Instructive Invisibility: Paradoxical Sub-Pedagogy of Janusz Orbitowski

Abstract

The text focuses on Janusz Orbitowski, a Krakow-based painter of geometric abstraction, and on his teaching methods at the Academy of Fine Arts. This discussion is combined with interpretation of his works. Orbitowski’s distance to the academic milieu and his quiet teaching of traditional nude drawing are presented as a contrast to his openness and “energetic” lifestyle among friends, as well as to the distinct expressiveness found in his works. The text suggests that the paradoxical duality of silent invisibility, concealed by expression, could lead the artist and his students as well as the viewers of his art to a variety of cognitive experiences, including metaphysical cognition.