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Represented Artists Back
Jozef Walczak
Józef Walczak was born on April 29, 1946 in Poznan as the fourth and last child of Stefania Korbanska and Stanislaw Walczak. His father, a civil servant by profession and an amateur artist, was the first to notice his son's artistic talent and encouraged him to oil painting. In 1958 he goes to a sanitarium in Rabka due to Diphtheria. At that time paint and paper are the best way to shorten a long period of treatment and rehabilitation. After recovering from his illness, he does not lose his liking for painting. In 1959 the Korbanski family immigrate to the United States. That is a painful experience for a young boy. In 1961, he takes an entrance exam for the High School for the performing Art in Poznan. However, his youthful nature and a strong feeling of self-personality force him to leave the school. In 1964, he starts earning his living, at the same time continuing education at night school, which he completed in 1970.
Looking back at that period, he recollects his four -year work experience as a therapist in the Institute of Orthopaedy with the highest esteem, because he was close to human suffering. In 1973, he becomes a member of the mountain climbing club and takes an entrance exam for the Department of Painting in the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznan. In 1975, he and Roman Tuliszko climb the northeastern wall of Mnich (Heinrich and Sudsua's variant) in the Tatras. In 1977, he takes part in the expedition to the Hindukush Mountains in Afghanistan. It results in reaching the peaks of Kohe-Tez and Akher-Chaq, both over seven thousand meters high. In the fall of the same year, Walczak gets his diploma in painting in Professor Stanislaw Teisseyre's studio and begins his work as an assistant professor Tadeusz Brzozoski's atelier. When Brzozowski leaves the Academy, Walczak becomes an assistant in professor Jacek Waltos' studio at the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznan and gets a degree of assistant professor. In 1990, Walczak, accompanied by Andrzij Okinczyc goes on his first voyage to the Canary Islands. During the stay in Las Palmas, he is painting and exhibiting his works. Walczak repeats his artistic travels to the Canary Islands in 1991. In the same year he also spends several months in Paris. Painting intensively, he crowns his efforts with exhibitions. Walczak goes to the United States in 1992 and visits Jan Korbonski. He also goes to California and Hawaii and is fascinated with the light and nature of those places admiring the colorful underwater world of the coral reefs. As usual after coming back home, Walczak is painting new pictures and preparing for a new journey.
His works are found in a number of museum collections in Europe and, on American soil, in the San Diego Museum of Contemporary Arts (La Jolla, California). He was the recipient of the "Award of Excellence" in the 46th Annual International Exhibition at the San Diego Art Institute 2003.
Artist Statement
"In my paintings, I try to preserve the most intense and thrilling experiences of my life. I categorize myself as neither a 'relentless' artist who is trying to keep a certain distance from the real world, nor a cold intellectual who prefers moderation with avoidance of extremes in expression over spontaneity and subjectivism. My art must feed on strong impulses obtained from reality."
"Purely human reflection on the passage of time and choking fear of nothingness find their own conclusion in Walczak's output: the matter is everlastingly alive, reaching ever new states of concentration, whether by way of progress or regress. And in this sense the whole cosmos of matter - living and crumpled, comely and aching, tight and defeated - is impressed in Walczak's painting. He follows the trail of the mystery of matter in full respect whole-heartedly engaged, with zeal of a pantheist and with the admiration of the painters of Madonna. There is in it something mysterious, something of an anatomy lesson, something of an adventure of the discoverer of new lands and something of a somnambulic reflection on lastingness…", Mariusz Rosiak
In July 2004, Walczak finished an exhibition at the Galerie d'Art International.
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"At My Place II" (2004)
Oil on canvas
39.5 x 55 |
"At the Table" (2003)
Oil on canvas
55 x 39.5 |
"Tanatos" (1991)
Oil on canvas
39.5 x 55 |
"Prometheus" (2004)
Oil on canvas
47.5 x 67 |
"Don Quixote" (2004)
Oil on canvas
25.75 x 36 |
"Visionary" (1998)
Oil on canvas
35.5 x 53.25 |
"Marat" (1991)
Oil on canvas
39.5 x 55 |
"Interference" (2000)
Oil on canvas
39.5 x 55 |
"At My Place" (2003)
Oil on canvas
94 x 67 |
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