Slawomir Elsner: Panorama

For the current series on display here, ‘Panorama,’ Elsner chose as his basis the Polish magazine of the same name, which appeared weekly in Poland from the 1960s until the end of communism. The magazine, which originated in Silesia, was considered liberal and reported on events from around the world. The images are from 1976, the year the artist was born, a time when Poland was also open-minded and Western-oriented. In terms of colour and style, the treatment of the motifs refers to their respective genres – advertising, documentation, etc. The artist refrains from imposing his personal signature. The aesthetics of the 1970s, from deodorant and perfume advertisements, political reportage photos, people in everyday life or the ‘girl of the week’, are confronted with today's aesthetics in Slawomir Elsner's paintings. This results in an exciting examination of history and media aesthetics from the perspective of a 30-year-old today. The ‘Panorama’ series, which refers to the year 1976, will only be shown in 2006.