Michał Stonawski

Born in 1984, studied at the faculty of Painting of the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow from 2004 to 2010, received Prof. Jan Szancenbach’s scholarship in 2007. Diploma with honours in Prof. Leszek Misiak’s studio (2010). Currently a third-year doctoral student at Cracow’s ASP.

Michał Stonawski’s painting may be seen as a form of dialogue which takes place between the artist and his work on the one hand, and the viewer on the other. What plays an important role in the painter’s approach is the philosophical reflection on the reality represented by what may be called both the clash and concordance of two trends – neo-scholasticism and criticism. The former is based on directing the cognitive look towards things and receiving from them their rights through listening, learning, and then transfer. The latter in turn gives verdicts about things, imposing rights which originate in the subject. The role of the creator and recipient in relation to the work is alternate, simultaneous and conscious. The painting concept here is based on a number of paradoxes. The exhibition space in which the paintings are set becomes the medium. The pictures, imitating reality represented by used objects, reveal its inner meanings. The senses used to appreciate the beauty of things put the viewer in an engrossing state, and the objects portrayed by the painter become treasuries of emotions thanks to which, even on the lowest level of sensual interaction with the work, the viewer may negotiate meanings with the creator. In this kind of painting, the image of a thing deriving from reality becomes a thing existing in painting thanks to the particular processing of this reality. In the cognitive process which accompanies painting, there is also the identity element, whereby the artist becomes the painted thing and as a result the painted thing assumes personal characteristics. The painted picture begins to breathe the breath of painting work, becomes a self-contained object, a surface or set of surfaces in space, which emanate the deposited energy on several levels.     

Jacek Dłużewski

 

Michał Stonawski 

Born in 1984, he studied at the Faculty of Painting of the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow from 2004 to 2010 and was granted Prof. Jan Szancenbach’s Scholarship in 2007. He received his diploma with honours in Prof. Leszek Misiak’s studio (2010). Currently a third-year doctoral student at Cracow’s Academy. 

Individual exhibitions:

• Solo exhibition with Magdalena Kulesza-Fedkowicz and Paweł Jasiński, Kraslav Culture Centre, Riga, Latvia, 2013 
• “Painting”, solo exhibition with Magdalena Kulesza-Fedkowicz, SOS for Art Studio and Gallery, Lublin, 2012
• “Painting”, solo exhibition with Magdalena Kulesza-Fedkowicz, Municipal and Regional Public Library, Świdnik, 2012
• “Painting”, solo exhibition with Magdalena Kulesza-Fedkowicz, Michał Elwiro Andriolli Gallery, Nałęczów Culture Centre, Nałęczów, 2012

Collective exhibitions:

• Exhibition of Young Polish Painters organized in co-operation with the Polish Embassy in Latvia, European House, Riga, 2013 
• Biennale of Young European Art SVEART 2012, Saint Vincent European Art, Valle D'Aosta, Italy, 2013
• “Heine’s House”, painting exhibition organized by the Culture Association “Nie z tej bajki”, Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, 2012
• Exhibition of Young Polish Artists in the Latgalian Land Museum, organized in co-operation with the Polish Embassy in Latvia, Latvia, 2012
• “Identity”, international art project organized under the patronage of the Marshal of Małopolskie Province and the German Consulate General in Cracow, 2012
• Internet Biennale of Young Polish Art “Diploma – Beginning of the Road”, post-competition exhibition organized under the patronage of Zbigniew Kazimierz Witek (Chairman of the Fine Arts Association in Cracow), Prof. Adam Wsiołkowski (Rector of Cracow’s Academy of Fine Arts) and Marian Dworak (founder of galeria.mutu.pl), Palace of Arts in Cracow, 2011
• “Marked Place” (“Markieter Ort”), international art project organized under the patronage of the Marshal of Małopolskie Province and the German Consulate General in Nuremberg, Germany, 2012
• “Marked Place” (“Markieter Ort”), international art project organized under the patronage of the Marshal of Małopolskie Province and the German Consulate General in Cracow, 2010
• Collective exhibition of Prof. Leszek Misiak’s studio, German Consulate General in Cracow, 2010
• “The Darkest Place Is under the Candlestick”, exhibition of various arts organized by the Culture Association “Nie z tej bajki”, Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, 2009
• “Master and Disciples”, exhibition of Prof. Leszek Misiak’s studio, Tarnowskie Góry, 2008
• “Exhibitions at the Pictures”, collective exhibition, MCK, Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, 2007

Scholarships and awards:

• Special Rector’s Award, Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow, 1^st Internet Biennale of Young Polish Art “Diploma – Beginning of the Road”, Cracow, 2011
• Finalists of the competition “Trójka’s Talents”, 2011
• Rector’s Medal, Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow, for outstanding diploma work, Cracow, 2011
• Prof. Jan Szancenbach’s Scholarship, Cracow, 2007

Conferences:

• “Between Psychology and Art”, 3^rd Polish Academic Conference, paper entitled “Artistic creation and its relation to the sense of life and susceptibility to health disorders”, Poznań, 2012

Publications:

• “303”, Papers on painting. Academic and artistic records of the Faculty of Painting, Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow, issue 10/2009-2010