Jerzy Grochocki graduated from the Faculty of Architecture at the Warsaw University of Technology (receiving his Master of Science in Engineering degree in 1957) and from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw (receiving his Master of Arts degree in 1963).
Between 1963 and 1968, he painted a series of works inspired by mountain landscapes, particularly the Polish mountains Tatry, as well as Still Lifes, Figurative Compositions, and Impressions in the mood of surreal abstraction.
From 1967 to 1970, Grochocki’s mathematical and geometric fascinations led him toward constructivist art.
In 1970, as a result of his reflections on color, plane, and space, he defined four concepts of color: black, gold, silver, and white; four basic concepts of form: plane, square, line, and point; and four basic concepts of space: concentrated, complex, broken, and continuous.
From these elements, he created a system: Four Signs of the Plane and Four Areas of Space.
In the 1970s, he was artistically connected with the System Art movement in Europe and with its artistic groups: Arbeitkreis in the Netherlands, Dimensio in Finland, and Exacte Tendenzen in Austria.
The numerical sequence created by Grochocki became the inspiration for many of his compositions. He also composed photomontages, collages made from random forms, modular spatial objects, and geometric compositions in multilayered paper. The minimalist consequence of his work is reflected in his restrained, geometric compositions of white spatial objects.
For his project Art as an Interpretation of Mathematicalness and its artistic presentation in 2013, he received a grant from the Minister of Culture. The theme of his next grant in 2017 was Visual Text, based on the division of phonemes according to the concept of a four-color code, consistent with the system of Four Signs of the Plane and Four Areas of Space. Both topics were developed in brochure form and self-published.
Grochocki has participated in over one hundred group and solo exhibitions in Europe and the USA. He has received several awards and distinctions. His works are held in museums and private collections.
“…Indeed, I was deeply impressed by Strzemiński’s unism. […] It was similar with Mondrian and neoplasticism. This modernist way of seeing — organizing spacethrough geometric divisions — resonated especially strongly during my architectural studies…”
“…The paradox lies in the fact that humans naturally strive for perfection, and yet perfection itself can erase individuality. This becomes particularly evident in works that require material processing. To what extent are they still the work of the artist, and to what extent do they resemble an industrial product?…”
“…By eliminating intermediate colors, I was left with only two extremes. And since that was the case, there arose the need to unite them. Here, white became for me a symbol of fullness — it contains the entire spectrum of light, all colors, and therefore the maximum level of energy and movement. Black, on the other hand, is its opposite — the absence of movement…”
“…Visual arts, in particular, share many elements with music — rhythm, repetition, tension. I would even say that the connection between visual art and music is stronger than with poetry. Although for most people poetry seems more direct through words, music, however, works more deeply — on another level…”
Jerzy Grochocki
