Nadzieja poranka. Szkic monograficzny o Jerzym Puciacie

Abstract

The paper Morning’s Hope is dedicated to Jerzy Puciata (1933–2014), characterized by the author as an artist, social activist and cultural animator. Jerzy Puciata was a painter, an author of artistic objects and installations as well as of useful art. Art was his vocation and the pathway towards the personal fulfillment. His life, however, unfolded, like a tale, along with the history of Poland in the background. The history quaint and tough. He was born in 1933 in Wilno, which before the WW2 lied within Poland’s borders; the borderland being called “kresy” of the Polish Commonwealth. In the 50’s of the 20th century, the time when the communist ideas were being spread by the totalitarian regime, he studied in Torun. The city was then described as regained for Poland from Germany. Presently, for 55 years he was associated with Bydgoszcz, where he worked and lived along with his family. In the 80’s he belonged to the avant-garde of Solidarity, the opposition movement led by Lech Walesa. He occupied the chair of Society of Polish Fine Artists (Związek Polskich Artystów Plastyków) acting for a time in the underground. He himself used to say that it was just then that he matured as a man, citizen and artist. Then, an element of a mystical light appeared on his paintings, which were a unique example of the matter-painting. Jerzy Puciata was appreciated both in Bydgoszcz and in Poland. Abroad, he was regarded as a representative of Poland’s modern art. He would travel, paint, speak on behalf of artists and the people associated with culture. He collaborated and participated in exhibitions, outdoor art sessions, science sessions and charity activities. His life was picturesque and flamboyant. He managed to transform into the art his talent, sensibility, inner strength as well as the suffering.