SŁOŃCE

Artist: Rafał Kapica

Place: 101 Projekt

Date: 14.05-01.06.2022

Curator: Paulina Świerczyńska-Brzezińska

CATALOGUE

Exhibition of the paintings by Rafał Kapica entitled "The Sun" is a summary of the last few months of the Artist's creative work. Rafał Kapica has been working on his paintings for a long time. The very process of creating the work is preceded by an analysis of the painterly problem, which he scrupulously notes down on the pages of the sketchbook. The creation process is accompanied by reflections on color, light and technology. There is no room for coincidence here. The artist paints from memory. The inspiration is the memory of the situation and the emotions that accompanied it. He is fully devoted to the spontaneous, subconscious process of creation. It is possible due to the already acquired knowledge and workshop skills. The images presented at the exhibition are linked not only by theme. They form a coherent whole of mutually complementary compositions, each of which complements the previous one. The artist does not illustrate a specific phenomenon. It shows the enormous complexity of themes for which the starting point is the sun. The Artist's approach to the issue of color is what is especially effective. A whole complex palette of colors appears in solar paintings, which in the viewer's mind would not suggest a direct association with the sun. But, as the title of one of the works says - it creates the colors. The cycle ends with the latest painting "The Way to the Sun". It is a symbolic work that in some way sums up the history of the search for the right language to illustrate the elusive. By means of painting, Rafał Kapica captures what eludes human sight - allows the viewer to look directly at the sun.

Paulina Świerczyńska-Brzezińska

During the first acquaintance with Rafał Kapica's works from the Stars series, presented in the form of photos, we almost automatically find an analogy with Wojciech Fangor's circles. In direct contact with the pictures, significant differences are revealed. The reason for the existence of the circle, its meaning and the method of painting visualization are different. Kapica's work derives from his genuine excitement about the problem of light. The cosmos, powerful flares accompanying the birth of supernovae, but also the earth's dawns and sunsets, shining, glares and epiphanies ... He tells the never ending story of his infatuation in the universal language of abstraction. By patiently applying successive layers of color and differentiating the surface texture to vibrations, it recreates the changing nature of light. The stylistically homogeneous solar paintings by Rafał Kapica are distinguished, apart from their purely artistic values, by excellent knowledge of the workshop and precision of workmanship.

Maria Teresa Krawczyk

The paintings of Rafał Kapica are a trace of an attempt to depict the phenomena and forces of nature that intrigue him; materialize and make permanent what is changeable. Among them, a special place is taken by optical phenomena related to the sun as a symbol of life and energy. The solar motif appears on many of his canvases with pulsating circles. Their matter fascinates, entertains the eye with glowing forms, illusions of the influence of the approaching and receding space. The rough, layered surface retains the memory of brush strokes, drawing and free splashing. It emanates with many colors that react peculiarly to light. In the small or large-format paintings by Kapica, we find an attempt to capture and close the light, time and space, secrets of the Universe filtered by the artist's sensitivity.

Magdalena Durda-Dmitruk

Artists from the Neolithic to the present day expressed their admiration for the beauty and power of the sun through art. These artistic representations also influence how people think about the sun. Most cultures use yellow to represent the sun. Many of them also contain rays or rays that come out of the sun. We cannot see these rays with our eyes, but it shows how people have understood for thousands of years that energy flows as light from the sun to us on earth and this energy is also visible in Rafał Kapica's painting. Thanks to a clear vision and skillful selection of means of expression, Kapica creates images that reveal his original style. The works are distinguished by color, which introduces a strong energetic charge to the pictures, and Bergson's Élan vital, additionally expands the viewer's interpretations with color, and everything that may be associated with it. The artist consistently builds his own separate aesthetics of his works, very consciously using the color and intensity of light, the paintings give the impression of flickering, which is often used in op-art compositions. Excellent use of colors, usually limited to two or three colors within one work. This saving of resources does not prevent him from achieving extremely strong artistic effects. The color on the canvas seems to vibrate, and the sun gives the impression of receding or approaching towards the viewer pulsating energy. His paintings "work", live. It also shows how Kapica consciously chooses painting means and with what virtuosity she uses them. Below an intricately constructed experience. Works of art are not only objects endowed by their creators with special qualities that make them appeal to, move or shock the viewer; art is also a kind of language - it communicates ideas, moods and impressions. The image has a multidimensional structure in which the semantic (representational) layer depicts the cognitive content expressed through simplification or deformation, abstraction and symbolism. The second layer of this structure is the so-called formal layer, as a consequence of the existence of the above-mentioned layers assuming originality, novelty and generativity, the third layer of the work is created - the axiological one, i.e. the creative value of the product. What happened to me while staring at the mesmerizing blur of absorbing color can be defined very broadly as an "artistic experience". Some people cry with emotion when they come into contact with art, others faint, others feel a wave of spreading warmth. It also happens that this experience has a negative effect: it causes fear and anxiety, causes embarrassment, and causes discomfort. But this is what art is about to evoke emotions in us, to introduce us to various moods and emotional states.

Agnieszka Rozciecha – Lis

RAFAŁ KAPICA

„In the modern world, filled with technology, mobile devices, and robots, art flowing from the need of the heart and inspiring one another, makes even more sense. Man does a lot of harm and produces ugliness, that's why I want to create reflexively, but beautifully as well. I paint to create positive energy with light and color. In order to do good, I need to surround myself with beauty." Rafał Kapica.