Poster of "Andrew Kolo - Painting" by Leonard Konopelski
On September 5, 2025, the Vienna Woods gallery in Los Angeles hosted the grand opening of the exhibition "Andrew Kolo – Painting," commemorating the painter, poet, and playwright Andrzej Kołodziej (1944-2025), known in the United States as Andrew Kolo. The exhibition was opened by Katarzyna Czerpak-Węgliński, president of the KrakArt painters' group, who thanked the members of the KrakArt Group who contributed to organizing the exhibition - Janusz Maszkiewicz the owner of the Vienna Woods Gallery, as well as Vito Wojcik and Leonard Konopelski who curated the exhibition, framed photos from over forty years of the group's history. She also thanked Jakub Nowicki whose private collection was the source of the paintings displayed at this colorful exhibition.
Remarks were also delivered by Consul Mateusz Gmura and Dr. Maja Trochimczyk, president of the California State Poetry Society, who organized recitation of the artist's poems in English and Polish, with the participation of poet Konrad Tademar Wilk and actress Agata Nowicka.
President of KrakArt Group, Katarzyna Czerpak-Weglinski, Ms. Marta Gmura, Monique Lehman, Consul Mateusz Gmura, Maja Trochimczyk, with poetry brochures.
Andrzej Kołodziej graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. In 1981, he founded the KrakArt group in Los Angeles, which has organized numerous important exhibitions in Poland and the United States. Let me cite his biography on the KrakArt Group's page:
Born in Poland, the painter is residing in Los Angeles. He earned his master’s degree in painting and art education from the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Poland (1968). Kolo went on to study at the École de Dessin Appliqué in Paris (1973) and Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles (1977). He initially settled in New York (1973). He first went to California on vacation, which mesmerized him enough to make him want to stay. In art, he went from being fascinated with abstraction, through Californian landscapes, to depicting figures in motion. His works have been on display in the United States, but also in Europe and Asia. Kolo founded and managed the Polish-American art group called the Krak Group (currently the KrakArt Group.) He is interested in the theater, poetry, and photography.
‘Surrealism fascinates me. However, I use my own imagination as an exponent of the atypical view of the world that I have developed, rather than its inherent iconography of dreams. I look to visually transform the chaos of life, its balance, and asceticism. I do not strive to place my works in the present. Rather, I let them oscillate between the past and the future’ – Andrzej Kolo
At the exhibition, golden sunlight filled the gallery, shining from paintings (from Jakub Nowicki's private collection) featuring abstract Californian landscapes and equally abstract scenes of stylized puppets—often in swimsuits on the beach, on a playground, or playing tennis.
Andrzej Kolo, "Examination" - oil on canvas, 2021.
The geometric simplicity of these scenes conceals deeper meanings. One scene of three marionettes is arranged in the same way as the trinity of angels in the famous Andrei Rublov icon "Holy Trinity" - the three angels that visited Abraham are depicted as one goblet, the way they symmetrically bend and incline towards each other... The opening of the exhibition featured an appearance of the Consul for Polonia and Polish Cultural Heritage, Mr. Mateusz Gmura with his wife Marta. He spoke about the importance of presenting the work of emigre artists and of keeping their memory alive, praising the organizers and contributors to this exhibition for their generosity and patriotism.
Consul Gmura addresses the audience
Consul Mateusz Gmura and Ms. Marta Gmura of the Polish Consulate in Los Angeles.
Consul Mateusz Gmura with Ms Marta Gmura, Barbara Nowicka and her son Jakub Nowicki, the owner of the artwork on display.
Owner of Vienna Woods Gallery, painter Janusz Maszkiewicz
One of the most generous activists of Polonia's art scene in Los Angeles is talented painter Janusz Maszkiewicz, the owner of the Vienna Woods Gallery who earns a living by restoring historical furniture and expresses his artistic talents in large-scale abstract paintings. Here he is, happy to show off the poetry booklet in front of some of Kolodziej's paintings and, in matching color, his restored table. KrakArt Group owes him many important exhibitions, most recently of portraits of the artists painted by other artists from the group... In 2023, the gallery welcomed for two months a show of "50 years of Art of the Modjeska Club" featuring designs by Stanislaw Szukalski and paintings by Zbigniew Nyczak, Leonard Konopelski, Slawek Wisniewski and Janusz Maszkiewicz - honored as the host of the event. Andrzej Kołodziej's vocation was art, but his passion was poetry. Together with Elżbieta Liebel and Konrad Tademar Wilk, he founded the Krak Poetic Group, which was later joined by Dr. Maja Trochimczyk. Andrzej's play "The Trial of Dali" (2019) was presented in Los Angeles, at the Hollywood Fringe Festival in June 2019, and in Sydney, Australia. In the exhibition, Andrzej Kołodziej's words became a sign of the artist's spiritual presence among his friends (such as tapestry artist Monique Chmielewski-Lehman and painter Leonard Konopelski). The exhibition was on view for one month, until the end of September 2025.
Since Kolodziej's life in California spanned five decades, there were many events that he participated in along with his painter friends - members of the KrakArt Group that he founded in 1981. Another member of the group, Prof. Leonard Konopelski selected, printed, framed an organized a whole wall of photographs from the 40 plus years history of the KrakArt Group and the multitude of art exhibitions and events that the painters participated in along with their friends.
The photos reproduced here are too small for details, but it was possible to stand close by the wall and identify individual artists and painters as they looked like 40 years ago. Monique Lehman, whom I found in two photos, was quite a beauty, with her long, blond hair. Some men had moustaches that have since disappeared and the hair on some heads also did a disappearing act...
After the initial speech by new president of the KrakArt Group, Katarzyna Czerpak-Weglinski, who presented an overview of Andrzej's career and profusely thanked all organizers of this colorful and lively exhibition, it was time for poetry. Together with Konrad Tademar Wilk, I was supposed to read Andrzej Kolodziej's poem in Polish and English. I thought it would be interesting to add a scene or two from Andrzej's play "The Trial of Dali" - and for that purpose, painter Joanna Fodczuk painted elegant moustache in the style of Dali on the face of Konrad Tademar Wilk who was supposed to impersonate the great surrealist artist.
Two poets ready for the performance...
Joanna Fodczuk transforms Konrad into Salvador, Tademar into Dali...
Konrad Tademar Wilk as Dali with Jakub Nowicki.
Decorated with the Dali-esque moustache Konrad Tademar Wilk later posed with Jakub Nowicki, his friend from the Polish School that they both attended at the Polish Church on Adams Boulevard. Nowicki's moustache and beard are real, though, not painted! The occasion was also an unlikely school reunion...
Several attendees dressed in white or cream, as shown in the attire of Katarzyna Czerpak Weglinski (left) and Malgorzata Maszkiewicz (right). They pose in front of three paintings by Kolodziej, in the warm golden palette of rich hues, so the coloring of the attendees was well matched to the art on the walls.
For the event, I gathered the five poems and selected excerpts from "The Trial of Dali" play into a booklet that was printed with illustrations of some of Andrzej Kolodziej's paintings, including a dramatic and very colorful landscape reproduced above. Seeing the matching yellows and blues, I decided to provide contract to the warm sunlight-hued yellows with a sapphire dress and I think that color worked well, just as it did in the sky of Kolodziej's painting.
As I did not quite look forward to reading any theatrical roles, or acting in a play alongside Konrad, I was thrilled to see in attendance a young, talented actress - Agatha Nowicki - daughter of Modjeska Club member Barbara Nowicka. Agata agreed to read a couple poems in English, and to play the two roles needed for the excerpt selected for this performance from "The Trial of Dali."
Thus, she first become Pablo Picasso who secretly came to Franco's Spain to meet up with Dali and later embodied the wicked Isabel who brought out the "indecency" accusations against Dali that resulted in his infamous trial. This virtuosic, unrehearsed acting duet with Konrad Tademar Wilk received abundant applause. The performance was very witty and emotional, and the audience loved the humorous text. I think one reason that "The Trial of Dali" is such an impressive play, is due to its author being an artist, inspired by surrealism, and sharing with his protagonists the ideological and existential pressures that may impact art-making and negatively affect the artists' lives.
Below are the English translations of Andrzej Kolodziej's poems prepared for the exhibition. Earlier versions of some of these poems exists, but were not used. Most of the translations are by myself, some by the poet himself, others - a joint effort with Konrad Tademar Wilk. Kolodziej's poems are written in free verse and portray various impressions of America by an immigrant from Europe - the vastness and diversity of landscapes, the fleeting fame and eternal rest in the Hollywood cemetery, the beauty of a young musician. He reflects also on the timeless theme of Adam and Eve in Eden, and on the aesthetics of Picasso's art seen through his eyes that distort the world into what he sees and captures on canvas. Enjoy!
Maja Trochimczyk
AN EMIGRANT’S AMERICA
The first thing the emigrant sees
from the Boeing's windows
are the sharp spires of Manhattan
and the Statue of Liberty
standing beside it, looking serious.
The center of the window is filled
with the green carpets of Des Moines farms.
The horizon is illuminated by rays
of the fourteen-karat
California sun, while atomic explosions
in Nevada are barely visible
in the fog, on the right.
He also sees millionaires and the less affluent,
and saints from Lynchburg, Virginia.
Until finally, the view from the window
is blurred by Coca-Cola
gushing from the clouds.
Andrzej Kolodziej
PICASSO’S EYES
Did you know that Picasso's eyes
are the same as yours,
only more sensitive,
and more self-confident?
Did you know that Picasso's eyes
possess more colors and forms
than mine and yours combined,
filtering our world
through the prism of Cubism?
Did you know that his eyes
directed at a painting,
are like the eyes of a vulture,
registering every
shade of color,
cold or warm?
Picasso's eyes are
like the eyes of a scarlet macaw.
Encountered beauty
instantly deforms,
and it doesn't matter
whether it's a landscape
from his native Catalonia,
a still life,
an unknown model,
or his next
wife.
~ Andrzej Kolodziej, published in the California Quarterly Vol. 51, no. 3 (2025)
GARDEN OF EDEN
In the Garden of Eden brightly colored
flowers and bushes never cease blooming
and never knew winter.
“This fig tree belongs to you — my dearest
and the olive one — to me.
Make yourself comfortable in their aromatic shade.”
In the tangled branches the snake is hissing softly.
Under an apple tree Adam and Eve, embracing.
“I’ll give you sons and daughters” — she whispers
tucking him into an animal fur coat.
“This delicious fruit called ‘an apple’
can only make you stronger — my beloved.”
the first snowflakes begin to fall
upon the flowery Garden of Eden —
like the first sins.
Andrzej Kolodziej, Published on the Village Poets blog, 2019.
CEMETERY OF THE STARS
The gaunt palm trees
stood motionless,
as if they were afraid to move
in this old cemetery.
The rays of the sun
revive the lethargy of the graves.
On one of the tombstones
a golden inscription reads: Marilyn Monroe.
White chrysanthemums held
by someone's grateful hand,
And the wind, that remembers
Marilyn's sincere smile, galloped
among the palms and tombstones.
It froze in the sky
like a shining star.
~ Andrzej Kolodziej
Andrzej Kolodziej, "End of the Road," oil on canvas, 2019
Andrzej Kolodziej, "Spanish Guitar," oil on canvas, 2019.
MISS CONCENTINA
The wind whistled softly
through the snow-covered branches
of the park, as if to spite
the great gale.
Miss Concentina
stood majestically beside me.
The stone goddess
of Roman temples.
Snow covered the world,
veiled its secrets.
Miss Concentina touched
her head to mine, as gently
as crystal goblets
touch with sparkling liquor.
She closed her eyes,
beautiful and peaceful.
Touched by the warmth
of her breath,
the world around us
began to melt—
Andrzej Kolodziej "Good Kiss" - oil on canvas, 2019.
Andrzej Kolodziej "Winter Competition" - oil on canvas, 2021.
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