Several people take care to wash the dust of everyday life at the Europeum Hotel (here you can read about each of them: Piotr Micek, Daria Wartalska), but the most important of them is Marcin Litwa. Who is he? Europeum's chief artist, also an art curator. Works mainly with metals, but also with glass and ceramics. And like any genius…. he started in the basement.
WHAT CONNECT THE VOLLEYBALL, CELLARS, AND BRASS?
The answer is Marcin Litwa. He trained volleyball and with this sport linked his dreams for the future. An artist by accident? “It was a very lucky coincidence,” Marcin laughs. When it turned out that he had to give up his sports plans, thanks to his cousin went to art classes and stayed there. Then there was a construction technical school because he thought he would be an architect, but later he decided to give his soul to art, and at the beginning to the jubilee. At the moment when he found out that he did not need a specialized school for this, he says: “Pure life! It was the first contact with brutal life! " He was 16 years old, had a sea of passion in his heart, and a garage for rehearsals. Marcin already knew then that applied art (the one that you can now admire at Europeum) is THIS.
MIDAS FROM OSTROŁĘKA
The fascination with gold began with his bachelor's degree (he graduated from the School of Crafts) and the old recipes for varnishes that change the color of the metal to gold (recipes for varnishes from the 10th century). Half a year spent in Azerbaijan gilding the Presidential Palace cemented - if we can put it this way - this relationship. "We had to be fully concentrated all the time because they are very thin gold flakes: 1 / 10,000 mm and we used a dozen of these "golden books" a day" - recalls. Marcin emphasizes that many people had an impact on his artistic development, but especially two: Barbara Idzikowska and Eugeniusz Get-Stankiewicz, with whom he had the opportunity to cooperate, create and undergo internships at their Atelier SiPB, at ul. Ruska 46C (where currently Neon Side - a wonderful gallery of neon lights, information about which can be found here: (link)). He discovered the secrets of working with glass there. Out of this love for gold and glass, the jewelry was born.
GLASS BROUGHT IN HIS BLOOD
It was the turn of master's studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Wrocław, where Marcin explored the properties of his new fascination. It was the time when the first kilims, glass installations (you can admire them at our reception and in some rooms) were created, inspired by light, or breaking waves. In short: physics. “It is the cleanliness of glass that fascinates me the most. When we combine small elements of this material together, this multiplication gives an amazing effect: play with light, an illusion for the eye ”- emphasizes the artist.
After defending their diploma and an exhibition that took place in the Pokoyhof Passage located nearby, together with their fellow artists: Piotr Micek, Daria Wartalska, and Anna Żak, they started working together in one of the studios in this building. Thanks to the help of the investor, who provided them with tools for work, space, as well as mental support, they were able to spread their wings, discovering and polishing new styles: Marcin - semi-precious metals and applied art, Piotr - ceramics, and Daria - reusing glass.
"SUCCESS IS DOOMED ON YOU"
Marcin is sitting in front with his piercing eyes and with a cheeky smile saying: "Success is doomed on you." After a moment of silence, he adds: "You must to boldly dream, but you have to be careful about your dreams because they can come true." These mottos accompany the artist for most of his life. He laughs that despite avoiding mathematics in college, now, contrary to appearances, he has a lot in common with it, and he would like to focus the nearest future on designing furniture and continue to create applied art, exactly as you can now admire in our hotel (lamps, beautiful mirrors, tabletops, tables, artwork).
