Tomek Baran

Since the third year of his art course Tomasz Baran has been consistent in his abstract painting projects. In fact, today his passion for pursuing own intuitions, disregarding fashions and curatorial choices, is even greater than back when he was a student of the Academy of Fine Arts. Actually, intuition is a key term in his case, even though it does not express everything. His activity is like an eruption. His sequences of forms and composition motifs originate from brush strokes which follow one another. It does not mean, however, that what we see here is the somewhat anachronistic formula of action painting. Tomasz Baran’s painting gesture is principally controlled, and occasionally even disciplined, bordering on geometrical abstraction. As a result, what emerges is not an artificial blend of unrestrained gesture and the rigour of a ruler or masking tape. The gesture present in Baran’s abstract works has something natural in it. In a way, the gesture breathes, respires, and the particular paintings – despite offering familiar forms – do not re-direct our attention to evident patterns. The young artist’s inventiveness is incredible. Apart from the large-sized canvases, he works on various textures and weights of paper, layer-primed boards, as well as objects interacting – or rather existing in relation to – sources of artificial light. Incidentally, two such objects are presented in the attached documentation. In my view, they complement the painting works, which in this way gain an extra context – reflection on light and luminosity. I consider Tomasz Baran’s artistic potential and its effects unique among young painters’ output, therefore I have great satisfaction in recommending his work.