Kijno Exhibition at La Malmaison
Kijno hops from one subject to another without severing the thread
Born in Warsaw, Poland, in 1921, Ladislas Kijno emigrated with his family in Northern France in 1925. He studied philosophy at the Lille University (1942-1946), them trains himself in Germaine Richier's workshop from 1947. His first solo exhibition takes place in Paris in 1954. He co-founded the group in 1954 and was board member of the Salon de Mai in 1958, the year he settled in Paris. In 1980 he represented France at the Venice Biennale. He lives and works in Saint Germain en Laye, near Paris. Rebellious painter Ladislas Kijno expresses himself by tackling extreme energy, excess and sensitivity in his polymaterialist work. Artist of diversity, with one steadfast principal, the roundness of forms, he unveils a multiplicity of worlds and materials. Someone who continually questions as he breaks with styles, refusing to remain imprisoned by one thing, he offers up his insubordinate poetics, his doubts and emotions, measuring each moment of his times. His rather dark-colored paintings are inhabited by abstract shapes, or round, feminine plumpness, on the verge of giving birth, usually black or red, that are interpenetrating themselves. Some of his works even evoke the street art of graph. First non-figurative, his works include elements of representation in the 1980s. Kijno conducts research on the matter and execute works on canvas and wrinkled paper or canvas in a technique of his own. He illustrated precious books of poetry, including Aragon's, Francis Ponge's or André Verdet's. He produced numerous works for public commissions and, in particular, a set for Lille town hall, a "Last Supper" for the crypt of the Church of Assy, the Great Rosace of the Cathedral of Lille (1990-1999).The Malmaison exhibitions, representing sixty years of creation, showcases an extremely prolific artists who, as said in french «hops from cock to donkey» (hops from one subject to another), but without ever severing the thread of his creativity. Some painting express as well tributes to artists like Max Ernst.
Kijno is one of the major artists of his time.
Exhibition from November 30, 2011 to April 29, 2012
Open from Tuesday to Sunday - 10:00 am to 1:00 pm & 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm
Closed on Mondays and bank holidays.
