Janusz Janowski: Who is the new manager of Zachęta? big controversy

• “The practitioner, the painter is incompetent. An irrelevant theorist, as evidenced by the small number of publications” – said Alexander Hodzic of Newsweek
• Photos of Janowski’s paintings are circulating on social media, and netizens are surprised that this painter has taken the position of director of the most famous gallery in Warsaw
• However, it is not necessary to translate Janowski’s talent into his managerial skills, although those in Janovsky’s biography are also missing.
• More similar information can be found on Onet homepage

After the competition for the director of the Pauline Museum ended against the wishes of Piotr Gliński, the head of the Ministry of Culture decided to independently nominate the directors of important institutions.

This is what happened when occupying the main position at Zachęta. At the end of December, the show’s director to date, Hana Wrobloska, who has been associated with Zakota for many years, ended her tenure. Previously, she worked as a guide, curator and educator. Gliński announced long ago that he did not want Wróblewska to continue running the foundation.

And although the head of the Ministry of Culture delayed identifying his ideal candidate for a long time, he eventually fell to Janusz Janowski.

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Janusz Janowski became the new manager of Zachęta. big controversy

Since the nomination of Janowski began to spread in the title market, the media have written about his achievements so far. Apart from painting, Janowski also deals with philosophy and music.

What the following years might look like in Zachęta can be demonstrated by the sentence Janowski gave in a radio interview in 2016: “Since the Kant Revolution, a relativistic philosophy has developed, and the concept of beauty has become subjective. The Latin paradigm is a systematic substitution of paradigms based on an understanding of art in a way Subjective. All objective standards of art have been nullified and we have come to the point where the artist, by his personal decision, determines what is the value in art. Cultural chaos is created.”

Art critics also pay attention to Janowski’s painting itself, which – in their opinion – is “rather poor” (Piotr Sarzyński in “Polityka”) and “incompetent” (Alexander Hudzik in “Newsweek”).

Janusz Janowski in Zachita. Find your expression language.

In 2016, an exhibition of paintings and drawings by Janusz Janowski was shown at the State Art Gallery in Sopot.

This is a collection of his works from 1985 to 2016. As the artist himself said during the opening, “the subject matter of his works naturally evolved along with the search for his own language of expression.”

It is mainly an oil painting, along with watercolors and one work in tempera, as well as drawings.

On Facebook, you can find a page dedicated to Janowski’s work. There are a number of photos showing the artist’s work and many reports from vernissages.

“The minister revealed the candidate for the post of director Zachęta. This is Janusz Janowski from Gdańsk. I recommend reading his achievements on Wikipedia. A human orchestra. Above all, a painter. Even Sokorski in the Stalinist era did not dream of such right nominations ”- commented critic and arranger Anda Rothenberg.

“The practitioner, the painter is inept. And an irrelevant viewer, as evidenced by the small number of publications” – said the aforementioned Alexander Hodzic of Newsweek.

According to Piotr Sarzyński of Polityka, Janowski is a “poor painter” and “as the longtime president of the Association of Polish Artists and Designers, he has done nothing to bring this organization out of the shadows, stagnation, and lethargy that has been going on for years.” “In a word: unsuccessfully, but faithful” – summed up.

Who is Janusz Janowski?

Janusz Stanisław Janowski is a painter, theorist, art historian, curator, jazz musician, Doctor of Humanities, member of the Polish Philosophical Society.

Since October 2014, he has been Chairman of the Main Council of the Association of Polish Artists and Designers. In 2004, he was one of the founders of the Pomeranian Society for the Promotion of Fine Arts. He was also one of the founders and host of the “Republika Sztuki” program. He is the editor-in-chief of the quarterly art magazine ArsForum since 2017, and the author of publications in theory, art history and philosophy.

In the years 2002-2014 he was curator of the Gdańsk ZPAP exhibition, curator of more than a hundred exhibitions, as well as large retrospective exhibitions of the winners of Kazimierz Ostrovsky. He is also the author of Arrangement of Exhibitions of the Pomeranian Art Triennial (2013, 2016, 2019) at the State Art Gallery of Sopot. Participated in the jury of several competitions for the implementation of antiquities and sculptures in the social space. He is the author of several solo exhibitions and a participant in group exhibitions in Poland and abroad.

(Bachelor’s)