Leszek Mądzik is dead – TVN24

Leszek Mądzik – an outstanding theater creator, director, set designer, painter and photographer, creator of the KUL art scene. Information about death was provided on Tuesday evening in social media, the art scene of the Catholic University of Lublin.

“We are pleased to inform you that Leszek Mądzik – an outstanding theater creator, director, stage designer, painter and photographer, creator of the KUL art scene. His extraordinary artistic sensitivity, a unique visual language and unwavering consistency in creating a theater based on the strength of the picture made him one of the most important contemporary artists of the stage,” wrote the artistic scene.

“For over five decades of the work of his performances, he moved viewers around the world, opening the space for reflection on the essence of humanity, transience and spirituality. He was the author of countless scenery, exhibitions, posters and publications devoted to visual and theater art. His activities left an indelible trail in the history of the theater and in the hearts of those who had the honor to associate with his works. He was able to touch the art of what is inexpressible, “added the art scene of KUL.

Who was Leszek Mądzik?

Leszek Mądzik – director, stage designer, painter, photographer – is considered one of the most original Polish theater creators. He was born on February 5, 1945 in Bartoszowiny in the Świętokrzyskie Mountains. In 1966 he began studying art history at the Catholic University of Lublin. Initially, he was a stage designer at the Academic Theater, but in 1969 he began working on his own, original theater – the artistic scene of the KUL. The first performance “Ecce Homo” was staged in the spring of 1970. The performances of the art scene of the Catholic University of Lublin – referred to as a theater of the image – are devoid of words, traditional acting and plot, are based on scenery, space, playing lights, silence and sounds. In his work, the artist drills the subject of sacred, death, erotica, transience. Theater critics in Poland and abroad call the Theater of Mądzika the theater of philosophical existentialism. The main means of the artistic statement of Mądzik, who is the director and stage designer of all performances of the stage, are space and light, few characters and objects immersed in the depth and darkness.

There are over 20 performances in the achievements of the KUL art scene. A lot in them was shown at various festivals in the country and in the world, where they met recognition and won awards. The famous performances of Mądzik include: “Herbalian”, “Moisture”, “Gorn”, “Wandering”, “Breath”, “Kir”.

“You can't mistake him for anyone else”

Dr hab. Jarosław Cymerman from the Department of Contemporary Literature and Polish Culture of UMCS pointed out that Leszek Mądzik is classified – next to Tadeusz Kantor and Józef Szajna – to representatives of the Art Theater, but his style is different. “It is enough to see two minutes of the performance of Leszek Mądzik and you cannot be mistaken for anyone else,” the theaterologist assessed, explaining that the work of the KUL art scene is referred to as “theater without words” or “Theater of darkness and light”.

In his opinion, the artist found a way to tell – without words – about the deepest, existential human experiences, such as transience, death, nature, love. “By inviting the viewer to his spectacle, he excludes him as if from reality to these 30-40 minutes, so that at that time – often at the border of visibility – to force him to think about what is inevitable. Without referring directly to specific literary texts, he was able to create a universal language that is understood regardless of the continent and culture” – noted Dr. Hab. Cymerman.

He emphasized that viewers leave his performances, not knowing exactly what moved them, because it is difficult to describe in words what they saw and experienced.

“This is not a theater of quick solutions”

Former, manager of the Department of Drama and KUL Theater prof. Wojciech Kaczmarek said that the Mądzika Theater is a theater about a man who faces a “wall”, which is death or suffering, and is looking for a solution. At the same time, he noticed that – unlike Tadeusz Kantor and Józef Szajna – Leszek Mądzik did not enter Turbism in the art of the 1970s. “He found a niche – an attempt to extract what is dirty, black, but at the same time beautiful. His theater – as he says – is the theater of darkness and light. Mądzik brings out what is valuable from the darkness. For example, his characters or fragments of the scenery appear in the dark, but they are extracted thanks to the plastic. theater.

Prof. Kaczmarek pointed out that in the world of artificial intelligence the question is becoming more and more important – who is a man. “In my opinion, the Mądzika Theater has a huge future in this context. Modern man is completely overpowered by the virtual world and he lacks consideration of human existence. I am convinced that technology does not appeal to man, but the three most important things, i.e. beauty, truth and good. He emphasized the theaterologist.

“Leszek Mądzik is an artist and if he had not been, he would have to come up with him”

Leszek Mądzik himself five years ago in an interview with PAP emphasized that creating a theater without words gave him the opportunity to reach the viewer in different cultures and parts of the world, because “a person cries everywhere, he feels that he is cold and feels fear.” “I looked at such existential needs that are not liberated on a daily basis, and sometimes exterminated,” he noted. The creator of the KUL art scene said that the source of silence in his performances is a deep conviction that there are areas of human reality that do not give in to the word. “Life and death, human bottom – this is a topic that I have been in my theater for 50 years” – he added.

“We, traditional directors, seem to be the matter of the theater is a word, drama, movement of characters that develop before our eyes – they experience their tragedy or comedy. (…) Leszek Mądzik would like it to take place without words, action, clear characters. Is it a theater? I experience in another theater.