and it was only in the 1990s, in his retirement, in Santa Fe, that he returned to learning.

The exhibition also includes little-known works by the artist, including some that have not been shown in Poland before. The exhibition will feature also the drawings by Wojciech Fangor. The presentation accompanies a symphonic concert under the baton of Jerzy Maksymiuk, which will feature works by the following composers: A. Copland, S. Barber, J. Maksymiuk, A. Dzieżyk, G. Ph. Telemann, W. Kilar. The concert programme includes the world premiere of two works composed by Jerzy Maksymiuk for the 100th anniversary of Wojciech Fangor’s birth, “Passacaglia hommage á Fangor” for 2 flutes and orchestra and Concerto for flute, organ and orchestra.