Maria Michałowska, Traces in Time 2, black and white photograph, 23.5x88.5 cm unframed, 1972-73
Artwork information: Maria Michałowska, Traces in Time 3, black and white photography, 23.5x107 cm framed, 1972-73, gelatin-silver print, vintage print/cardboard, author's set of five photographs. Framed in a frame under glass. Source of acquisition of the work: the artist's studio. M. Michalowska was concerned with the phenomenon of time, its physical and metaphorical nature, and as a structural element that constructs a work of art. Time appears in the artist's photographic series, including the "Traces" series from 1972-73. Maria Michalowska transfers the same themes of observation and subjugation of time into the field of painting, drawing, conceptual activities, photography and action selecting the possibilities of the medium to express the essence of time. The handprint refers to the archetypes of culture as a primordial magical gesture, a symbol of the identity of human existence, the genetic uniqueness of each of us and appears in the artist's work, as well as the profile of the face in photography, drawing and relief. Photography treated processually by exploring the expressive possibilities of this medium. Photographs from this series are among others in the collection of the National Museum in Wroclaw, information in the monograph Maria Michalowska, E. Kosciellak, 2014, pp. 72-73.
Maria Michalowska (1925-2018) studied at the Academy of Fine Arts (now the Academy of Fine Arts) in Wroclaw from 1951 to 1957 in the studio of Professor E. Geppert. From 1959 to 1995 she taught painting and drawing at the Faculty of Architecture at the Wrocław University of Technology, with a professorial title since 1991. She was in the founding group of the Wroclaw School (later Wroclaw Group) established by Prof. E. Geppert in 1961. She was involved in drawing, painting, photography, action art and conceptual art. She created spatial objects and installations. Her works belong to the following trends: geometric abstraction, minimal-art and conceptualism. The artist's works are in museum and private collections, at home and abroad. In Poland, Maria Michalowska's work is represented by the Koscielak Gallery.
