Ali (2015-2017)
series of paintings (acrylic on canvas), drawing (charcoal)
"Ali" is a postmodern foray into a game of history and its symbolic complexity. In this series of paintings, Radziszewski conjures up the real-life figure of August Agbola O’Brown (pseudonym “Ali”), a Nigerian-born jazz musician and the sole black combatant of the Warsaw Uprising. Artist takes up a powerfully Picasso style and in borrowing from the master of the avant-garde, brings his project into the realm of a wider understanding of the form of modern art, while at the same time making reference to the political symbolism of the Warsaw Uprising of World War II. The project makes reference to the postcolonial perspective, which reverts to forgotten or ignored threads of history against the backdrop of grand historical narratives, both with regard to their biographical aspects as their symbolic ones.
Installation view: 2016
Installation view, BWA Warszawa