Ironing and Painting 2021

Curator: "Ironing and Painting," a 2021 work by Iwo Zaniewski. It's an acrylic and pastel piece depicting two figures within what seems to be an artist's studio. The interplay of artistic activities is striking here. Editor: Oh, I see that, but my first thought was simply "organized chaos!" Look at that space – canvases leaning, paints everywhere… it’s bursting with creative energy, or maybe just… life. I wonder if Zaniewski's making a tongue-in-cheek statement about the reality of artistic life versus the romanticized ideal? Curator: Possibly, but also consider how the dual activities, ironing and painting, mirror the duality within the creative process. Ironing, representing labor, structure, and routine, stands juxtaposed against the spontaneity and boundless creativity associated with painting. It’s almost alchemical – the mundane transforms the profound. Editor: That’s deep, really interesting. For me it's more visceral. Check out the color palette – the cool blues against the warm reds, yellows, and greens, the kind of saturated colors of childhood. The work feels immediate and almost frenetic…almost anxious? It isn’t neat or comfortable like the Impressionists. More edgy, and dare I say…authentic. Curator: "Authenticity" is a powerful lens to see it through, given that the very composition invokes historical tropes and art history with intimist scenes and self-portraiture as conceptual framing. Yet Zaniewski pushes back with rawer applications reminiscent of street graffiti and spray art techniques. Note the stark lines defining both of the artist figures and interior landscape elements. Editor: The rawness does add such an honesty… The graffiti style lines really help make the case it could be an ironic statement too; like art shouldn’t be pristine all the time to make sense, and be art. It should get its hand dirty. He really merges the supposed "low" with the "high". It’s like, can’t art just be part of our daily lives, blending it? Curator: Exactly. It reflects the collapse of boundaries between what's deemed precious and everyday, mirroring the spirit of our contemporary era. Zaniewski prompts a broader inquiry into how we classify and elevate artistic endeavor in our contemporary lives. Editor: Totally. It feels so relatable too because sometimes you get lost into making the perfect art piece that you forget the "living" aspect about it, when maybe you don’t even have clean clothes, haha! A very human moment captured, indeed!