Impy

The exhibition Deadlock by Szymon Szymankiewicz accompanied the international Impact congress in Poznań, which brought together leaders from business, politics, and academia around the world. While global elites debated the future, the artist posed a question about the present.

The exhibition became a counterpoint to discussions of “impact”, showing where action ends and inertia begins. In this context, the artist took a clear, engaged stance, joining the debate on the state of today’s world from the perspective of art. Not as a decorative backdrop but as an active participant and critic.

The show addressed urgent, unresolved issues: violations of women’s rights, wars, religious violence, discrimination against the LGBT+ community, and the climate crisis. Szymankiewicz’s works, executed in his signature style — simple yet striking — created a space charged with tension between engagement and indifference, influence and inertia, action and stagnation. The artist stated plainly: “Engagement is necessary at all times.”

Deadlock was not an illustrative exhibition — it was a call to action. Staying true to the idea of the poster as a critical medium, Szymankiewicz created a powerful visual commentary on the reality we face every day. Opposition, symbolism, and the subversive use of form became tools to capture the suspension in which our contemporary world finds itself. This was art that does not wait — art that intervenes.