Bartosz Beda: Owing to the Absence
February 4 - March 11, 2023
Press Release
|
Ro2 Art is proud to present Owing to the Absence, an exhibition of new work by Bartosz Beda made during his artist residency at Ro2 Art. The exhibition will open February 4 and remain on view through March 11, 2023, with an artist talk on Saturday, Feb 11 from 1-3pm and a closing reception on Saturday, March 11 from 6-9pm., located at Ro2 Art Projects, 1501 S. Ervay St., Dallas, TX.
In his latest series, Owing to the Absence, Bartosz Beda transforms gestural ink marks into portraits and figures. Faces emerge out of washy splatters, revealing emotional and psychological depths. His process begins with large marks of ink made with a mop, which are then gradually tightened into detailed depictions of portraits, figures, and hands. In both the formal and conceptual aspects, Owing to the Absence explores the challenging mixture of fear and social pathology. |
About the Artist
|
Born in Poland in 1984, Bartosz Beda relocated to the UK in 2008 to study at the Manchester School of Art. After graduating in 2012 with an MA in Fine Art, Beda was selected for the 2012 Catlin Art Guide as the most promising emerging artist in the UK. Short-listed for the Title Art Prize, the Door Prize, and selected for The Saatchi New Sensations 2012, group exhibition in London for most exciting graduate students in the UK. He won the esteemed Towry Award for the Best of the North of England 2012. Beda was a finalist for the Williams Drawing Prize in Connecticut, the USA in 2014, won second place in the Viewpoints 2014 competition at the Aljira, Center for Contemporary Art in New Jersey, USA, 2014. Recently, Bartosz won first place for Interstate Group Exhibition, CWU Sarah Spurgeon Gallery, Ellensburg, WA, USA, 2017. Recent solo exhibition include: “Two Minutes Before Midnight” at Ro2 Art, Dallas, TX (2022) and “Four Seasons of Change” at the Untitled Space, Tribeca, NYC, NY (2022). Beda was awarded a six-month scholarship from Manchester Metropolitan University to attend the Academy of Fine Arts in Dresden, Germany in 2012/13, and received a fellowship from Fondazione per’l Arte, Rome, Italy in 2016. In 2018, Bartosz Beda was awarded a fellowship residency at Goggle, Center for the Arts in Reading, PA. He has participated in group shows including Microarte. El tamano si importa, Galeria Liebre, Madrid, Spain, 2012; Schools of Art. Voll.3, Oktogon der HfBK, Dresden, Germany, 2013; Petty Theft, Launch f18, New York, USA, 2013; ING Eye Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London, UK, 2015 and At the Surface, Foundry Art Center, St. Charles, MO, 2018. Beda had solo exhibitions at Galleria Liebre, Spain (2013), BAC Gallery, Colombia (2015), Jackson-Teed, England (2016), Rosemary Duffy Larson Gallery, USA (2017), Mildred M.Cox Gallery, USA (2018), Brownsville Museum, USA (2019), Hopkins Center for the Arts USA (2019), Execute Project, USA (2020). Beda’s works are in public collection at Reading Public Museum, Brownsville Museum, Siena Art Institute, and Fondazione Per’l Arte, as well as in private collections throughout Europe, the United States, South Africa, and Asia. Before relocating to England, Beda worked on animation in the film industry, including two movie productions, Ichthis by Marek Skrobecki (2005) and Peter and the Wolf by Suzieh Tempelton (2006), which received the Oscar Prize in 2007. Beda’s art has been widely interviewed and referenced for The Independent, Studio International, Expose Art Magazine, Creative Times, Radcliffe Times, A-N Magazine, Mastars at Axisweb, Arteon Art Magazine, Expose Magazine, Spokesman-Review, BuzzFeed, Daily News and featured in The Guardian, The Telegraph and Money Week., NatWest, Inlander. Mentioned on BBC Radio 4 in February 2013 as ‘one to watch’. He now lives and works in the United States. Beda lives and work in the United States.
|
Artist Statement
|
My paintings explore the relation between daily life and human nature. I perceive humanity as a chocolate cake, where beneath the ‘iced’ surface lies those more intriguing and challenging mixtures, with fears and social pathology. Through the application and process of painting, I cut a piece of that cake to explore the nature of these problems. Simple yet powerful gestural strokes and mark-making, search and re-investigate solutions to bring these hidden depths to the surface.
CV www.bartoszbeda.com |
Installation Views
