Roman Opalka ( French: Roman Opalka , Polish. Roman Opałka ; August 27, 1931 , Abbeville-Saint-Lucien , France - August 6, 2011 , Rome , Italy ) is a Polish conceptual artist who devoted his whole life to depicting infinity by writing on canvas infinite series of natural numbers [1] .
| Roman Opalka | |
|---|---|
 Roman Opalka | |
| Birth name | Roman Opałka |
| Date of Birth | August 27, 1931 |
| Place of Birth | Abbeville-Saint-Lucien , France |
| Date of death | August 6, 2011 (aged 79) |
| Place of death | Rome , Italy |
| Citizenship |  France Poland |
| Genre | painting , audio installation |
| Study | Polish Academy of Arts |
| Style | conceptual art |
| Awards | [d] |
| Site | opalka1965.com |
Content
Biography
Roman Opalka was born on August 27 in 1931 in France, in 1935 the family moved to Poland, but not for long: in 1940, as a result of the annexation of the Polish population in favor of the German army, the family of the future artist was taken to Germany. In 1946, his family moved to the liberated Poland, Opalka studied at the art school in Lodz for some time, and then moved to the capital. In Warsaw, the artist graduated from the Polish Academy of Arts. In 1977, he returned to France. [2]
In 1965, Opalka began an unprecedented project called “Opalka 1965/1 - ∞” - in fact, not a painting or a series of paintings, but a performance that lasts the artist’s remaining life. In 1977, he returned to France, where he continued his project.
He died in Rome on August 6, 2011, in a hospital, where he fell with an acute infectious disease.
Opalka 1965/1 - ∞
The artist reproduces the numbers in order on canvas: 12345678910111213141516 .... etc., when the canvas finishes, he takes the next one and continues the number line, as if setting the goal - no matter how many canvases go, he should depict all the natural numbers in the world on them, the whole series in full: The artist will be all life will do it, it will die, and the numbers will never end - this is the meaning of the project metaphor - a monument to infinity. At first the canvas had a black background, then the colors of the background and numbers changed. Some time ago, Opalka began to paint in gray, adding a tenth of a percent of the white to the paint with each new work, as a result, the color was to become completely white, and Opalka planned to do this by writing the number 7 777 777, after which the artist dies, but walk until this date he did not have time. At the time of the death of the great conceptualist, numbers exceeded six million.
Opalka basically did not deal with other projects, or the public simply does not know about them. In recent years, he began to be photographed against the background of his work.
The artist took his work seriously and ironically at the same time: Opalka, on the one hand, compared the gradual development of his concept with “the path from darkness to light,” on the other hand, he said that “Details” are “delirious of all that has ever existed” in this world. " Opalka called his work not only the end of the era of classical avant-garde, but also in general “the end of a segment of history called“ Painting “”. Opalka's works were widely recognized, having got to museums such as MoMA , the Guggenheim in New York , and the Pompidou Center . In 2010, the Hermitage hosted an exhibition from the Pompidou Center, and among the works brought in, guests could see the works of Roman Opalka. [3]
Rewards
Roman Opalka is a holder of the French Order of Arts and Literature, a laureate of numerous awards, including the main prize of the 7th International Biennale in Krakow in 1969 and the national art awards of France (1991) and Germany (1993).
Notes
- ↑ Roman Opalka on the-artists.org . Date of treatment August 13, 2011. Archived August 24, 2012.
- ↑ Zmarł polski malarz Roman Opałka (Polish) . Newspaper wyborcza.pl. Date of treatment August 13, 2011.
- ↑ Roman Opalka. The Millenium Project . Date of treatment August 13, 2011. Archived August 24, 2012.