NIE-RO-ZU-MIEM | I-DON'T-UN-DER-STAND

Monika Krygier (1953- ) is active in the fields of painting, sculpture, graphic art and the design of exhibition spaces in galleries and museums. She studied at the Faculty of Design at the State University of Fine Arts in Łódź. She graduated from the Faculty of Design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, specialising in visual communication. Since 1993 she has been professionally associated with her alma mater - currently the Władysław Strzemiński Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź. Monika Krygier's paintings echo the principles underlying the work of the Łódź avant-garde, such as attention to form and the thoughtful use of visual signs. Her paintings form a strictly defined structure of elements in terms of spatial relationships. The artist uses minimal techniques of expression, working with a smear and limiting her work to a few pure colours, repetitive rhythms or slight modifications of compositional elements. Despite her undeniable inspiration from avant-garde masters, Monika Krygier has developed her own formal language. In addition, the titles of her works provide clues to their interpretation, as in the case of the present painting NIE-RO-ZU-MIEM (I DON’T UN-DER-STAND) from the series My Grammar. The simple, organic smears become a system of signs, not necessarily words, to communicate between the artist and the viewer. Using them, she creates specific compositions organised according to a set of rules, which, in analogy to classical grammar representing the structure of written and spoken language, have become an integral part of Monika Krygier's visual language within her works, unaffected by external influences. Marlena Chybowska-Butler