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Exhibitions

Piotr Stanisz, Krzysztof Stępniak
Figures, Spaces
Postavy, prostory
30. 4.–25. 5. 2024

Curator of the exhibition: Jaromír Typlt.
Thanks: Grażyna Borowik, Piotr Gierowski, Darius Tokarczyk.

Preview: Monday 29th of April, 7pm

The ‘Figures, Spaces’ exhibition was prepared in cooperation with the Stacja Badawcza Outsider Art Gallery in Krakow. The 18th exhibition at the Art brut Prague gallery is dedicated to a selection of paintings by Piotr Stanisz and Krzysztof Stępniak, two prominent artists from the circle around the Stacja Badawcza Outsider Art gallery in Krakow.

The exhibition features Piotr Stanisz (1973), born in Krakow, he comes from the Małopolska village of Kamionna near Bochnia, where he still lives and works. He has a background as a bookbinder, but has never worked in this profession. His favourite working tool is the pyrograph and most of his works can be classified as pyrography, which he combines with other, more traditional artistic techniques (painting, drawing). Some of the works have the character of collages. He uses a variety of materials, including recycled ones, and prefers to work with wood, thick cardboard and on paper. He covers these surfaces with burnt ornament, creating highly subtle and undulating surfaces with unusual textures.
This resembles a clash of nebulae with different textures and densities. Stanisz often stands on the borderline between abstraction and figurative art. The most frequent motif the artist uses in his work is the Virgin Mary, depicted in various forms and representations, often unusual and surprising (for example, ‘fleeing Madonna on a Honda motorcycle’). Women, goddesses, mermaids or princesses also appear. We recognize pyramids, ziggurats, automobiles, motorcycles and other motifs that the artist draws from the surrounding reality and popular culture. The paintings are often accompanied by verbal commentary. A solo exhibition of Piotr Stanisz’s works was organized by Stacja Badawcza Outsider Art in 2023.

Krzysztof Stępniak (1974) was born in Lublin. He tried to enter the monastery several times and left it several times. He currently lives in Krakow, where he works as a guardian in the homeless shelter run by the Albertini Brothers. He has been drawing since childhood and started painting a few years ago during his stay at the monastery. He also writes poetry. His paintings mostly depict landscapes of places he knows from his childhood, as well as figures and portraits of the people he lives with, works with and helps on a daily basis. As he says, his works are the result of an inner search and relationships with people, the environment and, above all, with himself. He works quickly, impulsively, almost automatically, often creating long series of paintings in which he paints several or more portraits of the same person, representing them in different aspects and colour variations.
Recently, he has focused mainly on portraits of Radek, a homeless man from Krakow whom he helps. He sees painting as a form of self-therapy. He uses various techniques, often painting without the use of brushes, mostly on paper, and also creates collages that serve as short and ironic comments on the surrounding reality. His works are distinguished by their colour refinement and original texture, which he achieves through his own technique: he applies oil or acrylic paint to pastels, which disintegrates and leaves a trace when dry. He has already presented his work at seven solo exhibitions in Poland.

Piotr Gierowski

The cooperation between Prague’s Art brut Praha Gallery and Krakow’s Stacja Badawcza Outsider Art is mutual: in 2023, the Czech artist Ladislav Svoboda presented his work in Krakow, and now a joint exhibition of Marie Kohoutková and Marie Kůsová is taking place there. The recently discovered Polish artist Michał Walczyk was also presented in Prague and Krakow in 2023.