Henry Orlik: Cosmos of Dreams: London

Winsor Birch presents rediscovered, surrealist artist Henry Orlik in a new exhibition at the Maas Gallery, London

Winsor Birch is delighted to present Cosmos of Dreams: Rediscovering the Locked-UpGenius of Henry Orlik at the Maas Gallery in Duke Street, St James’s (9th August – 20thAugust 2024), curated well known paintings specialist Grant Ford.  As well as marking the centenary of Surrealism, this exhibition marks fifty years since Orlik exhibited at Acoris, the renowned Surrealist Art Centre in Brook Street in the prestigious West End of London in 1974 where his work was included alongside Surrealist greats Salvador Dali, Giorgio de Chirico, Francis Picabia and René Magritte.  

Orlik was only twenty-five when his work was received with enthusiasm at his first solo-exhibition at Acoris in 1972; he subsequently exhibited there and at other top London galleries in the 1970s.  In 1980 Orlik moved to the US for four years to gain inspiration for his art.  On his return to London, he focused solely on his art, leading a life of solitary patient immersion in his art, selling some paintings privately but shunning large-scale exhibitions. The commercial world of dealers, agents and auction houses was not for Henry as he was suspicious of their motivations.

The themes in Orlik’s art are influenced by his family history and memories of childhood as well as the exploration of time and space.  His work appears extraordinarily current as he conceptualises enigmatic observations of quantum science which he evokes with meticulous, spirals of paint which suggest the shimmering movement of quantumparticles; each minute stroke of paint represents its own unique unit of energy and collectively each of Orlik’s canvasses exudes a mysterious energy that takes the viewer to another world of intense, thought-provoking images.   

Intertwined bodies and body parts, anthropomorphic landscapes, mother nature, deserts, clowns, shells, space, the lack of integrity in politics, birth and death are all themes which intermingle in his dream-worlds, where his extraordinary sensual and witty images cohere into seemingly rational worlds which somehow, by a trick of memory perhaps or déjà vu, seem strangely familiar and intelligible.  

Sadly in 2022, Orlik suffered a stroke which has paralysed his right side, and he continues in poor health.  While he was in hospital, his housing association evicted him and subsequently over two hundred of his paintings were taken from his flat in London.  

“I have been involved in the art world for 38 years and I have never come across such an extraordinary group of paintings by and artist that should be considered one of our greats. All of these dreams and incredible thoughts have been locked away for decades.” Grant Ford