The idea of taking art to the community came from Jim (my partner). I think he was just bored with my constant monologue about contemporary art, or to be more accurate perhaps I should say modern contemporary art.

My monologue was about these issues:

• How alienated modern contemporary art is from the image about art of the average man and woman in the street. The average person visiting a very contemporary art gallery or modern art centre at the present time doesn’t understand most of the presenting art works. She or he wants to understand the “art works”. Because they can’t understand it, explain it, find any sense in it, they think they don’t possess the academic knowledge about modern art, and they just don’t like it.
• How alienated, exhausted and recessive art that is currently presented in contemporary art galleries, art shows and modern art museums.  Actually, nobody understands contemporary art these days:  not the art historicists, not the art curator, not even the people who are writing the articles in the art magazines or introductions in the books. Very often even the makers/the artists don’t understand them either. They just like it and make it up, because that is what others expect of them.
• Art doesn’t exist anymore. Most of the 'Art' isn't art any more. Nothing is art and everything is art. Art is about personal and emotional engagement. You like it or you do not, you feel it or you do not feel it; it makes you laugh, it makes you cry, it makes you angry, it makes you disgusted. It is OK!  How few techniques and skills are possessed by the new generation of students graduating from the Art Colleges these days.
• Most of the artists presented in museums are talking to themselves, and have an inner dialogue with their empty mind.
• However Pablo Picasso said:  “Everyone wants to understand art. Why not try to understand the song of a bird? .. People who try to explain pictures are usually barking up the wrong tree.” Art is about feeling….or should I say NON-ART is about sensation.  Maybe we never should think about what an artist is trying to convey, just concentrate on what the piece means to you, how it makes you feel. After all it is your personal experience!

And so forth and so forth…..

One day, just a few hours before our trip to the ocean (body boarding) Jim came out with a idea about taking ART to ordinary people and discussing contemporary art and art in general.  “And the word became flesh and dwelt among us” since September 29, 2011.

The primary aim of the project is to take contemporary art out of galleries and museums, to take it out of artist's studios, and to show it to all sorts of different people in a variety of environments and locations around South West England.

We would like to discover from the ordinary people of Devon and Cornwall, what kind of art they like and what they don’t like. What contemporary art means to them? Are they interested in art at all? Is there a place for art in their life, living room, kitchen, mind? Or maybe they are not interested in art at all? These are the sort of questions we are going to be asking people on our travels. Maybe we will ask you too!

The preview of Contemporary Art in the Community

Widemouth Bay, North Cornwall, South West England
Thursday 29th September 2011

In which Graham meets a being born in the nebula of the constellation of Orion for the very first time, and is moved by Mintaka's message for mankind.

]]> http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com/2011/10/contemporary-art-in-the-community-1n/feed/ 1 http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com/2011/10/metropolis-series-resistance-99-work-in-progress/ http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com/2011/10/metropolis-series-resistance-99-work-in-progress/#comments Wed, 19 Oct 2011 13:30:41 +0000 Kasia http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com/?p=749 I am working on my new abstract painting from the Metropolis Series. This time this abstract work will be dedicated to the people of Occupy Wall Street Movement. My painting is entitled "Metropolis – Resistance 99%. The title as well as the painting is inspired by the uprisings across the Arab world, and fueled by the feelings of anger and helplessness of everyday Americans, in the past month as well all people around the world belonging to the 99%.

More on Metropolis Series – Resistance 99% – Work in Progress

]]> I am working on my new abstract painting from the Metropolis Series. This time this abstract work will be dedicated to the people of Occupy Wall Street Movement. My painting is entitled "Metropolis – Resistance 99%. The title as well as the painting is inspired by the uprisings across the Arab world, and fueled by the feelings of anger and helplessness of everyday Americans, in the past month as well all people around the world belonging to the 99%.

Occupy Wall Street is a people powered movement that began on September 17, 2011 in Liberty Square in Manhattan’s Financial District, and has spread to over 100 cities in the United States and actions in over 1,500 cities globally.#OWS is fighting back against the corrosive power of major banks and multinational corporations over the democratic process, and the role of Wall Street in creating an economic collapse that has caused the greatest recession in generations.The movement is inspired by popular uprisings in Egypt, Tunisia, Spain, Greece, Italy and the UK, and aims to expose how the richest 1% of people who are writing the rules of the global economy are imposing an agenda of neoliberalism and economic inequality that is foreclosing our future.



Metropolis-The resistance continues ; acrylics on canvas

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

]]> http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com/2011/10/metropolis-series-resistance-99-work-in-progress/feed/ 1 http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com/2011/09/hell-purgatory-and-heaven-an-abstract-concept/ http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com/2011/09/hell-purgatory-and-heaven-an-abstract-concept/#comments Tue, 27 Sep 2011 17:24:47 +0000 Kasia http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com/?p=726 So there we are between Hell, Purgatory and Heaven. The GREAT TRIO issue of the Church Fathers, theologians and artists, not only the religious ones ).

I don’t believe in a God (or Gods). I don’t believe in Hell, Purgatory or Heaven. I believe in physics, in the concept of eternal universes, in the perfection of our imperfect cosmos. I believe in the force of nature, a kind of intelligent living being, but without any sentiments or feelings. I was born into a Catholic family and up until the age of 8 I received a Catholic tutoring. Even so I didn’t believe in God consciously from the age of 12, but I am still fascinated by Catholic religion and especially by medieval art and culture. Medieval Art is one of my greatest passions. I can’t take my eyes off the marvellous, absolutely stunning Gothic Cathedrals, impressive gothic altarpieces, the beautiful icons, the fantastic gargoyles, and burlesque creatures, unorthodox and original creations all. Actually I love all the medieval visual art, the architecture and designs.

More on Hell, Purgatory and Heaven – an abstract concept.

]]> So there we are between Hell, Purgatory and Heaven. The GREAT TRIO issue of the Church Fathers, theologians and artists, not only the religious ones ).

I don’t believe in a God (or Gods). I don’t believe in Hell, Purgatory or Heaven. I believe in physics, in the concept of eternal universes, in the perfection of our imperfect cosmos. I believe in the force of nature, a kind of intelligent living being, but without any sentiments or feelings. I was born into a Catholic family and up until the age of 8 I received a Catholic tutoring. Even so I didn’t believe in God consciously from the age of 12, but I am still fascinated by Catholic religion and especially by medieval art and culture. Medieval Art is one of my greatest passions. I can’t take my eyes off the marvellous, absolutely stunning Gothic Cathedrals, impressive gothic altarpieces, the beautiful icons, the fantastic gargoyles, and burlesque creatures, unorthodox and original creations all. Actually I love all the medieval visual art, the architecture and designs.

After this long interruption (I am an artist and as such I have to say something about me!) back to the big Trinity.

Pope John Paul II said: The essential characteristic of heaven, hell or purgatory is that they are states of being of a spirit (angel/demon) or human soul, rather than places, as commonly perceived and represented in human language.

This language of place is, according to John Paul II, inadequate to describe the realities involved, since it is tied to the temporal order in which this world and we ourselves exist. In this he is applying the philosophical categories used by the Church in her theology and saying what St. Thomas Aquinas said long before him.

Incorporeal things are not in place after a manner known and familiar to us, in which way we say that bodies are properly in place; but they are in place after a manner befitting spiritual substances, a manner that cannot be fully manifest to us. [St. Thomas Aquinas,Summa Theologiae, Supplement, Q69, a1, reply 1]

This is how the Catechism of the Catholic Church summarizes the truths of faith on this subject:

To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God's merciful love means remaining separated from him for ever by our own free choice. This state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called hell (n. 1033).

How different are these views from the ideas of the medieval artists, sculptors, builders, decorators and craftsmen about Hell, Purgatory and Heaven.  They saw them as places. The medieval artists took delight in their subversive possibilities.

They created the most incredible churches, altarpieces, icons and paintings. Among those lots of them on the topic of Hell, Purgatory and Heaven.

The Buddhist concept of heaven and hell is entirely different from that in other religions. Buddhists do not accept that these places are eternal. It is unreasonable to condemn a man to eternal hell for his human weakness but quite reasonable to give him every chance to develop himself. From the Buddhist point of view, those who go to hell can work themselves upward by making use of the merit that they had acquired previously. There are no locks on the gates of hell. Hell is a temporary place and there is no reason for those beings to suffer there forever.

The Buddha's Teaching shows us that there are heavens and hells not only beyond this world, but in this very world itself. Thus the Buddhist conception of heaven and hell is very reasonable. For instance, the Buddha once said,

'When the average ignorant person makes an assertion to the effect that there is a Hell (patala) under the ocean he is making a statement which is false and without basis. The word 'Hell' is a term for painful sensations.'

The idea of one particular ready-made place or a place created by god as heaven and hell is not acceptable to the Buddhist concept.
I like this concept of Buddhism and also very much the concept of the Toltecs. We are creating in a metaphorical sense our own hell, purgatory and heaven in this world in our own lives.

I was playing with this idea: heaven is Death, purgatory is our temporary existence, and our birth is Hell!

I am absolutely aware about the fact that my abstract vision about Hell, Purgatory and Heaven is nothing compare to the imaginary art of Hans Memling, Hieronymus Bosh, Christobal Rojas etc, etc. It is my first approach to this topic. Just trying the colours and the structure.  I used my own technique to create this modern triptych on 3 separate canvasses.

Here are they:



Hell, Purgatory and Heaven - triptych by Kasia B.T.

]]> http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com/2011/09/hell-purgatory-and-heaven-an-abstract-concept/feed/ 3 http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com/2011/09/british-art-show-7-in-plymouth-in-the-days-of-the-comet/ http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com/2011/09/british-art-show-7-in-plymouth-in-the-days-of-the-comet/#comments Sat, 17 Sep 2011 20:21:13 +0000 Kasia http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com/?p=712 I have a huge hangover after visiting yesterday the BAS7 Plymouth – British Art Show 7 in Plymouth, "In the days of the Comet". Nothing that I saw was actually good or blasphemous or new. It seems that our cultural horizons are shrinking. The exhibited pieces weren't optimistic or pessimistic, they were totally empty without any message. I heard one of the curators saying (in one of the speeches at the University) about the 39 brilliant, excellent artists who represent the best of the British art scene. No comment. What I saw was a collection of mediocrity and copies of the past. I am not angry, I am sad. The only funny thing that I liked it was the huge, orange Micky Mouse. Art? – no, but entertainment – yes.

More on British Art Show 7 in Plymouth, "In the days of the Comet"

]]> I have a huge hangover after visiting yesterday the BAS7 Plymouth – British Art Show 7 in Plymouth, "In the days of the Comet". Nothing that I saw was actually good or blasphemous or new. It seems that our cultural horizons are shrinking. The exhibited pieces weren't optimistic or pessimistic, they were totally empty without any message. I heard one of the curators saying (in one of the speeches at the University) about the 39 brilliant, excellent artists who represent the best of the British art scene. No comment. What I saw was a collection of mediocrity and copies of the past. I am not angry, I am sad. The only funny thing that I liked it was the huge, orange Micky Mouse. Art? – no, but entertainment – yes.

It seems to me that art scene at the moment is best to describe as exhausted and recessive. Anyway, what is presented in the modern art centres. The 'average' people don't understand what the modern/ temporary artists do, they don't like the avant-garde of our time, they don't like it, do not appreciate it, they don't see it as art. I don't blame them. I think most of the artists presented in museums are talking to themselves, have an inner dialogue with their empty mind. Most of the 'Art' isn't art any more. Nothing is art and everything is art. And I blame Duchamp for that ))



Fountaine - Duchamp

]]> http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com/2011/09/british-art-show-7-in-plymouth-in-the-days-of-the-comet/feed/ 7 http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com/2011/09/devon-open-studios-2011-third-day-out-of-the-blue/ http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com/2011/09/devon-open-studios-2011-third-day-out-of-the-blue/#comments Tue, 06 Sep 2011 15:20:35 +0000 Kasia http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com/?p=705 Yesterday completely out of the blue a German couple visited my studio. They had just followed the yellow signs, not knowing what would be at the end of them. They not only loved my paintings but even bought one. We talked about modern art, especially modern conceptual German art. She lives in Essen and he is from Wuppertal. I absolutely enjoyed my time spent with those two very interesting individuals who really were into modern conceptual art.
She loves my weird stuff, like My Brain

More on Devon Open Studios 2011 – third day "Out of the blue".

]]> Yesterday completely out of the blue a German couple visited my studio. They had just followed the yellow signs, not knowing what would be at the end of them. They not only loved my paintings but even bought one. We talked about modern art, especially modern conceptual German art. She lives in Essen and he is from Wuppertal. I absolutely enjoyed my time spent with those two very interesting individuals who really were into modern conceptual art.
She loves my weird stuff, like My Brain



A conversation with my cosmos, 2010 from the Series My Brain

and all my collages but also my more representative work. They thought about buying my Tree.



The Decrepit limbs of Mr Elm

At one point we went to my Summer Studio (I only paint there between late Spring and middle Autumn). When he saw my Blueberry Biker he decided to buy it. So my lovely Blueberry Biker has left me. Now I have to paint his next adventure and his beautiful lover.

In the late afternoon I had another visitor, a lovely lady who visited me a year before.
The third day of Devon Open Studios 2011 wasn't so bad after all!


Blueberry Biker on his way to his lover hidden in a golden cage.

]]> http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com/2011/09/devon-open-studios-2011-third-day-out-of-the-blue/feed/ 1 http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com/2011/05/kasia-in-the-countryside/ http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com/2011/05/kasia-in-the-countryside/#comments Tue, 24 May 2011 11:12:13 +0000 Kasia http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com/?p=625 I created a video/slideshow to present my art from the last two years. Paintings, collages, installations, small sculptures all created in Devon, in Dunchideock. And of course lots of nature, black swans, trees, a cat and nice music.

More on Kasia in the Countryside

]]> I created a video/slideshow to present my art from the last two years. Paintings, collages, installations, small sculptures all created in Devon, in Dunchideock. And of course lots of nature, black swans, trees, a cat and nice music.


Kasia in the Countryside

]]> http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com/2011/05/kasia-in-the-countryside/feed/ 0 http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com/2010/11/508/ http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com/2010/11/508/#comments Tue, 09 Nov 2010 17:09:12 +0000 Kasia http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com/?p=508 Interview by TV-Lolland, Denmark – 29 October 2010
I am having at the moment a group exhibition in Rødby, Denmark at Gallery Sigvardson. Till November, 14th.

It is a slightly weird place to present my art, and I still don't really know what I am doing there…but nevertheless you can see some of my paintings on their web site. http://www.sigvardson.com/exh_current.php

More on

]]> Interview by TV-Lolland, Denmark – 29 October 2010
I am having at the moment a group exhibition in Rødby, Denmark at Gallery Sigvardson. Till November, 14th.

It is a slightly weird place to present my art, and I still don't really know what I am doing there…but nevertheless you can see some of my paintings on their web site. http://www.sigvardson.com/exh_current.php

A short interview with Kasia Turajczyk about her art by Danish TV-Lolland

]]> http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com/2010/11/508/feed/ 0 http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com/2010/10/garden-art-wall-installation/ http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com/2010/10/garden-art-wall-installation/#comments Wed, 13 Oct 2010 15:12:23 +0000 Kasia http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com/?p=489 The "Beautiful and Ugly" project has now been officially closed. The deadline has been slightly shifted in time. A few people could not visit me during the Devon Open Studios event itself, and asked me not to dismantle the installation but instead to wait until they had a chance to see it.

More on Garden Art Wall Installation – CD's – Part II

]]> The "Beautiful and Ugly" project has now been officially closed. The deadline has been slightly shifted in time. A few people could not visit me during the Devon Open Studios event itself, and asked me not to dismantle the installation but instead to wait until they had a chance to see it.

Here are the images of the final result:



The end result 2 October 2010



Ugly - final reslut



Beautiful final October 2010



The installation in the Garden of Lyalls Cottage







Unused CD

My conclusions:

Brown, yellow-brown and red colours predominate on the "ugly" side.

• Emphatic resistance to the colour red. The CD's in red on the side of "Beautiful" are only in combination with other colours.
• They are lots of CDs on the Ugly side that I personally like a lot.

And last, but perhaps the most important conclusion:

• De gustibus non est disputandum.

"In matters of taste there is no dispute" said the Romans a long time ago and they were right. Any opinion on the topics of taste is futile. Objectively and logically it can be concluded that there is no good or bad taste. You cannot say that someone is wrong or that someone is right only because he or she likes something different than you. What I like you don’t have to. One should not judge others just because they feel differently and/or think differently.
To recapitulate, in general humans are stupid if they surrender themselves to the pressure of public opinion, newspapers, magazines, fashion designers, critics, art critics and so on. The implication is that the media prey on our stupidity. But this is a different discussion and a subject for another long debate!

Thank you very much to all of you who took part in making this installation.

It will now be dismantled and moved to Poland where I will have a solo exhibition later this year. I will post about the Polish results after the close of the exhibition in Poland in December.

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