„Chasing Rabbits”, acrylic on linen canvas, sides - raw linen, ready to hang. Without varnish. Signed at the back of the canvas (top right corner). Framed in black, wooden, floating box (american box) frame “Blinkered – having or showing a narrow or limited outlook” Blinkered is a section of the world seen through a photographic lens and translated into the language of abstract painting. Author invites us to engage in aesthetic vivisection of the work and to inspect the hidden details on the surface. It has the effect of dualistic perception where large-format images draw the attention as close to the detail as possible. The “Blinkered” landscapes are heterogeneous, but at the same time distinctive scrap of space has been narrowed down to just a few pixels, and then magnified to a large-format image. The figurative is therefore reduced to its basic and most crucial formal essence. “Artist Statement” Do you like getting lost on purpose? I love it. I always prefer local roads to the highway, and they usually lead me to the most interesting places. Usually, the landscapes I paint come to life as a result of me getting literally lost. There, at the very end of the map, in peace and solitude, I can reflect on the surrounding world. And then, back at the studio, I look for ways to transfer my impressions onto the canvas. It is always my paramount goal: to imbue the painting with the emotions, forms, colours or, sometimes, even the after-images that place had left within me. When creating, I like to get lost in various ways, looking for and testing new media, forms and techniques. Sometimes, from that momentary chaos, things emerge which stand in opposition to the calming landscapes which have inspired me. Surreal demons appear that dwell in most of us, under the skin or deeper within. I see art as a road that takes me somewhere. That road is my meditation and a way to achieve peace. I hope it never ends because there should always be something more worth discovering.

Lukasz Olek

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Łukasz Olek (bron in Warsaw, 1982) is a painter, illustrator and creator of applied graphics. Initially devoted to monochromatism – using traditional drawing techniques: pencil and ink – with time, he discovered the wealth of color possibilities offered by acrylic paints. Among his creations, you can find both large-format abstractions, kept in cool colors, as well as figurative painting with turpistic, dark portraits. Olek is fascinated by the works of Francis Bacon, Mark Rothko, and Lucian Freud. His works are in-depth studies of texture and color, using original materials and painting media. They were presented at several exhibitions, collective and individual, and have found buyers in many countries all over the world.