Spatial Drawing
“Drawings“ is the sixth exhibition of works by the Polish artist Michał Budny (*1976) to be presented on the premises of the annex14 gallery. For this exhibition the artist has chosen a telling title that at first sight frustrates the associated expectations. On entering the gallery it becomes clear that the works on show are not drawings in the original sense of the term. The apparent discrepancy between the linguistic announcement and the exhibits in the room indicates that the chosen title is in no way a banal descriptive summary of the exhibition. But what is it then?
A pivotal link between the medium of the drawing and the works of Budny is the line. The line is both an elementary component of drawing of any kind (be it with charcoal, colour pencil, on a house wall or on paper) and a central element in the Budny’s work. Ultimately, even extensive works like the one on show called Untitled (2020) consist of lines. These have left the twodimensional plane, however, and broken into space. So this work could be referred to as a “sculptural steel drawing”. Depending on the viewer’s position in the room, the visible form changes fundamentally; it is dynamic and fluid, compared to a drawing. As for the volume of the object, not only are the steel rods decisive here, but also the free spaces in between them. In this context Budny speaks of a “thought space” which, for him, unfolds in the free areas of the body of the sculpture. The impact of the object is thus
characterised by a fascinating balance between the stability of the material and the dynamics of its form.
The work series Untitled (2020) presented on the walls consists of metal plates painted bright blue onto which lines have been welded with expert precision. The works are part of a series, while each one is also unique. The series had its starting point in a phase of continued insomnia. In the course of “empty nights”, the artist worked out thoughts which he later translated into forms. The colour blue is unusual for Budny and represents his memory of the light during those sleepless hours. The reduced aspect of the works directs our gaze to the objects’ immediate impact, the interplay of light and shade and the interaction between forms and planes. The shadows vary independently of the light and atmosphere in the room, and, depending on the situation, play out on the support material and parts of the surrounding wall. The works thus react directly to external influences and in so doing enter into bilateral interaction with them. The fact that the very presence of a work – assuming it has a certain quality and attendant force – influences the atmosphere of a room requires no further explanation. However, that the work in turn also responds to the surroundings is not only unusual for this medium, it is also an important feature of these unusual drawings by Michał Budny.
Text: Julian Denzler
Michał Budny was 1976 born in Leszno (Poland). His works were presented a.o. at Kunstmuseum Luzern (2020/21), Saarland Museum Saarbrücken (2015), Pinchuk Art Centre, Kiew (2012), Kunstverein Düsseldorf (2011), Kunstmuseum Stuttgart
(2011), South London Gallery (2010), Center for Modern Art, Warsawa (2009) and Zacheta National Galerie Warschau (2006). His lives and works in Warsaw and Prague.