| Unveiling of new painting to be featured in the new Music Centre to be opened shortly in Poland. Sydney artist, Tony Johansen representing Australia in World Art Exhibition. Polish Consul Dominika Mosek will unveil the new artwork at a special media event in the Kings Cross studio of Tony Johansen, 2:30pm Wednesday 9th February, Level 2/189 William Street Darlinghurst. Following the Sydney unveiling the work will be dispatched to Olsztyn in Poland where it will go on permanent display in the new Music Centre and Recital Hall for the Feliks Nowowiejski Filharmonic Orchestra.
The work was commissioned by the regional government to feature the work of significant artists from around the globe in a World Art Exhibition to be housed in the new facility. Australian artist Tony Johansen is known for his depictions of musicians and his work is characterized by dramatic light, movement, and rhythm. It is a great honor to represent Australia in this historic cultural centre. Director of the orchestra Janusz Lewandowski has said that the Johansen painting is "very exciting" and "a revelation".
The new painting depicts the orchestra playing Chopin and set in a landscape that includes the castle in the centre of Olsztyn where Copernicus lived and set out his theory that the Earth revolved around the sun. The name of the painting in English is "The 600 Year Old Song" and in Polish "600-letnia pieśń".
THE PAINTING
The Marshal of Warmia-Mazury,
Jacek Protas wrote to Sydney artist
Tony Johansen early in 2010 asking for
a painting to be created for the new
Recital Hall being built in the city of
Olsztyn in Poland. He said he wanted
“a permanent exhibition of art from
around the world”. Tony Johansen was
chosen to represent Australia in this
project.
The new music center is to house
the Feliks Nowowiejski Filharmonia
Orchestra and to provide a new center
for orchestral recitals and the arts in
Poland.
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VISUAL MUSIC
The painting called “The 600 Year
Old Song depicts Nowowiejski
conducting the orchestra. They are
playing Chopin’s Piano Concerto No.
2. Nowowiejski is pulling the whole
world out of the musicians, the clouds
arise from the instruments, and the
audience merges with the forest
around Olsztyn Castle. This signifies
how the people of the city and their
world and culture are indivisible.
For more than 600 years the
people of Olsztyn have danced and
made music around their castle. It is
also the place where Copernicus
wrote the first chapter of his book
revealing that the sun is at the center
of the universe. He drew star maps
and calculations on the walls which
still survive.
TONY JOHANSEN
I live and work in Sydney, although
my work is most popular in North
America and Europe. In Australia I am
best known for challenging the 2004
Archibald Prize but overseas I am
better known for painting the world of
musicians and night clubs where
theatrical color and dramatic lighting
intersect with real life and emotion. My
artwork is about movement and
rhythm.
ETHNIC HERITAGE
My background is a mixture of
Polish with Norwegian Gypsy. I feel
dance and color in my bones. I cannot
avoid my history and cultural traditions.
The poetry in my work is not
conscious. It comes from the spirits of
my heritage that live in me.
EMBRACING THE FUTURE
I sign my pictures
TonyJohansen.com which gives access
to an online world in which art and
music and ideas connect across the
planet. I am an artist networked to a
constantly evolving global culture. I
love how the digital world expands and
enhances art and connects people
together like never before.
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