Horizontal Existence; Vertical Existence [Evolution - Involution]

from 6 September 2026

Nearly forty years of painting by Piotr J. Figiel, a Tarnów-based artist who took painting lessons in Bochnia as a boy, gathered in one display where early canvases hang alternately with recent ones. It opened on 6 September 2026 at the Stanisław Fischer Museum on the market square (Rynek 20); the museum has not announced a closing date.

The museum does not describe the show in its own words. Its exhibition page and its list of temporary shows carry only the artist’s first-person statement, signed with his name; that is the text below, translated from Polish. The show’s English title is a translation too - the museum publishes none.

Stanisław Fischer Museum in Bochnia on the exhibition - in the artist’s words:
“As a creator - a multi-creator - who entered the mysteries of art early, on an accelerated course, thanks to that, I also began early to commit works of art of which I can be proud to this day. And so, in wonder at the passing of time, I can observe that almost forty years of artistic work are passing just now, or will pass before long…
In formal terms, I constructed the exhibition so that earlier paintings interweave with newer ones, which touch more on transcendence, just as in the primordial symbol of the equal-armed cross - the contents of our Existence, of every kind, interweave. They intersect at a central point, which is us, our self, in each of us… whether we know it or not…”
Piotr J. Figiel

What to expect

This is a survey of one painter’s career, deliberately hung out of chronological order. Early works sit next to later ones that lean towards the spiritual, so do not expect a walk from first steps to the present. The museum gives neither the number of works nor the room; ask at the entrance.

Allow 20-30 minutes for the show itself. It makes more sense as part of a visit to the whole museum. The first floor holds a gallery of Polish painting from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, with Olga Boznańska, Jacek Malczewski and Leon Wyczółkowski, next to a room dedicated to painters from Bochnia. Budget an hour and a half for this show plus the permanent collection.

Other temporary shows run in the building. The museum’s listing still shows “SZTUKA NOWA” (New Art) in the Galeria Zmienna room, a minimalist display of works by Andrzej Szewczyk, Sławomir Nitentel and Piotr Duda, on view, in the museum’s words, “from mid-April”. The museum also announced the opening of “Nici czasu” (Threads of Time), paintings by Adam Faglio, for 20 September 2026; its page gives no closing date.

Context

Piotr J. Figiel was born in 1966 in Bielsko-Biała and now lives and works in Tarnów - so he describes himself on the website of Galeria Arteka, run by the Tarnów Visual Artists’ Association. His link to Bochnia goes back to his youth: in the late 1970s he took private painting lessons here from the landscape painter Józef Rojkowski. He went on to the art secondary school in Bielsko-Biała and a school of advertising in Katowice.

He dates his independent work to 1988, hence the “almost forty years” of the statement. He calls himself an interdisciplinary artist: he paints, sculpts, photographs, writes, works with music and stages his own poetry-and-music performances, usually alongside his exhibitions. He counts about 25 solo shows in Poland and abroad, and ran his own gallery in Zakopane in 2015-2016.

Tickets and time

The museum publishes one admission price list and names no separate ticket for temporary shows: 20 PLN full price, 15 PLN reduced. Reductions cover, among others, children aged 4 to 7, school pupils, students, pensioners and holders of the Polish Large Family Card; children under 4 enter free. Admission is free every Thursday, and the visiting rules make no exception for temporary shows.

Thursday is also the longest day: 11:30-19:00 (11:30 AM to 7 PM). Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday the museum is open 10:00-15:30, Saturday and Sunday 12:00-16:00, extended to 17:00 at weekends in the summer season (May to September); closed Monday. Last admission is half an hour before closing, so on Tuesday, Wednesday or Friday be at the door by 15:00.

With no closing date announced, phone before a special trip to check the show is still on: +48 14 612 32 85. Ask the staff before taking pictures - the visiting rules require the owners’ written consent for filming temporary shows and for photographing objects the museum does not own.

Who it is for: visitors drawn to painting that searches for symbol and the spiritual, and anyone already in Bochnia for the salt mine or the museum itself. If “transcendence” and “the self” put you off, skip it and head straight for the first-floor painting gallery. Do not make a separate trip from Kraków for this show alone; pair it with the permanent collection, ideally on a Thursday.

English on site: the museum’s website is in Polish only, the only text about the show is the artist’s Polish statement, and the museum states nothing about English labels, an audio guide or English-language tours. Without Polish you will see the paintings and little else, which for a painting show is most of it.

What the press says

Two previews on a local news site, both informative, neither judging the show; no review found.

Bochnianin.pl (4 September 2026, editorial staff): a preview of the opening that sums up the artist’s idea of interweaving earlier and newer paintings - article, in Polish .

Bochnianin.pl (2 September 2026, editorial staff): the programme of the Bochnia District Heritage Weekend, in which the 6 September opening was one of the museum’s two special events - article, in Polish .

Tickets and access

Check ticket prices and opening hours in the Stanisław Fischer Museum in Bochnia profile.