SAINER
Bright digital worlds from Przemysław Blejzyk
Sainer, or Przemysław Blejzyk (born 1988) is a Polish artist from Łodzi, Poland. He currently lives in Gydnia.
Blue House - 2021 - Szczecin, Poland.
Sainer’s own description of his current artistic project (which can be found at sainer.org) is quite clear and to the point. He describes his work as explorations of ‘contemporary mechanisms of vision’: they are skillfully done reflections of how we go about the act of seeing.. the frames and fields through which we see the world in the modern day.
There are a couple of ways in which this idea appears at the surface of his art. Firstly, he uses imagery and line qualities that we tend to associate with digital worlds (think pixels, glitches). And like a phone or computer screen, some of his work seems to literally be aglow.
A Day in the Countryside - 2022
Especially in recent works, Sainer has allowed for multiple different ‘frames’ of vision to comprise a single piece. Sainer says that this multiplicity is a reaction to the ever-growing number of visual surfaces, lenses, and screens in our lives. To create this effect, he combines several separate canvases to create the impression of multiple frames of vision. Works like A Day in the Countryside (above) are crowded with perspectives. Viewers find themselves overwhelmed, all at once looking from many angles, at many lives, and possibly from different times. Each frame may contain memories, coexisting timelines, a closer look, or a world within a world.
Between them are glitches. Any cohesion among these frames lies in the fact that they can all seen at once, that they are all separate and bounded. In the paintings directly above and below this text, the square-shaped or rectangular boundary is a story-telling unit to which contents of a single frame are restricted. This nested complexity in his work is contrasted by the simplicity of his painting style. Trees, houses, and skylines lack detail and are represented by their simplest recognizable shapes. The people that populate these worlds, however, are much more developed and in-focus. Many have a slouched, solemn, or simply relaxed posture.
Untitled Landscapes 3 - 2022
On his website Sainer writes that he seeks not to “reproduce the icons that surround us..” but to explore the ways in which we consume images. This abundance of screens, perspectives, or ‘mechanisms for vision’ no doubt characterize the contemporary state of sight and seeing. It’s his take on humanity’s modern day visual feast!
Not only is this painter an observer of our visual feast, he contributes much to it as well. Sainer’s works are immediately enticing and extremely satisfying to look at given their bright colors and intricacy. Sainer’s techniques include uses thick marks, basic shapes, and blocks of subtly layered colors. His paintings contain pockets of complexity within uncomplicated landscapes or domestic terrains. He is a master of light and shadow, unexpected color harmonies, and the geometry of a painting (or the composition of its basic shapes). His paintings often feature a mix of bold neons and muted tones that provide each other with healthy contrast. Sainer also has an affinity for monochromatic line-work, streaky/unfinished layers, muted purples, neon greens, and light pinks. Some works have a 3-D quality to them. He applies these distinct techniques to uncomplicated subject matters: landscapes, houses or barns, family outings, slouched women in loose clothing, children, animals. Sainer mostly works in acrylic or oil.
Still from youtube doc. KOLORYTM - look at that color palette!
The theme of framing and multiple viewings also appears in Sainer’s earlier works as well, just in a slightly different way. Some paintings seem to be divided or split between two perspectives or moods, while others harbor moody shadows that interrupt otherwise oversaturated neon worlds. Take for example the mural Nemanja below, or the paintings Zima with Korbielowie and Two Landscapes. Here, he is not using neatly bounded sections or separate canvases but differences in light and sharpness of detail to frame parts of his paintings. In Zima with Korbielowie, it almost appears that a shade has been drawn down over this woman where she is sitting, leaving light enough only for her hand and sleeve.
Nemanja - 2018 - Fontaine, France.
Zima with Korbielowie - 2019
Two Landscapes - 2018
(I’m obsessed with the small green triangle in the bottom right of this work. To me this is one of the most impressive things art can accomplish: to sharpen your focus by drawing it to a single element like this triangle.. just for a moment.. so that you can appreciate such a small, simple thing and how it alone does so much for the whole painting.)
Sainer also does public art, and his mural work is absolutely stunning! More recent murals especially are super eye catching. They’re a shock to the visual continuum of a city and its usual colors and shapes.
Garden studies - 2023 - Lübeck, Germany
Harmonoise 071023 - 2023 - Dortmund, Germany.
Landscape Composition - 2021 - Angers, France
Etam - “Coffee Break” - 2015 - Rome, Italy.
I also work in a trash can :0
Sainer’s works have been inspiring me to focus on color, use bold + fun shapes, and incorporate my own observations about viewing or vision into my own work.
That’s all for now! Subscribe, leave a comment, give me a hard time while you’re at it.
- Ell