Until April 22, the Nova Ars Poloniae Foundation and Centrum Praskie Koneser are inviting guests to the exhibition “Via Crucis” by Krzysztof and Michał Powałka. It is a specific project of the “Way of the Cross” consisting of 14 oil paintings, size 85 x 120 cm, which will be ultimately hung in the Piarist church in Łowicz.

“It all started with an order from the Piarist monks. We have been trusted in our painting skills and possibilities. We never thought before that we would paint the Way of the Cross, but we managed. The main theme of our painting has always been a man, his ups and downs. “Via Crucis” is an archetype of an individual’s struggle with the world”, said Michał Powałka.

The artists spent 3 years working on the project. To give their paintings authenticity, Michał and Krzysztof Powałka travelled abroad to gather inspiration. They were in the Italian Matera, which is on the UNESCO list, in the Spanish Granada and Santiago de Compostela. Then, they conducted a series of castings for models and made many sketches and mock-ups that helped them create this extraordinary work, which is modern in form and, at the same time, traditional in content.

“An additional layer, composition and colour, but also the physiognomy of individual characters are all thoroughly contemporary. We did not idealize them; we did not set the canon. Framing of individual scenes is also contemporary”, explained the artist.

Michał Powałka studied at the Faculty of Graphics at the Academy of Art and Design in Łódź and graduated from the Faculty of Graphics at the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice. His brother, Krzysztof Powałka, as he says about himself, is a “painter of Czeladź” where he creates his works. For several years he lived and worked in Barcelona, but he missed his hometown and returned to it.

The exhibition can be visited every day until April 22, from 10 am to 8 pm, in the Workshop Space in the Koneser Passage in Warsaw.

Adrian Andrzejewski