Oil on canvas
200 x 140 cm

The subjects of Marcin Maciejowski’s paintings are taken directly from life: parties, gallery openings, exhibitions, and nightlife, but also historical situations and public figures, such as the November Uprising of 1830 during the Polish-Russian war or a painting of the actress Romy Schneider in a Florentine café. Maciejowski treats his figures with a striking equality. The famous actress clad in Chanel gets no more attention than a young student at a bar or the artist’s girlfriend, who looks at the beholder with a thoughtful gaze. The sources for the paintings are the result of an extensive archive that comprises film stills, photos taken by the artist or his friends, as well as pictures from magazines, history books, and the internet. Were it not for a few details, like cell phones, sneakers, or cars, the paintings can hardly be located or pinned to a certain time. The color palette is no evidence in this regard, as black and white and an at times melancholic tonality, are not automatically assigned to images from the past, but rather, is decided on according to the source image.
Maciejowski paints from photos or film stills, which is particularly evident in the framing and spatial composition of his works. The motifs are selected with a keen sense for the right moment—a moment which does not correspond to the camera’s shutter. Herein lies a significant difference to a documentary photo, which marks the distinction between a view through the lens and a way of seeing, that painting points out. What Maciejowski wants to capture is a moment when a subject is particularly attractive because it reflects the desire to approach a thing, a person, a feeling by painting, and because it presents a particular topic and relates the paintings in an exhibition to each other or to historical paintings. 
— Anette Freudenberger