Sacrum i polskość w sztuce początku XXI wieku. Afirmacja i krytyka
The sacred and Polishness in the art of the early 21st century. Affirmation and criticism

Summary/Abstract: The text begins with a reminder of Rudolf Otto’s definition ofthe sacred and reflections on the possibility of the sacred inthe art of Władysław Stróżewski. The author considers the rela-tion of transcendentals to divinity and the value of the sacred,realised in a unique way by the Polish nation, in whose ethosreligiousness, and especially mercy, plays an exceptional role.The way in which aesthetic values are eliminated in favour ofthe value of the sacred (sacrum) present in sacred and religiousart is described along with the relations of this value with theconcept of Polishness, revealed in parallel. In this context, theconcept of affirmative art is introduced as similar in its poeticsto the currently popular critical art. Affirmative art, however,remains based on transcendentals, i.e. a metaphysical systemof values, although (according to the observations of GrzegorzSztabiński) transcendence is limited to its “shiver” present in in-tense experiences or to experiencing its margins. Examples ofsuch affirmativeness in the joint treatment of the issues of thereligious sacrum and Polishness are discussed in selected worksof Ignacy Czwartos, Danuta Waberska, Jarosław Modzelewski(who has taken part in the project Namalować Katolicyzm OdNowa [Painting Catholicism Anew]), Czesław Dźwigaj, MarekChlanda, Mirosław Patecki, Stanisław Kulon, Adu Karczmarczyk,Jerzy Kalina. Recalling the values of marginalised ideas of thesacred and Polishness in artworks sustains the contemporaryconviction about the irremovability of transcendentals.

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