Festival of Art in Public Spaces

Dominik Lejman

Dominik Lejman (born 1969 in Gdańsk, lives and works in Gdynia Orłowo)

He creates multidemensional inter-media works in which he mixes paintings with videoes, videofrescos and large format photos.

In 1989-1993 he studied in the Higher State School of Arts in Gdańsk in the Department of Painting and Graphic Arts, in 1993-95 in Royal College of Art in London (his graduation work received Christie's auction house award). In 1996 he graduated from the Art Academy in Gdańsk. In 2001 he received the Passport of "Polityka". He held the grants of RCA, Kościuszko Foundation, Trust for Mutual Understanding, Location 1 in New York, Polish Ministry of Culture.

For the last ten years, the artist has been creating painting projects - videos are screened on the background which is painted with acrylic paints. Painting becomes aimated by new visual techniques, the borders between one matter and another disappear. A severe surfuce of canvas serves as a screen which absorbs the video image in full lighting. The films usually feature naked, huddled bodies, sometimes self portraits or the silhouettes of the audience transmitted by means of camera. The images are shimmering and made out of many layers which overlap each other.

In 2000 Zamek Ujazdowski Modern Art Centre organized Dominik Lejman's exhibition called "Luksus Przetrwania" ("Luxury of Surviving"). A year later, the artist realized the project called "Dompracadom" ("Homeworkhome") which referred to a modern lifestyle where home and work are closely connected. Public space and private space become transitory zones and it's difficult to separate the notions of 'public' and 'private'. The project consists of the pictures taken by the artists in the places where they were later installed - office block in Warsaw, McCann Erickson agency office and a flat of a couple who are the artist's friends. One of the most moving projects of Lejman is the series of video shows in children hospitals in Warsaw, Białystok and New York ("Little Discoveries", "Hospital as a landscape for the little spectacles").