Both artists tried to evoke these associations through the use of condensed plastic signs; they aspired to maximum compactness and expressiveness. Only Zieliński’s earliest works, such as his Self-Portrait, betray Colourism; in 1966 came the painting The White Model, where the glistening pure white silhouette of a naked woman clearly contrasts with the black background of the interiors and the grassy upholstery of the sofa; and at the turn of 1966 and 1967, the composition Still Life Act, in which Jurry used bold framing of forms characteristic of the new figuration, and at the same time, the conventional treatment of objects and space finally provided proof of the skilful handling of contrasting colours which gave the painting an atmosphere of anxiety. This feeling is present in many other compositions created around the same time, such as Fact, Young and Old, Longing (from the cycle New Creation of the World), Green Model in the Studio (all from 1967), I Look and I See, Hot, The Smile of Life (all from 1968 ).
The exhibition of ‘spatial forms’, as they have been described (in reality, flat and delicate), was a sort of a verification of the effectiveness of communication with the viewer through the language of art. It was organised by the artists in 1969 in the Polfa factory in Tarchomiń (Zieliński presented the following works: Anaximander, For You Man, Nature’s Progress, Ra!-Dość/Joy, An Exile from Paradise, and The Winner, all from 1969).
These mostly smooth floral-anatomical forms cut from fibreboard and painted with one intense colour, often evoking erotic associations, were installed high enough that they could be viewed from both sides. They made a surreal impression – flowing from the ceiling like strangers from another world, they mixed with metal pipe ducts and disrupted the dullness of the industrial interior.
The event was widely commented in the media, either as a successful marriage of art and industry, or, on the contrary, as an evident artistic mistake. Neither Dobkowski nor Zieliński were particularly concerned with the opinions and went on with their plan to educate the public, making further exhibition experiments combined with meetings and discussions; they were held in places such as the Telecommunications Equipment Factory, the National Teletransmission Plant, and the Enterprise for Social Services in Warsaw (all in 1970).
In contrast to the monothematic Dobkowski, Zieliński operated with a broader repertoire of forms. Among other things, his works contained metaphorical and sarcastic signs of existential anxiety. In the picture ironically called The Last Romantic (1969) a pair of big red pincers shown against a sapphire sky grab a small green plant; in another one – Zero Hour (also 1969) – a red tear runs down sapphire scissors, which show midnight and are visible on the background of a grass-green clock; and in Pigeon Anxiety (1970) – a red bird hovers ominously in the upper right corner of a bright green horizontal rectangle. The symbolic of these images is clear. It is further simplified by the unambiguous colours; the explicitness is also emphasised by the monumental size of the paintings (usually 150 x 200 or 200 x 150 cm). This means that while Zieliński (and Dobkowski) make use of typical artistic solutions for advertisements (simplification of form, sharpness of colour, conciseness), they do not perpetuate stereotypes and clichés of mass culture, but manifestly undermine them.
Zieliński’s works, which used painting and ready-made objects, are also significant in this respect. An example is the evocative creation Without Rebellion – an unnaturally large board of a painted head with an open mouth and a huge tongue-mattress nailed to the floor (this work was shown at the exhibition Information – Imagination – Action, Współczesna Gallery, Warsaw, 1970).
This individualistic tone dominated the work of the painter in the last years of his life; the poetics of his works changed at that time – they became less decorative, more spontaneous, raw, hasty, and expressive.
The painter took part in all presentations of the Neo-Neo-Neo group (1967-1970). Another important exhibition was the one organised by Janusz Bogucki in the Współczesna Gallery called Art Nouveau – Secession (1968). Subsequent presentations of Zieliński’s works took place in the PSP-ZPAP Katowice Gallery (1970), the Old Town Gallery in Warsaw (1971), the Capital Bureau for Art Exhibitions, among others, and posthumously – in the Gallery of the Association of Art Historians in Warsaw (1981).
The work of the Neo-Neo-Neo group was summed up in the exhibition organised in the Zachęta Gallery of Contemporary Art in 1995 (the catalogue includes a chronology and basic data concerning the activities of the two artists). Recently (2006) Zieliński’s work was brought to the public attention by Oficyna Malarska in Warsaw.
Author: Małgorzata Kitowska-Łysiak, Institute of Art History of the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, November 2006, transl. Bozhana Nikolova