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Becoming the Greatest Artist of the Twenty-first Century, One Man’s Journey Documented from the Beginning Steps
The steps that it takes to become a world class artist, the greatest of the twenty-first century, are now being documented from the beginning of the process by the artist himself.
SEATTLE, Washington -
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” So says the famous Chinese proverb. Such a journey would take over two million steps. And the journey to becoming one of the greatest artists of the twenty-first century may take even more. But that is the goal of the 41 year old, unknown, “beginning” artist Maciek Jozefowicz. And he intends to document his journey step by step on the new Facebook page, ART JOURNEY, and in his blog, Konokopia.
“I have the talent and I have the creativity but I lack the skills,” says the artist, “so my art JOURNEY will essentially document the development of my skills which I have not yet had the chance to develop to their full potential.”
And that development begins with drawing. The first group of steps consist of pages and pages and pages of training drawings. “The training drawings show development of my drawing technique and drawing knowledge. They are not made to be works of art. They are work. I do these drawings to improve my hand-eye coordination and my hand control and precision. The training drawings are like a basketball player practicing his shot, or the quarterback learning plays.”
The training is just the means to an end. “The goal to be one the great artists has been in the back of my mind since being a teen but I never wanted to follow the regular route,” says Maciek. And he certainly has not followed the regular route. The artist does not have any formal training but he has a Bachelor degree and a Masters degree in architecture. Both degrees he earned from the University of Washington while in his thirties.
“I always hated the mainstream perception of artists and I did not like the art scene in America in the Eighties and Nineties. There was more social commentary, social propaganda, than art being done in those years. And there was too much shock tactics being used. Good marketing but bad art.”
This might help explain why Maciek decided not to attend the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, in the mid-nineties. “I got accepted into the school. I received a scholarship. But ultimately I decided against it. I did not want to be just another art student. I wanted to be unique. And I thought that a degree in architecture would do two things for me. One is that it would show that I am not just another flaky artist who cannot do anything else. The second is that it would give me a different set of skills and different knowledge that would help to differentiate me from other artists. And I believe it has.”
Even though he is still at the beginning of his art career (“Art is not a career, art is a life choice.”), the artist’s exposure to architecture has already produced two innovative art series: the CONSTRUCTION SERIES and the MODEL SERIES. It also produced what he belives to be one of the great sculptures of the century, ITALIAN SONNET
“The MODEL SERIES is my attempt to develop the architectural model into sculpture. I am still early into the series and most of the pieces are more building than sculpture. But, I believe, the series will eventually produce truly revolutionary and original artwork, sculpture of space and form and structure.”
The CONSTRUCTION SERIES is a group of wall sculptures that draw their inspiration from the Model Series and from the architectural model-making techniques. “This series explores the potential for expression using this simple art-making technique that consists of gluing together various sizes of basswood sticks and plates,” explains the artist.
“ITALIAN SONNET was originally created as a concept model for my architectural masters thesis Interpretations of Poetic Form. But it is a lot more than that. It is a construction that uses two rocks, a wood dowel and cotton twine to express universal truths with minimal means. It is one of the most spiritual work of art I’ve encountered in my decades of studying the history of Western art. And in time, it may be recognized as one of the great sculptures of the twenty-first century.”
But the two series and the sculpture is just the beginning of the artist’s various art explorations. “I love art and I appreciate the great masterworks of artists like Michelangelo, Titian, Rubens, Rembrandt, and Cezanne. But I am not an art snob. Or rather I am an art snob but I am not a genre and media snob. I am just as interested in “fine” art as I am in the art of popular culture. I love sequential art, comics, illustrated children’s books, and visual puzzles.”
And the artist is developing unique, visionary projects in all of these genres. “I have finished drafts of two illustrated children stories that take the form of the scroll, WELCOME, WELCOME, WELCOME and OOMALOOMA. I have finished drafts for two graphic novels and a short children’s comic. And I am in the process of developing two groups of visual puzzles. Each group is an attempt to develop the puzzle into art while still keeping its function as a game. One group of artworks is a development of the labyrinth into customizable art prints. The other, still in the beginning development stage, is a pattern puzzle.”
So with all these projects, how will the artist find time for his JOURNEY? “Well, when I say art is my life, I mean it. It is. And the goal of my JOURNEY is not just to be one of the greatest artists of the twenty-first century. The goal of my JOURNEY is to be one of the great creators of the twenty-first century.”
The artist acknowledges that this is a lofty and a rather immodest goal. But it is a goal that he is confidently taking steps towards. “Whether I succeed or come close to succeeding really depends of how much life I have left. Thirty, forty years of intense, focused work without unnecessary distractions is what I hope for.”
For more information about the work of Maciek Jozefowicz you can visit his website Konokopia. There you can find more information about the various projects the artist is developing and find various links to his other sites. For images please contact the artist via email.
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