Collection

In the history of painting, the term “veraicon” is used to refer to the image of Christ, whose face (according to tradition) became imprinted on St. Veronica’s veil as she wiped Christ’s sweaty brow on his way to Golgotha. The veraicon was originally recognised as proof of the presence of deity, the personification of the absolute usually tantamount to an anthropomorphisation thereof. Pursuant to Latin etymology, “veraicon” literally means “image of truth” (icona vera), an example of achiropita (from the Greek acheiropoietos), a rendition created with the use of supernatural powers, by a “non-human hand”. In Jakub Woynarowski’s Veraicon, inspired by Francisco de Zurbarán’s 17th-century Veil of St. Veronica, the face of Christ has been replaced by a black square. The same motif, made famous by Kazimir Malevich’s celebrated painting, appears on the lid of his suprematist sarcophagus in the facial field, akin to an iconoclastic “coffin portrait”. It may well be assumed that the Russian artist who had declared that “art needs truth rather than sincerity” saw the black square as something of an icona vera.

Draughtsman, graphic artist, author of comic books and artbooks, creator of films and installations; curator. He studied graphic arts and intermedia at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków. He combines art history research with artistic practice, questioning common beliefs and universally accepted facts. In his work he emphasises that ideas of modernism and the avant-garde were not as original as they were believed to be, but had appeared in previous centuries. The author of comic books produced in the form of essays, visual atlases, and the occasional graphic novel, he has been recognised for such works with the Grand Prix at the International Comic Book Festival in Łódź (2007) and the Grand Prix of the National Artbook and Art Album Competition (2011), among other awards. His project to analyse the symbolism of the canopy over the entrance to Józef Piłsudski’s burial crypt, developed jointly with the Institute of Architecture, represented Poland at the 14^th Venice Architecture Biennale in 2014. Laureate of the Polityka Passport Award (2014). He lives and works in Kraków.