The exhibition, which will feature the works of Agnieszka Strzelecka-Ślęzak, is the result of cooperation between Prof. Jolanta Młodawska-Bronowska – the originator and organiser of the Japanese Days at the University of Lodz and an artist who has been participating in this event for many years.
The rich culture of Japan, the ability to combine tradition with modernity, the beauty of the surrounding nature, friendly relations; all this means that interest in this country in Poland is not waning. Japan and Poland are separated by 11 thousand kilometres, although in the era of the Internet, this distance is seemingly decreasing. Due to the large distance and a different, Asian cultural circle, providing reliable knowledge about Japan is not easy. This is where the idea of organising Japanese Days came from. I wanted to bring this country closer to the Polish recipient, not only through the media of anime, manga or cosplay – relatively popular in the West – but, to reach deeper, to the socio-cultural conditions of this country, its history, language, art, economy, science
– explains Prof. Młodawska-Bronowska.
Agnieszka Strzelecka-Ślęzak, drawing created by the use of the traditional Japanese painting technique suibokuga (ink, water, rice paper), 2025
Agnieszka Strzelecka Ślęzak, an artist inspired by Japanese art, searches for landscape in detail and abstraction. The surrounding nature and botany are some of her inspirations. She values gray colours, understatements that allow the imagination to work. The landscape is studied and recorded by her using various techniques. From pencil drawing through oil painting to an extremely synthetic depiction in suibokuga – a technique of traditional Japanese painting.
The artist uses a wide range of media in her painting: ink on paper, oil on canvas, acrylic on paper, ceramic paints on porcelain, manganese, iron and cobalt oxides on clay. There is gesture and lightness in them. Looking at her works, it seems that they are painted very quickly. But underneath the surface perfection of the works, there are many hours of practice. The painter draws from suibokugi not uncritically. She accepts the strenuousness of exercise and repetition in order for her hand and eye to gain the freedom to represent reality, filtered through her personal sensibility. She finds the function of illustration in it – a certain simplification, in order to show the idea or spirit of what she sees. The shortcuts, the ‘tricks’ in suibokuga painting make it possible to miraculously reduce the time it takes to create a drawing, the time it takes to register what the eye sees. European painting also used rapid ink drawing, using a pen (nib), enriched by adding value with diluted ink. Suibokuga, according to the artist, also refers to this.
Flowers and landscapes constitute a special quality in the work of Agnieszka Strzelecka-Ślęzak. A flower in both Polish and Japanese culture is read as something fleeting and delicate, full of meanings and symbolism. Japanese painting usually presents flowers in a conventional way, which the artist often breaks to show individual sensitivity.
The 18th Japanese Days will be held on 26-27 April 2025 at the Faculty of Economics and Sociology of the University of Lodz. As every year, the event is dedicated to deepening knowledge about the culture, science, economy and society of Japan. For more information about the Japanese Days programme, please see the piece of news on the UniLodz website.
The exhibition entitled "NIEDOPOWIEDZENIA. Kwiat i pejzaż" will be available from 23 April to 30 May 2025.
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23 April at 6:00 p.m. – the exhibition opening at Wozownia 11 Gallery, M. Skłodowskiej-Curie 11
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24–25 April, the exhibition is open from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
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26–27 April, the exhibition is open from 12.00 to 18.00
On other days, you can view the exhibition after arranging a visit at the e-mail address: wydarzenia@uni.lodz.pl
More information about the works and the artist can be found on the exhibition website (in Polish).
