Integral illusion V

Sculptor, painter, printmaker, installation artist and educator, Jan Berdyszak (1934–2014) studied at the State Higher School of Fine Arts in Poznań (now the University of the Arts), where he began teaching in 1965. From 1990, he chaired the Programme Council of the Centre of Polish Sculpture in Orońsko and was a member of the programme team of the International Print Triennial in Kraków. Alongside his main artistic practice, he also worked in theatre design, collaborating with the Marcinek Theatre in Poznań, and wrote extensively on the theory of art and the relationship between theatre and the visual arts. Questions of space emerged early in his work, notably in the *Double Circles* series from the 1960s. Across numerous works, studies and sketches, Berdyszak explored how to move beyond the traditional construction of painting and break out of the classical frame. One key development was his decision to introduce real space into the composition by cutting a hole in the work. The first of these, *Structural Painting with an Opening*, was made in 1965. The void became not just a part of the painting, but often its central element. It posed a fundamental question: what kind of space is being framed, since no one can predict what wall or background the work will eventually be hung on. Berdyszak described these cut-outs as traps for space – a way of trying to tame it. This idea culminated in the series *Integral Illusion* (1970–1974), which includes the drawing *Integral Illusion V*, held in the collection of the National Museum in Szczecin. In his sketchbook from the same period, Berdyszak wrote: ‘How much does an opening express, and what does it express in ordinary things. Art should not be a matter of choosing among options, but a necessity for the individual to fulfil the content that has been initiated – and a constantly open place for concentration and initiative.’ Marlena Chybowska-Butler