Jerzy Kędziora, Puppeteer
Resin, patinated bronze, steel.
Dimensions: 143 x 53 cm
Work signed.
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"Puppeteer" was for many months one of the protagonists of the New York exhibition "Balance in Nature" at Old Westbury Gardens on Long Island. About the exhibition there, the artist says this: "I try to present my sculptures in different circumstances and spaces. The contexts of the environment are very important to me. I am especially sensitive to the cluster of culture and nature, sculpture and living nature. Moreover, it's as if I complement the found flora with a kind of sky-high fauna and further entertain nature lovers with it. Old Westbury Gardens, with its rich and varied structure, water bodies, natural trails and impressive avenues, interesting glades and garden settings is particularly conducive to such an approach to these issues, and the palpable breath of the site's history enriches the message of contemporary sculpture realized in this way."
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Jerzy "JotKa" Kędziora - born in 1947 in Częstochowa - sculptor, painter, designer. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdansk and Poznan, PLSP in Czestochowa, took part in many workshops and master classes at home and abroad (Germany, France, Portugal).
From the beginning of his creative path Jerzy Kędziora was interested in kinetic art and sculptural experiments. Events related to the protests of workers, the "Solidarity" movement inspired the artist to create "Portrait of a Pole of the times of transformation and Solidarity." This 1980s realization includes works from the series: "Shaky," "Resuscitated," "With Lashings," "Cracked Voice," "Hangers On" or "Command Uniforms." The vagaries of time, choices and existence of the generation of that time became the canvass for artistic exploration, which led the sculptor in the 1990s to begin work on balancing sculptures, in which seemingly heavy and static forms became ephemeral representations. Thanks to these unique works, the artist has become internationally recognized.
Although this is just one of many impressive realizations of the Artist, it is worth mentioning - somewhat locally - the "acrobats" that have been balancing over the Bernatek Footbridge in Cracow for years. These sculptures have almost become a permanent part of the Podgórze landscape. The "Between Water and Sky" exhibition, which has been running for more than four years, is one of the most secluded corners of the Vistula River walks. Here's what the Master himself said about the unusual collection of 10, rope-hung figures:
"About 20 years ago I was in the middle of a project called 'Man in Transition'. I was interested in creating a man who was on a certain edge. This rope was meant to symbolize that. The fact that we are balancing, looking for a way out of certain sometimes extreme - but also smaller - swings in life stood at the core of this idea."
Jerzy Kedziora's sculptures have been exhibited at prestigious exhibitions, including in Miami, Palm Beach, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, London, Berlin, Lourdes, Venice and Madrid. The artist is the recipient of many awards (including the Gloria Artis medal, medals of the Warsaw Sculpture Salons, victories in competitions for monuments: "The Motherland" in Wroclaw, "300 years of the Siege of Vienna" in Oronsko, "Rev. Popieluszko" in Czestochowa, "The Cross in the life of modern man" in Warsaw) and a multiple scholarship recipient of the Ministry of Culture and Art. He is a member of the World Symposium of Kinetic Sculpture, the International Association of Sculptors Sculpture Network and the Association of Polish Sculptors. For his artistic activity, he received in 2015. Honorary Citizenship of Miami, and February 27 was proclaimed as Jerzy Kedziora Day there.
