The sacred and Polishness in the art of the early 21st century. Affirmation and criticism

Abstract

The text begins with a reminder of Rudolf Otto’s definition of
the sacred and reflections on the possibility of the sacred in
the art of Władysław Stróżewski. The author considers the relation
of transcendentals to divinity and the value of the sacred,
realised in a unique way by the Polish nation, in whose ethos
religiousness, and especially mercy, plays an exceptional role.
The way in which aesthetic values are eliminated in favour of
the value of the sacred (sacrum) present in sacred and religious
art is described along with the relations of this value with the
concept of Polishness, revealed in parallel. In this context, the
concept of affirmative art is introduced as similar in its poetics
to the currently popular critical art. Affirmative art, however,
remains based on transcendentals, i.e. a metaphysical system
of values, although (according to the observations of Grzegorz
Sztabiński) transcendence is limited to its “shiver” present in intense
experiences or to experiencing its margins. Examples of
such affirmativeness in the joint treatment of the issues of the
religious sacrum and Polishness are discussed in selected works
of Ignacy Czwartos, Danuta Waberska, Jarosław Modzelewski
(who has taken part in the project Namalować Katolicyzm Od
Nowa [Painting Catholicism Anew]), Czesław Dźwigaj, Marek
Chlanda, Mirosław Patecki, Stanisław Kulon, Adu Karczmarczyk,
Jerzy Kalina. Recalling the values of marginalised ideas of the
sacred and Polishness in artworks sustains the contemporary
conviction about the irremovability of transcendentals.