Integral illusion

*Integral Illusion*, created in 1972 by Jan Berdyszak (1934–2014), is part of the artist’s sustained investigation into ontological questions of space, void, infinity and the openness of the artwork. For Berdyszak, space is the most enduring form of being. His thinking draws on the philosophy of the Far East, where space has a sacred quality and is deeply tied to religion, in contrast to the Mediterranean tradition, which treats space in practical terms. The cut-out void in his drawings and paintings opens the work up to imagination, to the surroundings, to infinity. Berdyszak always worked in cycles, often pursuing two or three at the same time. In his view, there were no individual artworks. Art, he believed, must be deeply understood, and the foundations of this understanding must be verbalised, with philosophy offering a crucial tool for doing so. That is why his artistic practice was accompanied by notes, which served as sketches, plans or verbal identities of a given work. Texts, concepts and realisations were developed side by side. He also wrote texts that functioned as imagined mental projects. Rather than offering answers, Berdyszak posed questions and raised issues without resolving them. His aim was to open up further possibilities for exploration, to spark new questions to be pursued in later works. By constructing various formal arrangements, he encouraged the viewer not only to see space, but also to sense its emptiness – a void to be filled with the imagination of the artist. Marlena Chybowska-Butler