The Drama of the Polish Tango!“Cue the music, put a rose between your teeth and peruse the thought provoking, inspirational, and very enjoyable collection of watercolours by Aimee Birnbaum RI.
Ok, maybe forget the roseā¦ this is the Mall Galleries after all, and itās the 210th Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours Exhibition 2022.
Aimee takes us to a different place. Six paintings to transport us to the cafĆ© culture of the interwar years.Ā
Thereās fun and flirting, whispers and secrecy, love and jealousy, tension and tales. We can discover every emotion from yesteryear; but in addition to the past, these works are perhaps given a greater relevance by the terrible situation in our war ravaged Europe of today.Ā
Aimee has given us ordinary people, in this case a Polish society enjoying life before the Second World War, it could so easily be Ukrainians in a fashionable club four months ago. Such is the world.
My own favourite is āDancing On The Edgeā. I like the attitudes and can hear the gossip. With a bit of imagination you can give all the protagonists namesā¦ Zofia a school teacher from Wroclaw, Krystyna a junior reporter from Lublin, Tadeusz the tailor from ÅĆ³dÅŗ clocking all the fashions, etc etcā¦ itās up to you.
Iām by no means an expert but for me there is something reminiscent of El Greco in there somewhere, maybe a colour tone or narrative or intensity (somewhere).
I talked briefly with Aimee about the series and she told me about her research and the Warsaw recording studio āSyrena Electroā a source of inspiration.Ā
Apparently for Aimee the Polish Tango has become āa bit of an obsessionā. Seeing these paintings, itās an obsession Iām happy to share.Ā
Pass me my dancing shoes!”
Mark Elsmore RI