Radek Dąbrowski's exhibition "Under the Volcano" and the accompanying publication are the result of his travels around the world, expeditions that are a test of his mental and physical capabilities, an opportunity to learn more about himself as a person and as an artist.

Distant, rarely visited places evoke extreme emotions ranging from euphoria and awe to hopelessness, fear and loss. They are united by an experience of the sublime described by the philosopher Edmund Burke as a passion triggered by the great and sublime in nature, evoking awe and terror at the same time.

The photographs, which often depict a lone figure standing over a precipice, seen from behind, or looking out into a boundless landscape, evoke associations with the Romantic paintings of Caspar David Friedrich. Their collection was included in the book "The Vistas (2018), published in collaboration with Dutch art historian Katalin Herzog, who looked at Dąbrowski's photographs in the context of various theories of the idea of the sublime in art and philosophy. Five years later, the duo of authors undertook a new project, and this collaboration resulted in the book "Under the Volcano" and the current exhibition at the National Museum in Szczecin.

Radek Dąbrowski is fascinated by both the creative and destructive power of volcanoes. In 2023, he travelled to Iceland, where massive glaciers cover active, regularly erupting volcanoes and the beauty of nature is accompanied by a constant awareness of the threat to life. The artist became aware of his connection to nature and his fascination with its powers, and he addressed this subject in his book "Under the Volcano". There he included photographs of the landscapes of Iceland and other places on earth. As he wrote, "[...] Alternating coloured and black-and-white, strong-structured photographs show my “voyage of discovery” into a still “pristine nature”; they are also accompanied by literary texts. Collaborating with Katalin, we decided to picture the associations with the photographs and with the theme of the book. Katalin Herzog has written about the ‘discovery of the Earth’ and about the Earth being a living organism, abuot the origin of volcanism, the geological peculiarities of Iceland, but also about the views on nature of the 17th-century philosopher Baruch de Spinoza and the fictional story of the 19th-century writer Jules Verne about a journey to the centre of the Earth. In each text, Herzog interweaves mythological tales with scientific views, as well as linking all the texts together, revisiting previously raised themes. In my poetic texts, I describe my experiences with volcanoes and show my desire to explore the origins of the universe. In addition, we ‘talk’ to each other in the book about my work and thoughts concerning, for example, climate change and the extreme weather conditions we are currently experiencing. For this reason, I also set myself the task of showing ‘pristine nature’ in a series of photographs before it disappears for good. If, through my work, someone becomes aware of the dangers that threaten our planet, starts to think about it and talk to others about it, then I see this as an additional positive effect of my work."

Radek Dąbrowski was born in 1977 in Koszalin and lives and works in Berlin.
His work combines photography, painting and poetry. He studied painting at the Mohr Institute for Advanced Study and Research in Art and New Media, Faculty of Art, Hanzehogeschool Groningen, The Netherlands (1999-2001), at the Hunter College of the City University of New York, New York, U.S.A. (1996-1997) and at Academie Minerva, Arts Faculty Hanzehogeschool Groningen, The Netherlands (1995-1998). He is a scholarship holder of the Fonds voor Beeidende Kunst en Vormgeving (2001) and the Groot Brugmanfonds, the Netherlands (1996). He has participated in dozens of solo and group exhibitions.

Organizer: The National Museum in Szczecin
Curator: Marlena Chybowska-Butler