Katarzyna Karpowicz (4 November 1985) is a Polish contemporary painter.
Biography
Karpowicz was born in Kraków to Anna Karpowicz-Westner (maiden name Wiejak) and Sławomir Karpowicz (1952–2001), both painters.
Her father was a professor of art at Cracow Academy of Fine Arts. Parents, together with their daughters Joanna and Katarzyna lived and painted in the studio on Piłsudzkiego Street previously owned by Olga Boznańska.[1][2][3][4]
In 2005 she graduated from art high school Państwowe Liceum Sztuk Plastycznych and began her studies at National School of Fine Arts in Cracow.
Until 2008, she studied under Grzegorz Bednarski.[5] She graduated with honors in 2010 under Leszek Misiak. Katarzyna Karpowicz's works can be found in collections in Poland and abroad, as well as in the collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Gdansk.
She lived and painted in Budapest (2013–2015) and later in England (2015–2016) in Pangbourne.
She is a figurative painter. In 2019 she was awarded Anna Maria Siemieńska Grazella Foundation's artistic scholarship for young artists. She gave several interviews[6][1] discussing her artistic heritage and musical taste.[7] In an interview in Magyar Nemzet a Hungarian art critic[8] talks about influences of Budapest on Karpowicz's art.
Critical reception
Between 2017 and 2019 she placed in top three of young Polish painters in a prestigious competition Young artist compass.[9][10]
Her art received positive comments from several independent art critics.
Art critic Małgorzata Czyńska mentions[11] that her paintings combine childlike beauty and somewhat naïve trust, but are streaked with fear and the experience of the cruelty of fate. The same critic
writes that Katarzyna Karpowicz's works are deeply universal and existential,
revolving around relationships, expectations, hope and fears.[12]
Samanta Belling indicates[13] that Karpowicz's works prove that there are still young artists who live for art and are able to create an atmosphere that evokes memories. She states that "Katarzyna Karpowicz seems to be out of this epoch, as if she were living beyond the time, just like her paintings. By deliberately simplifying the form of her work, she gives us room for impressions, guesses and personal interpretations."
Kama Wróbel opines[14] that each new series of Karpowicz's work has deep meaning and provides a point of departure for multi-faceted consideration of the human condition.
Art historian Stanisław Tabisz[15] writes about Karpowicz's fascinations with the circus in Budapest, solar eclipse observed with her father in their hometown of Szczebrzeszyn and youthful influences in her paintings.
He goes on to state that "Katarzyna Karpowicz's paintings express, in their sincere and straightforward message, the connection of each of us with the world, of experiencing everything in a unique and exceptional way."
Daniel Czepiński[16] writes that one finds oneself in Karpowicz's studio surrendered by magical trees, doors and openings which all lead to new worlds.
Adam Szczuciński finds[17]captivating charm of the unknown in her paintings. He also writes in his essay A physician's viewpoint
that Karpowicz's "powerful talent makes it truly impossible to
remain indifferent to her small-sized images" and he concludes that "they infect the memory and stay like afterimages on the retina after we close our eyes."[18]
Ewa Ogłoza[19] in art journal artPaper writes that she is enchanted with Katarzyna Karpowicz's paintings and delighted with her life attitude and art "characterized by gratitude, kindness, humility, seriousness, mindfulness and tenderness towards the world, people and culture". She states that Karpowicz loves to paint and looks for consolation and hope in art "by designing her own fears, hopes, dreams, she gives comfort to others".
2007 · “Landschaft als suggestive Vision von Licht und Raum”, group exhibition, Steyr, Austria
2011 · “100 years of ZPAP Krakow” Art Palace – Cracow, Poland
2011 · Yokohama Akarenga Soko – presenting young artists from Yokohama & Krakow – Yokohama, Japan
2012 · Katarzyna and Joanna Karpowicz, “Art saves life”, Galeria Fundacji Promocji Sztuki Współczesnej, Warsaw, Poland
2013 · “Zakynthos 2013”, Stalowa Gallery, Warsaw
2014 · “4 x Karpowicz”, Raven Gallery, Kraków
2015 · “Exercise”, Platan Gallery, Budapest
2015 · Exhibition of paintings and sculptures of the Krakow Branch of the Association of Polish Artists and Designers, Centrum Gallery, Nowa Huta centre for culture, Krakow
2015 · “The Abstract, the Figure”, contemporary painting created in Kraków, MANK Gallery, Szentendre, Hungary
2015 · Christmas exhibition of the Krakow branch of the association of Polish Artists and Designers, Arts Palace, Krakow
2016 · “8 women”, Regional Society for the Promotion of Fine Arts, Konduktorownia, Czestochowa
2016 · “Espacios, ciudades, arquitecturas, gente”, Galeria de Arte Montsequi, Madrid, Spain
2017 · “Small Format”, exhibition of the Krakow District of the Association of Polish Artists and Designers, Raven Gallery, Krakow
2017 · “Configurations”, Krakow Artistic Meetings, Association of Polish Artists and Designers, Art Bunker, Krakow
2017 · “Leszek Misiak and Students”, Centrum Gallery, Nowa Huta Cultural Centre, Academy of Fine Arts Gallery, Krakow
2018 · “Realism, Two Perspectives”, BWA Gallery, Bydgoszcz
2018 · “Karpowicze”, exhibition of the Karpowicz family as a part of Capital of a Polish Language Festival, Szczebrzeszyn
2018 · “XIV Aniversario”, Galeria de Arte Montsequi, Madrid, Spain
2019 · “Art now”, pre auction exhibition, National Museum in Kraków
2019 · “Young Polish Painting”, National Museum in Gdansk, Contemporary Art Department
^Pál, Szathmáry István (August 11, 2014). "Budapest, az erett gyümölcs". Magyar Nemzet (Kultura): 9.
^"Kompas Młodej Sztuki" is organized by a newspaper "Rzeczpospolita", a business oriented newspaper in Poland.
^"Kompas Młodej Sztuki 2018 ogłoszony. December 14, 2018". Retrieved September 15, 2020. (pl) Znamy nazwiska najważniejszych polskich artystów młodego pokolenia mijającego roku. (en: Here are the names of the most important Polish artists of the young generation of the past year.)
^ abcTuleya, Wojciech; Czyńska, Małgorzata (2018). Katarzyna Karpowicz. Niebieskie szkiełko. Blue grass(PDF). Warsaw: Galeria Art. ISBN978-83-950949-5-8. Katarzyna Karpowicz's works are deeply universal and existential, centering on relationships, expectations, hope and fears. The girl who, years ago put her heroines at the foot of the mountain or a great bear, huddled like children in their mother's womb, and had the dream a dream of life, has become a woman. It is not without reason that masks appear so often in her paintings: the motif of playing and pretending, but even more the mature ability to cope in the world. And even if it is not immediately visible, there is a dose of humour, irony and tongue-in-cheek in all this lyricism.
^Belling, Samanta (October–December 2012). "Katarzyna Karpowicz". Artysta I Sztuka (7): 35–39. (pl.) Dawno w kontakcie z malarstwem nie doznałam takiego olśnienia, jak przy zetknięciu się ze sztuką Katarzyny Karpowicz. Jej prace są dowodem na to, że są jeszcze młodzi artyści, którzy tworząc, żyją, a ich sztuka, to przede wszystkim uczucia i niepowtarzalna atmosfera, która prawie w każdym z nas przywołuje wspomnienia[..] Katarzyna Karpowicz wydaje się być nie z tej epoki, tak jakby żyła poza czasem i ponad czasem, podobnie jak jej malarstwo. Celowo upraszczając formę swoich prac, pozostawia nam miejsce na wrażenia, domysły, osobiste interpretacje. (en: It been a long time since I experienced such an enlightenment in contact with paintings as in contact with Katarzyna Karpowicz's art. Her works prove that there are still young artists who create, live, and their art is, above all, based on feelings and a unique atmosphere that evokes memories in almost all of us [..] Katarzyna Karpowicz seems to be out of this epoch, as if she were living beyond time, just like her paintings. By deliberately simplifying the form of her work, she leaves room for impressions, guesses and personal interpretation.)
^Wróbel, Kama (2014). "Samotny wędrowiec w krainie malarstwa czyli podróż Katarzyny Karpowicz". Magazyn Format (69): 55–57. )
^Tabisz, Stanisław (April 2016). Górka-Czarnecka, Janina (ed.). Katarzyna Karpowicz : Genius loci : Kraków, kwiecień-maj 2016. Kraków: Artemis Galeria Sztuki. ISBN9788388021329. Malarstwo Katarzyny Karpowicz, w swym szczczerym i prostolinijnym przesłaniu, mówi o łączności każdego z nas ze światem, o przeżywaniu wszystkiego w sposób niepowtarzalny i wyjątkowy. Czułe sekrety wyobraźni artystki zakorzenione są w obserwacji tego co ją otacza, co na nią oddziaływuje. (en: Katarzyna Karpowicz's paintings express, in their sincere and straightforward message, the connection of each of us to the world, and the aspect of experiencing everything in a unique and exceptional way. The tender secrets of the artist's imagination are rooted in the observation of what surrounds her and what influences her.)
^Czepiński, Daniel (February 2018). "Historie obrazów". Głos Plastyków. Pismo Informacyjno-artystyczne Związku Polskich Artystów Plastyków Okręgu Krakowskiego. 2: 108–110.
^Szczuciński, Adam (2020). "A physician's viewpoint". In Tuleya, Wojciech; Czyńska, Małgorzata (eds.). Srebrzysta. Silver(PDF). Warsaw: Galeria Art. pp. 29–33. ISBN978-83-935322-4-7. The artist allows us -viewers - to create our own stories, guess at meanings, form our own conjectures. At times, one can discern colourful blots in the background, resembling traces of attempts at developing an image, conjuring figures out of nothingness and providing real frameworks to dreams. Allow me to add that these attempts are exceptionally successful.
^Ogłoza, Ewa (September 15, 2020). "To była piękna operacja". O niezwykłym cyklu obrazów Katarzyny Karpowicz (en.: It was a beautiful surgery. About amazing series of paintings by Katarzyna Karpowicz)". ArtPapier (408). (pl.) Zachwycają mnie obrazy Katarzyny Karpowicz, zachwyca postawa życiowa i sztuka artystki – nacechowana wdzięcznością, życzliwością, pokorą, powagą, uważnością i czułością wobec świata, ludzi oraz kultury [..]. Karpowicz kocha malarstwo, literaturę i film; w tym tkwi dla niej sens życia. Patrzy na siebie i maluje siebie, w sztuce szukając pociechy i nadziei, a przedstawiając siebie, projektując własne lęki, nadzieję, sny i marzenia, daje pociechę innym w podobnych sytuacjach (en.: I am enchanted with Katarzyna Karpowicz's paintings, I am delighted with the artist's life attitude and art – characterized by gratitude, kindness, humility, seriousness, mindfulness and tenderness towards the world, people and culture [..] Karpowicz loves painting, literature and film; this is the meaning of life for her. She looks at herself and paints herself, looking for consolation and hope in art, and by presenting her self, designing her own fears, hopes, dreams, she gives comfort to others in similar situations.)
^Słonina, Bronisława, Katarzyna Karpowicz: Galeria Promocyjna Warszawa : Galeria Promocyjna, 2017. Catalog of exhibition 5.04-7.05.2017
^Skrzynkowska, Kasia (2004). Balony [Balloons] (in Polish). Łabowa "Baja". ISBN8392037723.
