The title Rhizome refers to the philosophical concept developed by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari. Unlike a tree, which grows from a single root and follows a clear hierarchy, a rhizome develops in many directions at once. Any point can connect to another, without a fixed beginning or end. In relation to art, the idea suggests an open structure in which images, thoughts, memories, and references form unexpected connections. Książek’s exhibition follows this principle: each work remains autonomous while becoming part of a wider network of ideas.

The black-and-white drawings of the Narrations series bring together image and text, fragments of bodies, faces, mechanical forms, textures, and undefined landscapes move between figuration and abstraction. They appear almost as images retrieved from memory or a subconscious archive, suspended between recognition and disappearance. The accompanying texts do not explain or describe the images. Instead, words and images exist as parallel forms of thought, occasionally meeting and influencing one another while retaining their independence.

The paintings introduce his rich painterly language and reveal Książek’s remarkable command of the medium. Built through layers of translucent color, blurred contours, and subtle shifts of light, the images move effortlessly between precise observation and near abstraction. Książek approaches each work as a painterly challenge, often choosing subjects that are particularly difficult to depict. Flames, faces, and everyday objects emerge from dark, atmospheric surfaces only to dissolve again into paint. His exceptional sensitivity to light, and the physical movement of paint gives the works an almost cinematic intensity.

Drawing on the traditions of conceptual and postwar art, Książek explores the relationship between image, language, and thought. His practice resonates with artists who have questioned how meaning is produced through words and images, from Joseph Kosuth and Art & Language to Anselm Kiefer. Like William Kentridge, Książek approaches drawing as a form of thinking. Yet his work is less narrative or performative, developing instead through stillness, observation, and the slow accumulation of associations.

In this exhibition, seeing and reading become intertwined, but neither offers a final answer. The exhibition remains deliberately open: a collection of ideas without a prescribed order, inviting the viewer to move freely between images, words, and their own associations.

Paweł Książek (*1973) studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow and Hochschule für Gestaltung in Offenbach am Main. Lives and works in Krakow and Szczecin. Książek creates paintings, collages and installations. His works problematise a broad array of issues: from Modernist utopias, to the history of the avant-garde and architecture, to contemporary music and sociology. The varied styles and topics of his pieces are determined by conceptual reflection. He has been lecturer at the Academy of Art in Szczecin since 2014, and associate professor since 2020. Książek was a resident at Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin (2011) and SOArt in Austria (2013). Holder of the scholarship of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage in 2008. His works have been presented at several solo exhibitions.