Artists define their ‘need and want’ through the action of painting, which in some mysterious way, relieves and soothes that desire, …temporarily. Then it begins again, like breathing, …or the systole and diastole of a heart beating. Ed Niedzielski embeds his emotions in his abstract works, which manifests his state of mind, …or mindlessness, …finding a zone for Zen.
Ed Niedzielski, Venting my dream, 2015, acrylic on woven canvas, 54 x 72 inches
A central concept in Niedzielski’s work is his ‘handle’, “Peace XOX”, which relates to love, imbued with the sense of optimism that makes us want to live. The desire to be happy is complicated because we are often searching in vain for that elusive condition. On an Existential level, we are unable to locate experience and our means of describing it through language is woefully inadequate. Yet, the impossibility of ever finding it does not negate the will to search and utter our love. Niedzielski is relentless in his quest to express the peace he hopes to find in his work. One painting is titled “The Point of This”, indicating the obfuscation that lies before our apprehension. The question is: how to ‘see’ through to the unseen other. Niedzielski’s abstractions are attempts to plumb the mystery.
XOX, the sign for hugs and kisses, is used obsessively in his work, yet his process explodes the prosaic into an abstract language that awakens our primordial urge to comprehend. These paintings are very disciplined lines of ‘text’, which offer the illusion of transcription since the artist has severed the letters and spliced them in myriad combinations. The lines run either horizontally or vertically, thus referencing Occidental and Oriental modes of reading. Colours in these very formal text pieces are usually rich darks set against gold, emphasizing value much like the medieval Madonna paintings.
Ed Niedzielski, Love Conquers All, 2014, acrylic on canvas w-paper, 54 x 48 inches
Text has been utilized as a design element since the Russian Constructivists, with artists like Jasper Johns elevating the practice in Modernist painting, partially satirizing histrionic Abstract Expressionist existential angst before the ‘void’. John’s Dadaistic use of language devolved into Pop art, with diverse artists like Roy Lichtenstein and General Idea, using letters in their own contexts. Niedzielski’s usage has more affinity with Johns. Indeed, one of his works uses the XOX motif in an American flag, referencing him directly.
Ed Niedzielski, Call me sweet heart, 2015, acrylic on woven canvas, 54 x 72 inches
Although Niedzielski’s work is abstract, some of his paintings remind one of Keith Haring’s pieces. Both artists have explored exhibition spaces outside the gallery system. Haring is famous for his subway graffiti transgressions and Niedzielski has explored putting text onto street hoardings, engaging the public in a dialogue. Many of his paintings have various wriggling shapes bound together in a colourful manner that echoes Haring’s comical figures in their all-over configuration.
Ed Niedzielski, My Blue is Over Your Orange, 2015, acrylic 54 x 72 inches
Some modernist artists questioned the supports and materials they were painting on. In Europe, the movement called ‘Arte Informel’ exposed the work of artists like Antoni Tapies and Alberto Burri, synchronous with the advent of Abstract Expressionism in the US. Their works explored non-traditional materials like hessian, clay and furniture. Niedzielski also uses non-traditional materials and weaves small strips of canvas to create surfaces. The holes that become visible between the ‘warp and weft’ activate a sculptural zone that intersects with the painted shapes. He applies his paint with a palette knife exclusively, building up every line and shape to express a textural identity, sometimes smooth, …sometimes rough, …but always tactile. The Minimalist, Robert Ryman, had a similar attitude for applying paint to his surface, concerned with registering the object without illusion. Sometimes he painted on the reverse side of his canvasses. Niedzielski’s work is less austere and more joyful, but he is just as concerned with treating the support sculpturally, painting on every surface.
Ed Niedzielski, Slumber Party, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 96 x 72 inches
The energy in his colours and shapes also bring to mind military camouflage techniques. The eye does not rest long enough to find the shape but is continuously urged on. The mind is lulled into a state of contentedness, satiated by a meal of colour. Niedzielski’s goal is to enchant the viewer with his mantra of XOX served in a colourful buffet. In a sense, he is a soldier, dedicated to serving up the abstract belief that there is meaning beyond us in an untouchable reality. We breathe his works in, with the hope that they will enlighten at a primordial level. Abstraction steps apart from figuration in order to reach another reality. Sometimes the work is merely decorative but when successful, it allows us the opportunity to inhabit a state of happiness or content, as if we have arrived at an inner truth.
Ashley Johnson
*Exhibition information: Ed Niedzielski: Can Love Change Your Life?, July 30 – August 22, 2015; Opening reception: Thursday, July 30, 2015 / 6 – 9 p.m. Articsók Gallery, 1697 St. Clair Avenue West, Toronto. Gallery hours: Wed – Sat, 12 – 6 p.m.