Cycle "Hanged Men"
XY ankamierzejewska
XY ankamierzejewska’s painting is strength: of the drawing, of colour and format. It would be difficult not to recognise her work among thousands of others. And it is hard to walk past them indifferently. XY does not beautify and ‘sweeten’ reality. She paints quickly, to the point, and sharply. ‘Masculine-like’ (that is why she introduced XY – the symbol of the male chromosome pair into her artistic pseudonym), she wants to be a painter, not – painting ‘female-like’ (read ‘not seriously’) a paintress. Using a brush, spray, or pencil she draws on the canvas. She frames the motifs ‘cinema-style’, she shows fragments, not always those the most attractive, but those accurately conveying the essence of the subject. Sometimes as if she was a voyeur – hurriedly and in a flash. What we do not see directly – is added in the title. Although even the titles may initially seem ‘next to’ the subject, but after a moment reveal a strong connection with it.
XY ankamierzejewska’s early paintings were about life, inter-individual relations, emotions. She painted situations, daily scenes: in the playground, in the street, in a café ... Later particular motifs appeared, coupled in a series: machines, women, cakes, dogs, skulls. These initial ones were – ‘meaty’, concrete, then later – sketchier. There are paintings to which XY adds texts: her last name, sentences, questions, quotations ... She treats the surface of the canvas in a more sparing way: she leaves areas not covered with paint, she introduces sketches, she limits the colours. To black, white, grey with particular spots of colour: yellow, pink, red ... As if she was striving for the essence, the heart of the meaning. To show what is the most important, show it loudly, clearly, with no unnecessary decoration.
