Between Lightness and “Armour”
Exhibition Review
The series presented at the Gallery transforms the artist’s everyday presence into both a source of creativity and a narrative. “I sit, therefore I draw…” Simple words, yet ones that carry a profound truth about the nature of the artistic gesture. As a volunteer, Marcin Wrzal not only “looks after” the gallery space, but also discovers within it a space for his own imagination. The absence of a permanent member of staff becomes an impulse for authentic, spontaneous work created here and now: sincere, personal and unique.
Marcin Wrzal’s works do not impose a ready-made subject; rather, they encourage the viewer to embark on their own journey through sight and imagination. Lines, sometimes nervous, sometimes delicate, intertwine with patches of ink and watercolour, leading the viewer through a world of forms that initially appear familiar: faces, eyes and fragments of plants and animals, yet immediately reveal their hybrid, liminal nature. The whole oscillates between reality and fantasy, between what is recognisable and what requires interpretation, without leading to unequivocal conclusions.
The dominant colour palette of the works, cool and reminiscent of ageing, matt metal, often almost like armour studded with rivets, contrasts with rusty, warm accents that gently complement and brighten the compositions. These patches of colour seem to land chaotically on the cardboard, yet when examining the successive drawings, one is tempted to say, following Shakespeare’s Polonius, that “Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t”…
The liminal forms balance between softness and a hard, “armoured” outline, between recognisability and abstraction, creating a subtle tension throughout the compositions. Wrzal’s work does not provide a ready-made “artistic product”; rather, it invites a multilayered interpretation. Surreal and abstract representations break with the logical order of the world and lead the viewer into the realm of imagination, to the borderland between dream and hallucination.
At the same time, Wrzal invites the viewer to share in the experience of the creative process, a journey that requires attention, reflection and a willingness to suspend judgement. Each drawing is a lesson in patient observation, experimentation with form and colour, and a subtle balancing act between abstraction and recognisability. This is art that is not merely looked at, but co-created, making the viewer an equal participant in the artistic vision. All the more so because it is now possible to accompany the artist quite literally in the act of creation, sharing the gallery space with him.
The exhibition is open until 6 January 2026 and offers a unique opportunity to encounter the creative process in its most authentic form: an everyday, simple, yet unpredictable gesture of drawing.
Marcin Wrzal
Drawings on Paper
December 2025 (extended until 6 January 2026)
Property of the Lublin Theater Therapy Foundation. All rights reserved.
Realized with financial support from the City of Lublin