The New East - Work by Eastern European artists

The New East

Work by Eastern european artists
An exhibition curated by Franco La Russa and Katarzyna Machalek

cueB Gallery presents for the first time in London a group of
contemporary artists from Eastern Europe.

Divided by political boundaries but sharing the same rich Slovak soul, the works on display are a unique look at some of the best new art emerging from Poland and Belarus.  From sculpture to oil and acrylic paintings, the works are a diverse collection that examines childhood, folklore, the self and the natural world.

The art of Tadeusz Machowski are emotions expressed in fiery
colours, improvised and layered on canvases like jazz music. “When I give away a painting, I give away a piece of myself along with hours of  endeavours and frustration dashed with moments of incredible joy. I believe in an instant reaction of the viewers to my works.
The audience may adore them or hate them but it should never pass them indifferently.”
 
Witold Pazera is an old, nostalgic Perrot and his paintings are deeply immersed in Slavic folklore and the innocence of childhood. ‘For me, painting is more frequently a return to the magical world of childhood where I used to be captivated by a whistle of incoming locomotive or enticed by the gloomy secrecy of a wild and abandoned garden’

Gabriela Cichowska was born in Rzeszów, Poland. She is the winner of the Opera Prima Prize at Bologna Children`s Book Fair for her illustrations. The artist presents a curious way of portraying children and adulthood. Her distinctive characters are at once children who have grown up too early and adults trapped in the melancholic faces of
children. “I don`t have and never wanted to have a profession.
You can be disappointed by it. But you can never fail on your vocation. In terms of it - I am an artist.”

In Renata Szyszlak`s paintings, the artist`s internal life, her thoughts and emotions, are represent on canvas through signs that are sealed in the multiplicity of textures. “Creative work is a kind of a mystery – it blends the past and the present with the future. It requires honesty and openness. Compositions in paintings form a continuously
developing image of life in which I leave my marks and discovers
unexplored regions of myself.“

Alexandr Zabavchik, a sensitive colossus from Belarus, uses the variety of techniques to create his minimalistic monochromatic abstractions. He believes that the originality is the most important feature of the true artist.  “An artist has to be different from others. Every artist should have his own face.”

The technique, in which Jakub Glinski creates his large–scale collages, naturally derives from his youthful spontaneity and temperament: “My paintings are me. I often build my work and destroy most of what I have done and then cover it with another layer. Every day, something new happens and I try to represent it by the technique I use, I try to reflect this power of unexpected and uncontrolled possibilities. I do not aim for perfection and I believe mistakes are beautiful.”

For more information, please contact: Franco La Russa at [email protected] 
or Kasia Machalek at [email protected]