Jaroslaw Modzelewski (b. 1955, Warsaw), "Lodz by the Shore," 2003

Biography
Studied at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts - graduated in 1980 with a degree in painting in the studio of Prof. Stefan Gierowski. He was a co-founder of Gruppa, with which he exhibited in 1983-92. During this period, the events that Poland lived by are reflected in his paintings. He is considered one of the main figures of the "Expression of the 1980s." In 1986-89 he created figurative paintings, the form of which (color, modeling, perspective) corresponded to the principles of realism, but the characteristics of the figures, especially the situations in which they were depicted, were characterized by an irritating unusualness. The artist achieved this effect, for example, by duplicating figures (Photographer. Photographer, 1986), capturing figures in a situation of uncertainty, discomfort or danger of falling (Difficulties in Moving, 1987), treatments with space (Romanica Toscana, 1987). Sometimes the surreal atmosphere resulted directly from the subject or the existential situation depicted. In his own view, the artist considers the 1990s, as a period of creativity much more important than his earlier achievements. In the 1990s he ran, together with Marek Sobczyk, a private School of Art in Warsaw. In 1997 there was a change in the painting technique used by Jaroslaw Modzelewski from oil to tempera. The artist's intention was to enliven his canvases through the tempera technique, which allows for freer shaping of the canvas texture. New themes soon appeared in the artist's work. At the end of 2001 and the beginning of 2002, the Kordegarda Gallery in Warsaw held an exhibition entitled. "Painting as an expression of observation of the church interior". The paintings presented at this exhibition are the result of Modzelewski's discovery of a new area of interest - church interiors. Of particular importance is the mundanity of these interiors, observed by the artist, which contrasts with their spiritual and sacred purpose. The peculiar atmosphere of Modzelewski's paintings and the cinematic way of framing the subject matter makes critics eager to compare him to Edward Hopper.