Wednesday, 25 May:
- 5 pm - meeting with Ryszard Grzyb
- 6 pm - opening of the exhibition

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Painting is the World's Garden. Works from the 2000s - an exhibition of paintings by Ryszard Grzyb, painter, poet, graphic designer, member of the legendary Gruppa (1982-1992) with Paweł Kowalewski, Jarosław Modzelewski, Włodzimierz Pawlak, Marek Sobczyk and Ryszard Woźniak. The artists in Gruppa - referred to in Poland as "the Wild Ones" - fitted in the Western wave of painting called New Expression or Neue Wilde.

"They created flashy, figurative, deliberately anti-aesthetic paintings. Set against the gray 1980s, the colourful paintings by Gruppa seemed to be screaming with colour. They adapted this neo-expressive style as counterpoint to the contemporary socio-political situation in Poland. However, these "Wild" paintings were created not only in rebellion against the martial law, but also as an outcry against the boredom of avant garde art, which entered a period of sterile academicism" - says Ewa Gorządek.

Ryszard Grzyb thus describes his 35 works (200-2015) to be exhibited in Galeria Bielska BWA: "The paintings show airplanes heading for unknown destinations, a skull held in hands, animals real and fantastic, pigeons, woodpeckers knocking on heaven's door, sparrows turned into haiku poems, the passage of time and the eternal present, fear, rhinos, portraits of various people, the old studio of an artist, jpg's, i.e. paintings inspired by computer print-outs, existential reflection, nostalgia, screens, a scene from Artaud's theatre of cruelty. The title usually forms an integral part of the painting and therefore can't be omitted."

Ryszard Grzyb was born in 1956 in Sosnowiec. He studied at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Wrocław, under Professor Zbigniew Karpiński (1976-1979) and at the Faculty of Painting of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw (1979-1981). He received his degree from Professor Rajmund Ziemski. In the years 1982-1992 he was a member of Gruppa, where he exhibited his work and participated in its actions. He was also a co-founder and editor of Gruppa's magazine Oj Dobrze już (Come Now). He published his texts in art magazines: Nowy Wyraz (1980, 1981), Miesięcznik Literacki, (1981), and Oj dobrze już, books: Sztuka najnowsza. Co słychać (ed. M. Sitkowska, Warsaw 1989), and Young Poets of a New Poland, (London 1993) and the art periodical Tytuł roboczy (2004).

His paintings are in the collections of the National Museums in Warsaw, Wrocław, Kraków, Poznań; Zachęta National Gallery of Art; in district museums in Katowice, Bytom, Toruń, Bydgoszcz, Olsztyn, as well as in private collections in Poland and abroad. In 2010 he received the Jan Cybis Award.

In addition to painting, the artist also deals with advertising and publishing graphics. He has been practicing karate since his early years, and recently also long-distance running.

The exhibition runs from 25 May to 16 June 2016.

See Ryszard Grzyb's official website >>

More about the artist at culture.pl >>