Artist | Jacek Szleszyński | Resides | Poland |
Website | szleszynski.com | Medium | Acrylic |
jacek@szleszynski.com | Themes | Hidden powers Misty beginnings Vague premonitions Alternative dimensions Other worlds Forgotten gods Extraterrestrial religions | |
Follow the Artist | Instagram | Facebook | Press | szleszynski.com/index |
About the artist
Jacek Szleszyński studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Wroclaw. He works in painting, digital graphics, illustration, animated film, interactive applications. Films have been shown at more than 30 festivals around the world.
He is the author of games and interactive applications. In 2003, he created Artlife – an artificial life simulator shown at many international festivals. The game “Halo” won first prize in the telecommunications company competition (2009) and the game “Titanic” won second prize in the Spill Games competition (2011).
Since 2015, he has been creating digital graphics based on traditional pencil drawings. He is returning to traditional easel painting in acrylic technique. His surrealist paintings are in collections in Poland and abroad.
Artwork Themes & Subject Matter
Jacek Szleszyński is interested in what is happening very far away and what happened a very long time ago or will happen in the future. He read and watch everything about distant planets, galaxies as well as the prehistory of the earth and cosmology. He peeks with his imagination’s eye beyond the horizon of available knowledge and try to broaden his mental horizons.
In his paintings Jacek try to show a fantastic world, which is a combination of dreamy visions, mysterious symbols, non-existent legends. Starting with random spots and brushstrokes, he gradually brings out the hidden characters and the mysterious relationships linking them. On the technical side, Jacek is fascinated by the paintings of the old masters, the Baroque, symbolism and classicism, as well as surrealism. His greatest inspiration is nature. he tries to seamlessly combine images of fantastic creatures with human figures. He looks for common elements in the structure of organisms and in rococo costumes.
“To enhance the effect of the extraordinary, I frame images of the morphological unravelling of nature and culture against cosmic, underwater and sky landscapes in used vintage frames”.
Press
The Cenega company has released a puzzle with a reproduction of Jacek Szleszyński’s painting “The Gift”.
Upcoming Exhibition
When | Exhibition | Gallery |
June 2024 | Group exhibition: “The Hereafter” | Gallery Elektrownia Czeladz, Poland |
CV
Education
1990 Industrial Design, Academy of Fine Arts in Wroclaw, Poland
Awards
Video Art XVI 95, Locarno, Switzerland – scholarship
Ars Digital Award, Berlin, Germany, 1996 – Grand Prix
WRO Media Art Festival 97 – TVP Lifetime Achievement Award
2022
First prize for animation “Zoom” IX Festival of Polish Independent Films in Wroclaw
2003
Second prize for animation “Flora” X Festival of Polish Independent Films in Wroclaw
First prize for animation “Flora” 1st International Independent Film Festival “Offensiva”
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2023
Power of Imagination, Mercure hotel, Warsaw, Poland
Jacek Szleszynski – painting, Formaty Club, Wroclaw, Poland
2021
Hard Rokoko, Under the Columns Club, Wroclaw, Poland
Wall for the Illustrator, Castle Cultural Center, Lesnica, Poland
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024
The Hereafter, Municipal Center for Culture and Arts, Olesnica, Poland
The Hereafter, Museum of Romanticism, Opiniogora, Poland
2023
The Tower of Babel, Museum of Architecture, Wroclaw, Poland