Sztuka współczesna w dialogu z poezją Seamusa Heaneya: T.P. Flanagan i Arno Kramer

Agnieszka Żukowska

doi:10.36744/k.3859

Contemporary Art In Dialogue with the Poetry of Seamus Heaney: T.P. Flanagan and Arno Kramer

Peer-reviewed article, Submitted 23.10.2024, Accepted 8.05.2025

Agnieszka Żukowska

agnieszka.zukowska@ug.edu.pl
Uniwersity of Gdańsk (Poland)
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2487-3928

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36744/k.3859

Abstract

This article focuses on selected contemporary works of art inspired by the poetry of Seamus Heaney, using the conceptual “energy, balance, outbreak” triad from his poem In Time, alongside various theories of art (including R. Arnheim and W. Strzemiński). T.P. Flanagan’s painting Boglands (for Seamus Heaney) is analysed in the context of Heaney’s poem Bogland, focusing on the dynamic of mutual inspiration producing both a calligraphic landscape and a painterly text. The analogy of the impact exerted by both works upon the recipient is then explored, revealing similarities to Heaney’s amorphous vision of history. The previously unstudied works of Dutch draftsman Arno Kramer, an artist fascinated by Heaney’s poetry, highlight a convergence between drawing and writing, art and poetry, while emphasising their shared sense of ambivalence. Kramer’s process-based works, combining abstraction and figuration, evoke Heaney's metaphor of the field as an archive.

Keywords:

Seamus Heaney, T.P. Flanagan, Arno Kramer, Ireland, drawing

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Published

2025-09-10

Cited by

Żukowska, A. (2025) “Contemporary Art In Dialogue with the Poetry of Seamus Heaney: T.P. Flanagan and Arno Kramer”, Konteksty, 349(2), pp. 27–33. doi: 10.36744/k.3859.

Authors

Agnieszka Żukowska
agnieszka.zukowska@ug.edu.pl
Uniwersity of Gdańsk Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2487-3928

Agnieszka Żukowska – dr nauk humanistycznych, anglistka i historyczka sztuki, adiunktka w Instytucie Anglistyki i Amerykanistyki UG. Jej zainteresowania naukowe obejmują głównie nowożytną kulturę widowisk oraz związki literatury ze sztukami plastycznymi. Współredaktorka książek: Theatrical Blends (2010); Amalgamaty sztuki (z J. Limonem, 2011); An Atomizing Theatre (z J. Limonem, 2014); This Treasure of Theatre: Shakespeare and the Arts from the Early Modern Period to the Twenty-First Century (z M. Gibińską, M. Grzegorzewską i J. Fabiszakiem, 2020); Opera and Beyond: Early Modern Court Theatre (z J. Żukowskim, 2022); Czas Jerzego Limona. Księga pamiątkowa ku czci twórcy Gdańskiego Teatru Szekspirowskiego (z J. Kopcińskim, 2023); On Time: Essays in Honour of Professor Jerzy Limon (z J. Ward i M. Fengler 2023). Jej najnowsze publikacje dotyczą maski dworskiej epoki Stuartów, nowożytnej architektury okazjonalnej oraz recepcji Szekspira w sztuce współczesnej, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem książki artystycznej.