Greenland is not black and white / Tomasz Kuran

Artist: Tomasz Kuran

Venue: Galeria 101 Projekt, Nowy Świat 53

Date: 13.07-24.07.2015

Tomasz Kuran is a graduate of the Faculty of Conservation and Restoration of Works of Art at the Academy of Fine Arts. Diploma earned in the Cathedral of Conservation and Restoration of Painting and Polychrome Sculpture under Professor Joanna Szpor. He also studied painting under Professor Raymond Earth – an annex in painting to his main diploma. His works have been shown in an individual painting exhibition "Moments Emotions Feelings" at the National Gallery of Art in Plock, in an exhibition in the Belfry gallery in Warsaw, and in the exhibition "Emotions in Landscape" in Vienna.

Greenland always seemed to me an interesting but distant part of the earth. Like anyone who is curious about the world one day I decided to take the opportunity to go there and see something new – the so-called land of ice, with its colors, shapes and spaces that appealed to me above all as a painter. In June 2014 I was part of a crew that sailed there on the Polish yacht S / Y BARLOVENTO II. Everyone took the voyage in order to commune with nature.

Greenland surrounded me with its unimaginably-shaped mountains and hills the color of ice, with a sky constantly modified by the sun. The idea that it is a country of white, black and navy blue disappeared at first sight. Weird shapes, combined with the severity of the mountains, and the color of the sky and the sea drew from us constant admiration. There was no way to be bored when we sailed beneath mountains as big as the Palace of Culture or under hills sculpted by the sea into forms like watch cogs. There was inspiration wherever you looked, not only for painters, but also sculptors and graphic artists. Imagination was at work at every step and my hands themselves were compelled to capture these forms in their unmodified state. It was enough to create a rectangle with the thumb and forefinger of both hands, aim this ‘lens’ at the selected portion of space and image was there. A real camera, in addition to an artistic mind, proved to be of invaluable assistance in capturing these moments so that - after returning to Poland - I could recall the shapes of Greenland.