Jan DOBKOWSKI (b. 1942), Heaven XXXXIII, 2015

acrylic, canvas; 54 x 54 cm;
Signed, dated and described on the back, on canvas: Jan Dobkowski / FROM CYCLE
"NO-BO XXXXIII" 2015 / ACRYL / 54 cm x 54 cm.
EXHIBITED AND REPRODUCED:
- Jan Dobkowski - Heaven Above Me, aTak Gallery, 10.03. - 07.05.2023.
Warsaw, item 61, p. 77.

Line is an integral part of Jan Dobkowski's work. Initially, it constituted
contour filled with pure, intense colors, to, over time
take the form of multiplied lines from which the painter builds a composition.
Jan Dobkowski works by creating cycles of canvases. The earlier ones,
created with a similar method, include "Carnival in Rio", "Threnody", "Oceans",
"Titanic." During the exhibition at the aTak gallery in Warsaw were presented
two series of the painter's works: "Peculiar Occurrences" and precisely "Not-
-bo", where its authors point to Jan Dobkowski's making a
recording referring to daily notes in a diary, this time
in the form of painting. This notation concerns the change of light, which is highlighted
in the golden, shimmering matter of the painting, but also the surrounding world,
searching for a way to maintain a relationship with it and rediscovering it.
At the same time, the title of the exhibition "The Sky Above Me" brings to mind the phrase of
of the philosopher Immanuel Kant: There are two things that fill the soul with awe
and reverence, the starry sky above me, the moral law within me. In this
context, Jan Dobkowski's paintings from the series "Not-Heaven," also acquire a
transcendental overtones.