Collection

Painter, teacher. He is graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, where he is today a professor. He developed his own recognisable language by painting geometric compositions frequently resembling landscapes. He rejected figurativeness and does not name his works. He has been creating “total” paintings in recent years, his works harnessing all gallery space in consequence. Regular narrow stripes are his trademark motif, black and white or coloured. He represented Poland at the 49^th Venice Art Biennale (2001) and the 19^th São Paulo Art Biennial (1987). He received the Polityka Passport Award (2000), the Jan Cybis Award (2000), and the Zofia and Jerzy Nowosielski Foundation Award (1999). He lives and works in Waliły, a village in the Białystok region.

“My dream would be for paintings to take absolute control over the viewer, making his or her environment vanish,” the artist wrote in a commentary to his works. “My painting, free of any framing, could then expand, unrestrained, drawing the viewer in.” Leon Tarasewicz’s works are frequently frameless. While the one currently in the Foundation’s collection has specific dimensions, it is as “total” in nature as the artist’s monumental spatial realisations. The painting responds to the viewer’s movements, alternating between blue and orange depending on the viewing angle. The sensory experience is augmented by the textural quality of the canvas. Colour apart, deep furrows have become a tool in developing Tarasewicz’s paintings, illusionist and yet deeply sensual.