Exhibition of Works by Rafał Kotomski "Washed Mirrors"

11-13.10.2024 Foyer UCK "Alternatywy"

Is it worth cleaning the mirrors just before we begin to glance into them, searching for the truth about ourselves? Is it even worth seeking that truth—about ourselves and others... About those we know and admire (like the immortal Pierrot and the eternally elusive Harlequin), about those who still intrigue us (like the land surveyor K. arriving at night), about those to whom we owe never-drying tears (like Mr. Theodor Mundstock, walking towards the Holocaust). After all, this search can turn into an exhausting chase for many truths, or worse, a mindless pursuit of half-truths, ending in illusory success.

Rafał Kotomski, using words to describe his drawings and paintings, tries to clean as many mirrors as possible before we gaze into them. And then, sparing words, he uses a pen, brush, or finger to create a visual theatrum, filled with lines and color, but also with sincerity. In other words… truth! And the most important truth is to express and name everything that lies between the senses. Isn't that the ultimate goal of all the artists who, during the festival, strive to express the inexpressible?

Rafał Kotomski – journalist, writer, illustrator, and creator of television programs and documentary films. In the media, he has been, among other things, a reporter for TVP and an editor of "Wiadomości" from 2007–2009, director of TVP 3 Warsaw from 2017–2021, as well as the creator of cultural television formats such as "Dwie stolice," "Gra Warszawa," "Sztuka w kadrze," and television productions like "Śmierć i dziewczyna. Stare Miasto in memoriam '44," "Chopin na Pradze," and "Kolędy w Mariańskim Porzeczu."

As the director of Warsaw's Trójka, he initiated the creation of two murals in the capital, dedicated to renowned writers: Edward Stachura (Grochów) and Tadeusz Nowak (Ursynów).
From 2015 to 2021, he was the creator and director of the music festival "Leszno Barok Plus." Together with his wife, jazz vocalist and composer Julia Sawicka, he established the House of Art "Mała Atma" in Radomice near Jelenia Góra. He is the author of published novels: "Dwóch morderców w podróży", "Lament Sieny", "Ostrze", "I wszystko marność", "Podręczna księga emblematów", "Uto", and the book "Ocalałam", co-authored with Krystyna Budnicka and Grzegorz Michalczyk.