Double Horizon

One of Mikołaj Smoczyński's important areas of interest was experimental photography, which he used to record the changing states of space. His photographic works show isolated fragments of reality. The artist photographed fragments of a dusty floor and then illuminated the prints with a torch in the process of developing. Thanks to this additional intervention each copy of the photograph is unique. Drawing with dust on the floor resembles brush strokes, while thanks to special composition, dramatic chiaroscuro and a large number of prints the reality we see in the photographs is unreal and disturbing.

Mikołaj Smoczyński (1955–2009) pursued painting, photography, drawing, performance, created objects and installations. He studied at the State Higher School of Fine Arts in Łódź (1974–1975) and graduated from the Insitute of Art Education at Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin (diploma in 1979 from Jan Popek's studio); in the years 1984–1985 he worked as fellow at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw in Ryszard Winiarski's studio. For many years he was a teacher at the Institute of Art Education of his alma mater. The artist, whose key period of artistic work fell on the 1980s and 1990s, is best known for his site-specific installations and black and white photographs documenting three-dimensional installations as well as architectural and spatial arranagements.

His works are in the collections of, among others, Bunkier Sztuki, MOCAK, Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art in Warsaw, Zachęta in Warsaw, Museum of Art in Łódź, Arsenal Gallery in Białystok, Society for the Encouragament of Fine Arts in Lublin, PKO Bank Polski.