Abstract
This article is an attempt to define the ambiguous specificity of artistic deflation in the sculpture of the Wroclavian artist Leon Podsiadły. At the outset, the author describes the principle of deflationist art and proposes a method of approach. She then discusses the “imperfections” within Podsiadły’s sculpture, the main manifestations of which include the use of common materials and mundane objects, secondary anti-mastery, and dememorization. These features coexist with well-thought-out composition, the inventiveness of the choice-making artist, and the creative fascination of unconventional artistic qualities, to which deflationist unlearning adds a unique slant. Seen from this perspective, Podsiadły’s deflationist caprice persuasively affirms the elasticity of the oscillation between the optics of modernism and postmodernism that defines his art. This oscillation can be seen, for instance, in those among his sculptures that were inspired by his stay in Africa in 1960s; in his “erotic” compositions; and in his installations of the 2010s in which he used the ready made. His “reductive” artistic experiments testify to a need for ironic distance; they individually gravitate toward the transgressive avant-garde and at the same time respond to the current trend of deskilling in art.
Highlights
Deflation in art means the lowering or reduction of artistry
Deflationist caprice manifests itself in the work of Wroclavian sculptor Leon Podsiadły (1932–2020), a significant contemporary Polish artist3
His output gives evidence of the oscillation between modernism with its cult of artistic genius and artwork, which is unique in form and content4, and the postmodern affirmation of the anti-masterpiece, the de-sanctioning of talent and of the precision of artisanship in a bid to affirm the everyday and the common5
Summary
Deflation in art means the lowering or reduction of artistry. It introduces the principle of anti-mastery and of the de-perfectionalized product, which sanctions mundane materials as the most obvious media for artistic explorations. Deflationist caprice manifests itself in the work of Wroclavian sculptor Leon Podsiadły (1932–2020), a significant contemporary Polish artist. Deflationist caprice manifests itself in the work of Wroclavian sculptor Leon Podsiadły (1932–2020), a significant contemporary Polish artist3 His output gives evidence of the oscillation between modernism with its cult of artistic genius and artwork, which is unique in form and content , and the postmodern affirmation of the anti-masterpiece, the de-sanctioning of talent and of the precision of artisanship in a bid to affirm the everyday and the common. The dominant postmodern investigative perspective will allow me to identify, among other features, the intentional stylistic inconsistencies of deflationist art, the relative replaceability of binary formal solutions, and the intertextual play with established artistic tendencies (D’Alleva 2005; Rose 2010)
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