This temporary exhibit - a complement to the permanent exhibit of Beksiński's paintings in the same building - presents 100 of the provocative Polish artist's drawings and illustrations. Displayed in NCK's Galeria Biała, the works allow us to trace the the evolution of Beksiński's unique visual language from 1956 to 2000, revealing a diversity of techniques, formats, and formal solutions. The exhibition shows drawing as a fully mature medium of artistic expression for Beksiński, and confirms the importance of drawing as one of the most important and consistent achievements in the artist's oeuvre.

From early portrait studies and expressive attempts with crayon, sanguine and heliotype, through the sophisticated ‘spidery’ compositions of the early 1960s, to the monumental pencil and charcoal works of the landmark year 1968, we observe the crystallisation of a language that has permanently entered the history of art. Linearity gradually gives way to chiaroscuro; the line thickens, building form and tension.

The exhibition also includes his late return to paper: free sketches from the 1990s and digitally modified works from the early 21st century. These experiments – combining drawing, computer and reproduction techniques – confirm the avant-garde nature of the artist, who was open to new media. ‘I have to use drawing. It's my way of communicating,’ he wrote in 2002. In light of this declaration, drawing appears to be the most faithful record of his imagination: intimate and uncompromising.
 

A curator's tour will take place on Sat. March 21 at 14:00; tickets 10zł.