Karol BAK ✿

Karol Bąk is a Polish Surrealist painter, was born in Koło in the Wielkopolska Region in 1961. He graduated from the Fine Arts High School of Poznań with a degree in Interior Exhibition Arrangement. In 1984, he was admitted to the Graphics Department of the State College of Art (currently the University of Arts in Poznań).

He already knew what direction he wanted to take in his studies – painting, graphics and sculpture were perceived as a prestigious pursuit of “searching for pure art. Both professors who supervised the artist in his two theses were strong influences on his art. Tadeusz Jackowski (born 1936) looked for illusion in his art, attempting to deceive the eye of the viewer.

Karol Bąk combined various techniques, some of the more unusual of which were engraving and hand-painting. Jarosław Kozłowski has been exhibiting his works since the late 1960s, mostly in installations relying on drawings, sound, light, photography and performance. He is associated with conceptual art and views art idealistically, as a domain of freedom, unrestrained by convention.

E intanto, fuori piove, piove lirica
la sinfonica tristezza... ~ Catherine La Rose© ~

Karol Bak may well have adopted Tadeusz Jackowski’s love for graphics and drawing, as well as his penchant for illusion. Jarosław Kozłowski instilled in him the drive to create free art, which is then interpreted individually, in line with particular contexts.

He perfected his painting technique under Andrzej Maciej Łubowski of the Fine Arts High School and, once at the Academy, under Prof. Andrzej Kurzawski. In 1989, Karol Bak graduated with distinctions and two degrees. He received the “Best Graduation Work 1989” Award in Toruń. In the following year, he took part in the 21st exhibition of the graphics and drawings of the year, receiving the Jan Wroniecki medal. He garnered the top award for his graphics. As commented by Danuta Kudta in a historic text in Poznań’s Arsenał City Gallery.