The perception of Poles as guest workers who come to Ireland to save up hard for a house or car back in Poland – and then leave as soon as they can – isn’t always accurate. MAGDALENA SOBCZAK meets an artist who banishes the stereotype
Bartek Kolata doesn’t expect things to be easy for him. He is a Polish artist based in Dublin and he knows it’s not so easy to get a break as a foreign painter, to open people up, to interest them with your work, to promote your unknown name and sell your paintings. But he wakes up every morning with a motivation to make it work. He is willing to give his dreams a try.
This attitude seems to be paying off. Kolata has already sold a couple of his paintings and had two solo exhibitions in Dublin: the first one in February/March in The Mill Theatre at Dundrum Town Centre, and the second which just finished on 22 April in the Crow Gallery, Temple Bar. The 28-year-old artist has already gained a reputation as an ‘Edward Hopper for the 21st Century’.
“I am positive,” he says, “I have to remember that I have just started my career as an artist. It is not so easy to get through as a foreign artist. Irish people are not so open and it is quite difficult to interest them.”
Kolata tried a few galleries but the curators were not even interested in opening his portfolio because his name didn’t ring a bell. They didn’t want to show an unknown artist unable to attract the wider public. Yet that didn’t stop the talented Pole from persevering.
Kolata is motivated by the goal he is chasing – one of artistic fulfilment. Realising oneself as an artist in a world absorbed with consumption and money cannot be an easy task, and requires a lot of persistence. “Yes, of course,” says Kolata, “but it is matter of principles. I chose the more difficult way but that makes my life more valuable for me. I don’t know if I can fulfil all of my goals, but the direction I am going towards makes it all worth it.”
His good luck brought him to Ireland in the summer of 2005, despite the wishes of his heart, which wanted to settle in sunny Barcelona. He still remembers with nostalgia the Picasso museum which helped him rediscover the great master. “I decided to go to Barcelona with my very good friend,” he explains. “I planned to start a new life there but it was a utopia – I don’t know Spanish and my budget was very low. My friend from high school was already in Dublin and we decided to visit him there. I had no idea about Ireland and Dublin at all. My start here was quite difficult and I didn’t like it at the beginning.”
To pay his bills and for the necessary painting equipment, Kolata is working as a part-time sales assistant in a family shop in Dublin. The rest of the week is his creative time, devoted to self-discovery through his art.
“I was painting as long as I can only remember,” he says. “In primary and high school I was taking art lessons and I decided to study art… I started painting a lot after I had graduated the university” (Kolata completed his Masters Degree in Art Conservation and Restoration in Torun last year).
His painting career really started to acquire shape in Ireland, when he began producing portraits of his friends. His works resemble accidental or candid photo snapshots of people during their intimate, private moments in solitude or surrounded by family, friends, passers-by. Caught on canvases, the representations make their viewing almost a voyeuristic experience.
What are his paintings about? “My works say about people, about their emotions, feelings, love, ambient climate. [The] human is a basic subject which is interesting me the most. That is why I don’t paint landscapes or still-life.” He finds inspiration in real life situations, acquaintances and friends. And when he paints, the emotions gather within himself.
What does he feel when he works? “Painting is a fight between me and the act of creation,” he says. “I feel pleasure but also a mixture of emotions from positive to negative.” His paintings are huge, and photographed against one of them Kolata looks like a small character from his own canvases – an artist swallowed by his creation.
Kolata has come to like Dublin and enjoys his life in Ireland. He feels blessed he met people who believed in him and his talent – who were willing to give him a chance. “I do like Dublin and Ireland. I cannot say if I will leave Ireland at all or how many years I am going to stay here. Life will show it.”
He seems a very modest and gentle person. When I ask him about his idea of happiness the artist’s answer doesn’t indicate any exorbitant expectations. “I wish to realise my ideas, and to have more and more new ones too,” he says. “And, of course, to do as many exhibitions as I can manage.”
It certainly looks like something he can do.
For more on information on Bartek Kolata, his work, past and future exhibitions, visit www.bartoszkolata.com
This attitude seems to be paying off. Kolata has already sold a couple of his paintings and had two solo exhibitions in Dublin: the first one in February/March in The Mill Theatre at Dundrum Town Centre, and the second which just finished on 22 April in the Crow Gallery, Temple Bar. The 28-year-old artist has already gained a reputation as an ‘Edward Hopper for the 21st Century’.
“I am positive,” he says, “I have to remember that I have just started my career as an artist. It is not so easy to get through as a foreign artist. Irish people are not so open and it is quite difficult to interest them.”
Kolata tried a few galleries but the curators were not even interested in opening his portfolio because his name didn’t ring a bell. They didn’t want to show an unknown artist unable to attract the wider public. Yet that didn’t stop the talented Pole from persevering.
Kolata is motivated by the goal he is chasing – one of artistic fulfilment. Realising oneself as an artist in a world absorbed with consumption and money cannot be an easy task, and requires a lot of persistence. “Yes, of course,” says Kolata, “but it is matter of principles. I chose the more difficult way but that makes my life more valuable for me. I don’t know if I can fulfil all of my goals, but the direction I am going towards makes it all worth it.”
His good luck brought him to Ireland in the summer of 2005, despite the wishes of his heart, which wanted to settle in sunny Barcelona. He still remembers with nostalgia the Picasso museum which helped him rediscover the great master. “I decided to go to Barcelona with my very good friend,” he explains. “I planned to start a new life there but it was a utopia – I don’t know Spanish and my budget was very low. My friend from high school was already in Dublin and we decided to visit him there. I had no idea about Ireland and Dublin at all. My start here was quite difficult and I didn’t like it at the beginning.”
To pay his bills and for the necessary painting equipment, Kolata is working as a part-time sales assistant in a family shop in Dublin. The rest of the week is his creative time, devoted to self-discovery through his art.
“I was painting as long as I can only remember,” he says. “In primary and high school I was taking art lessons and I decided to study art… I started painting a lot after I had graduated the university” (Kolata completed his Masters Degree in Art Conservation and Restoration in Torun last year).
His painting career really started to acquire shape in Ireland, when he began producing portraits of his friends. His works resemble accidental or candid photo snapshots of people during their intimate, private moments in solitude or surrounded by family, friends, passers-by. Caught on canvases, the representations make their viewing almost a voyeuristic experience.
What are his paintings about? “My works say about people, about their emotions, feelings, love, ambient climate. [The] human is a basic subject which is interesting me the most. That is why I don’t paint landscapes or still-life.” He finds inspiration in real life situations, acquaintances and friends. And when he paints, the emotions gather within himself.
What does he feel when he works? “Painting is a fight between me and the act of creation,” he says. “I feel pleasure but also a mixture of emotions from positive to negative.” His paintings are huge, and photographed against one of them Kolata looks like a small character from his own canvases – an artist swallowed by his creation.
Kolata has come to like Dublin and enjoys his life in Ireland. He feels blessed he met people who believed in him and his talent – who were willing to give him a chance. “I do like Dublin and Ireland. I cannot say if I will leave Ireland at all or how many years I am going to stay here. Life will show it.”
He seems a very modest and gentle person. When I ask him about his idea of happiness the artist’s answer doesn’t indicate any exorbitant expectations. “I wish to realise my ideas, and to have more and more new ones too,” he says. “And, of course, to do as many exhibitions as I can manage.”
It certainly looks like something he can do.
For more on information on Bartek Kolata, his work, past and future exhibitions, visit www.bartoszkolata.com
