Lunapark Europa , a presentation of Ryszard Woźniak's paintings, organized at the Mazovian Center for Contemporary Art "Elektrownia" in Radom, is the third project bringing the individual, ongoing artistic explorations of the legendary Gruppa's participants closer to the public. Following exhibitions by Ryszard Grzyb ( In the Very Center of Life Is Painting , 2023) and Paweł Kowalewski ( Failure of Reason , 2024), Ryszard Woźniak will present a selection of over 100 paintings created over the last 25 years.
The event's titular motif, which unites its components, is a popular amusement park, operating in Warsaw's Stegny-Rożek district from 1995 to 1998 and closed following a serious accident. The inactive, abandoned infrastructure and the absurd atmosphere of the defunct, dilapidated amusement park inspired the artist to create a visual reflection, a metaphorical narrative about the behavior of individuals and social groups in the face of the challenges and consequences of Poland's aspirations and presence in the structures of the European Union. Enthusiasm, expectations, hopes, skepticism, disappointment, and questioning the meaning of belonging, embedded in the social and political contexts of the last quarter-century, became the basis for the creative solutions of the artist, who carefully and critically observes the dynamically changing reality.
The exhibition is characterized by premieres and rarely shown works, primarily in local venues. The final, titular series is a complete premiere. At the level of meaning, the exhibition highlights the linguistic nature of Ryszard Wożniak's visual art. The artist focuses on areas of the language of visual culture, where he discovers the accumulation and intermingling of various types of energy. He seeks their sources in the more recent and more distant past. The paintings illustrate the migration of topoi of signs and symbols from the past to the future, pointing to their hidden permanence and linguistic relevance, as well as their presence in contemporary narratives of modernization. The exhibition is accompanied by a comprehensive publication of the same title, containing critical texts, an interview with the artist, and reproductions of the works presented in the exhibition.
Ryszard Woźniak (1956) – painter, performer, installation artist, art theorist, and educator. He studied at the Faculty of Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw (1976-1981). He graduated from the studio of Professor Stefan Gierowski. Co-founder of the Gruppa artistic group (1982-1992). The artist's works are in the collections of the National Museum in Warsaw, the National Museum in Krakow, the Zachęta National Gallery of Contemporary Art in Warsaw, the Museum of Art in Łódź, the Silesian Museum in Katowice, the Upper Silesian Museum in Bytom, the Leon Wyczółkowski District Museum in Bydgoszcz, and the Jacek Malczewski Museum in Radom.
