Olsztyn

Geometric Reflections: Pener’s Ode to the Big Sea

August 8, 2024 Artists

Tuesday was fish. Today is the sea.

“Ode To The Big Sea” is one of Pener’s notable artworks, first on canvas and now on the wall. The Polish street artist, also known by his family as Bartek Swiatecki, evokes the reflective qualities of natural light awash in color here in Olsztyn. His unique blend of abstract and geometric forms invites you to jump in and be carried by waves.

Bartek Swiatecki. *Ode To The Big Sea*. Olsztyn / Polska 2024. (photo © Maciej Gryko)

A teacher and a student Swiatecki has developed an innovative use of space, often transforming a dull tableau into an unexpected visual experience.”Ode To The Big Sea” reflects his dual fascination with urban environments and the natural elements, merging them into complex visual narratives. In Moby Dick, the sea is vast and indifferent. Hemingway succeeded in capturing the deep, almost spiritual connection one may have with it. Rachel Carson highlighted both its grandeur and its fragility. In Pener’s latest, the rhythmic reflections of light and color make it precious, a jewel to revel in and behold.

Movie by Mariusz Bartosinski

Pener: Identity And History

September 2, 2021 Artists

The genesis of Pener’s new wall in Olsztyn, Poland goes back a year ago. He and Krzysztof Dąbkowski, who is the director of the Municipal Public Library of Olsztyn, agreed on the idea that the project should reflect the literary tradition of Warmia and Mazury, the Polish region in which Olsztyn is located.

Bartek Świątecki AKA Pener. Olsztyn, Poland. (photo © Mateusz Świątecki / Kamil Iwańczyk)

Says Pener, “Specifically intertwined with the notion of “Atlantis of the North”, the author of which is the poet and writer Kazimierz Brakoniecki. I am very open to this type of synergistic projects that can significantly encourage reflection on our identity. As a creator and artist, I wanted to create something more than just an illustration for a literary text”.

The artist was inspired not just by the text of “Atlantis of the North” but also by the shape of the building, its location and the spatial context.

A Land of Mirrors for Pener: Bartek Świątecki Paints Hometown in Poland

June 17, 2021 Artists

25 years in the game, Pener routinely lets his mind travel to encompass possibilities, then channels them abstractly through a series of echoing geometric forms with aerosol and brush. Here in his hometown of Olsztyn, Poland, he says he imagined the possibilities that young minds inside an elementary school could contemplate.

Bartek Świątecki AKA Pener. *Mirror/Land*. Olsztyn, Poland. (photo © Darek Brodowski)

While painting this new “Mirror Land,” he was in a land of mirrors psychologically. He says he prefers to explore the “possible tension between our subconscious and conscious abilities that oscillate between reality and illusion.”

That’s a lot for kids to vocalize, granted, but he says he still engaged them when they watched and asked questions.

“Those were wonderful moments to hear them trying to solve what the wall depicts and hides,” he says.

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