Slawomir Ratajski (1955), BLUE VENUS, 1987.

oil/canvas, 170 x 110 cm
signed, dated and described on the reverse: SŁAWOMIR RATAJSKI | oil
| 1987 | canvas | 170 x 110 | " BŁĘKTNA WENUS" | mounting indication.

Graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, he has been working at his alma mater since 1987. He is currently a full professor and dean of the Faculty of Media Art, where he also runs the author's Artistic Concepts Studio. He has presented his paintings in dozens of solo and group exhibitions and in shows of Polish art abroad, including Paris, Berlin, Madrid, Salamanca, Leipzig, Budapest, Vienna, Minsk, Cagnes sur Mer, Istanbul, Moscow, Lviv, Ankara, Buenos Aires. His works are in museum and private collections at home and abroad.
He debuted in the 1980s with works strongly identified with the New Expression current, joining the movement of independent artistic life during the martial law period. He painted paintings devoid of ad hoc journalistic themes, with universal content, often referring to the symbolism of myth. In later years, he abandoned figuration in favor of apparent abstraction, rich in symbols, saturated with emotion and spirituality. He realizes large-scale, gesture-based compositions. The paintings are often based on contrast and opposition, such as the oppressed Venus, a symbol of love or perhaps a dream of beauty and peace - surrounded by the turmoil and colors of war.