Karol PALCZAK (b. 1987), Ivan of Krzywcza, 2019

oil, metal, board; 17 x 15.5 cm;
Signed and dated on the reverse: Karol Palczak / 2019

Provenance:
private collection, Poland

Exhibited painting:
Karol Palczak. Everyday one fire. Painting, Śladowski Gallery, Krakow 24.05.-14.06.2019.

Reproduced painting:
Karol Palczak. Everyday one fire. Painting, Śladowski Gallery, Kraków 2019, p. 40 (color ill.).

The work of Karol Palczak, winner of the Grand Prix of the 44th Biennale of Painting "Bielska Jesień" 2019, nominee for "Polityka" Passports 2020 in the category "Visual Arts" or winner of the first place in the 12th ranking of the Compass of Young Art 2022, has undoubtedly become an artistic discovery in the market of young art.

The artist, a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow, has developed a recognizable painting language, based on a combination of realistic observation and an atmosphere of existential anxiety. His paintings often depict figures operating in the provincial landscape, enriched by painterly metaphor.

The painting "Ivan of Krzywcza" (the artist's hometown), comes from a crucial period of his work. Palczak builds the composition with cool, dim colors and soft light emphasizing the protagonist's state of suspension and mental alienation.

The motif of smoke, fire and an empty landscape appears repeatedly in his paintings at the time. The emotional tension present in seemingly ordinary scenes, gives an interesting effect of painterly reportage.