Patio and Cool Interior 

Iwo Zaniewski made this painting, Patio and Cool Interior, using oil on canvas. The even application of paint and subdued color palette give the scene a contemplative mood. Note how the artist blends the boundaries between light and shadow. The table and chair are recognizable, but the dark shadows, green and red planes abstract the composition and make it mysterious. Zaniewski's painting nods to the history of modernist painting, as many artists have explored geometric abstraction, and the ambiguous boundary between figuration and non-figuration. By depicting scenes of leisure, he’s engaging with a historical genre. Leisure has always been associated with the upper classes, as they are the ones that have the privilege not to work. But Zaniewski gives us a contemporary take on this theme, and makes it relevant to modern viewers. By exploring these qualities, Zaniewski prompts us to reconsider the relationship between what we see and what we know. It challenges distinctions between observation and abstraction in art.