Yesterday at his exhibition opening, Grzegorz Małecki said, ‘I am happy because of this encounter with people I know as well as perfect strangers. Through my work I would like to talk to you all, meet you, look into your eyes, yes eyes, not screens.

It was supposed to be a visit to the artist’s attic, but in fact it was like visiting the artist’s mind. The artist himself gave a tour of the attic followed by visitors who would stop by each work listening to the story behind it. Threads, watches, collars, teddy bears, an old sofa, a pillow, broken glasses, a night potty, newspapers – amongst all these things it was possible to encounter many people fished out from the past - those close to Grzegorz Małecki but also total strangers. It was possible to see the traces of other artists important to Malecki, come across souvenirs of events past and also ones possible. –‘The attic is a place of abandoned life, unnecessary experiences, preserved words, shy confessions and unspoken words of love. The attic is a storage place similar to Alibaba’s cave’, said the artist.

‘The most important thing for an artist is memory. If you cannot remember you cannot create. We must remember where we come from, what carried us, what drowned us and what saved us. We must devote time to all this’, said Grzegorz Małecki. We remember through things, also, and maybe most of all through those fished out from the oblivion - our attics. The carefully guarded mythical border between the work of art and the viewer has been definitely destroyed. You can touch, turn and aim at. Each object has a meaning. ‘Look inside your pockets and see what you have there. Each thing found tells something about you’, said Grzegorz Małecki.

The attic, arranged for viewers by Grzegorz Małecki at the Conservatory, felt crowded yesterday and it will feel the same every other day due to those who have stayed on in Grzegorz Małecki’s mind and whom he wished to introduce to us.

The Conservatory is always open, waiting also for you.

photos. Michał Siarek