Amber and Leonardo – magan gallery

We have the pleasure of inviting you to the exhibition:

Amber & Leonardo
22nd – 30th June 2018

The originator of the exhibition, Wojciech Kalandyk, and the curator, Giedymin Jabłoński, invited an international group of well-known artists asking them to make creative statements (works) inspired by Leonardo da Vinci, using amber as one of the materials used.

Amber and amber routes have been stimulants of contacts and dialogue between European cultures since time immemorial. The project’s goal is to revive the best traditions of this dialogue. And the Renaissance period was an extremely significant moment in the history of Europe when it declared its cultural unity, both spatially and temporally. It was a period on the one hand, of a rapid revival of contacts between European intellectuals, on the other – the discovery and fascination with the culture of ancient Greece and Rome. Thus, the search for common features that connect the Renaissance with the Baltic Sea in the context of the European cultural history takes on a relevant meaning.

Leonardo da Vinci, one of the greatest creators of that period – a versatile genius unifying the world of art and science – is a symbolic person for the Renaissance. His countless talents and powerful creative energy are still known and admired throughout the world. Many of his projects and ideas overtook the era so much that it was realized only centuries later. His paintings, although only a few survived to the present day, remain among the greatest treasures of culture, and their never completely deciphered secrets and symbols inspire and are subject to constant research and guesswork of art historians, writers, philosophers, etc.

During the research work on the project a very interesting, additional amber trail was unexpectedly discovered. As can be seen from the artist’s notes, he not only knew amber, but also knew how to prepare a special varnish from it, which he himself used.

Thus, the creators of the project dream of referring to the culture-forming role of amber and the European Renaissance era, of creating an international artistic event well embedded in the realities of contemporary, united Europe and globalization phenomena, as well as of initiating a current amber revival, that would flow from Gdańsk and become a source inspiration and humanistic ideas.

Participants: Carmen Amador, Wojciech Jerzy Bryłka, Pierre Cavalan, Agata Danielak Kujda, Sławomir Fijałkowski, Ireneusz Glaza, Aleksander Gliwiński, Herman Hermsen, Giedymin Jabłoński, Wojciech Kalandyk, Judy Mccaig, Kelly Mccallum, Agata Nartowska, Andrzej Pacak, Felicity Peters, Ruudt Peters, Ramon Puig Cujas, Mah Rana, Hans Stofer, Andrzej Szadkowski, Tanel Veenre, Mona Wallstrom, Silvia Walz, Karol Weisslechner, Jarosław Westermark, Marta Wielgomondowicz, Jochen Zaeh, Piotr Zarański

Amber has always inspired extraordinary and beautiful art. Its colours and its luminous orange or red or yellow translucency – or sometimes its creamy opacity – have a peculiar quality of their own…
The contemporary jewellery and objects in this exhibition were all inspired by the great renaissance artist, Leonardo da Vinci. But just as importantly these works of art were inspired by amber itself.
…the amber works here with their many meanings and appearances merge the worlds of science and art, the worlds of past and present.

– Dr Marjorie Trusted, Senior Curator of Sculpture, Victoria and Albert Museum