Człowiek z mitu. Uświęcone oblicza gniewu (Leszek Sobocki, Grzegorz Klaman – Lech Wałęsa w obrazach)

Abstract

The article is devoted to the images of Lech Wałęsa. Portraits by Leszek Sobocki (The Worker ’81 I–III, 1982) and Grzegorz Klaman’s installations (The Transparent, 2010; Here Is the Head of a Traitor, 2015) become the starting point for reflection on the process of mythologizing the leader of Solidarity that started in August 1980 (the allegoric portraits of The Worker by Sobocki kept in the tradition of the Polish Baroque), and of destroying his myth in post-transformation Poland (Klaman). The iconological analysis of the works by Sobocki and Klaman has identified the role of political and religious functionalization of rage (Peter Sloterdijk) in shaping the image of Wałęsa in public life and visual art representations.