Piotr Janas

In Piotr Janas’ works, themes of surrealism and matter painting are combined with a unique expression of the painterly gesture. Abstract, geometric forms and realistic objects permeate shapeless impasto surfaces that, accentuating the objectivity and autonomy of the picture, refer openly to the tradition of 1960s and 1970s Polish painting. The compositions seem to be subject to a metamorphosis making them unstable, between figuration and abstraction. Janas’ way of painting reveals the process through which it was created: smoke, fluid explosions that drip, stains that reveal a hypothetical clash with canvas, as well as lacerations, swellings, throttles. They are the result of imaginary actions to which the artist has submitted form, like strange and unpredictable experiments performed in a laboratory. The fluid lines that recall the body - from sex organs to fragments of epidermis - contrast with the sharp tips and precise drawings of geometrical forms which the artist often incorporates in his compositions. ...

Wschód /vshood/ translates to sunrise, new beginning. It also refers to geographical east. Wschód is a contemporary art gallery founded in 2017 in Warsaw by curator and critic Piotr Drewko. The gallery represents international artists working across a wide spectrum of practices including video, sculpture, installation, painting. Apart from the exhibition program the gallery initiates a wide range of cultural activities – publication, institutional projects, podcasts in collaboration with artists, curators, critics. In 2018, Wschód initiated a gallery exchange program Friend of a Friend. In 2022 the gallery conceived a time-shared exhibition space ECHO in Cologne. Starting from the Fall of 2023, Wschód has expanded to New York with a yearly curated program of exhibitions and video / film projects. ...