Joanna Pilarczyk Radecka
Painter based in London, England
ABOUT
Joanna is a London-based contemporary figurative painter and art educator. Born in Poland, Joanna studied at the Art University in Zielona Gora. She holds MA degree in Visual Arts and Art Education.
After moving to London over a decade ago, Joanna fell in love with the city immediately. Amazed and entranced by diverse cultures and the vibrant energy, Joanna began to paint oil portraits of new acquaintances and friends within the artist community of North London.
In her recent vibrant paintings, a contrast to her earlier work, she focusses on self-portrait, intimacy, femininity, self-care and relationship with her partner and nature. She says 'In my colourfully decorated flat filled with plants, and isolated from family and friends, my surroundings and my partner became my only world, more intensely experienced and observed than ever before.'
Pilarczyk is a finalist of Women United Art Prize 2021. She has exhibited her work nationally and internationally, recently she presented her paintings from the 'Intimate Times' series at 'Memories in Hindsight' group show at J/M Gallery, Notting Hill, at ‘Press Play’ exhibition in Fitzrovia Gallery and The Other Art Fair in Truman Brewery in London.
Her paintings have been featured in various global art exhibitions and contemporary art publications including: Create! Magazine, All She Makes, Art Seen, The Huts, New Visionary and Singulart Contemporary Art Collectors Magazine.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Joanna’s recent paintings were created during the lockdown and time of isolation. In her colourfully decorated flat filled with plants, and isolated from family and friends, her surroundings and her partner became her only world, more intensely felt and observed than ever before. The results of these heightened observations are these paintings - the ordinary but touching intimate scenes of their everyday life enveloped by light, colour, patterns and textures of their shared home-cum-studio- the other character in her paintings. She paints herself as isolated but brush in hand absorbed in her task, or asleep. In another pose, she is dressed in a white dress, inward looking - is she a bride, but where is the groom? In both paintings she is away from the world in her own thoughts or dreams. Her husband Jarek is in one painting the romantic image of a young hero, just rising in the morning, full of energy and optimism. He is unencumbered by fear or responsibility, the sun shines, the world before him is his to explore. In another he is hunched over, dressed in a cheerful yellow jacket, his face is drawn, moody, he appears isolated perhaps in a war with his own thoughts. In all these paintings, the room pushes itself forward, vibrant, bursting with colour, teeming with thoughtless plants, intent on their own growth. It will not disappear into the background. 'Since I can remember people have always been the most fascinating inspiration for my work. My work are a reflection of my inner dialogue with the person who I am portraying and attempts to show the uniqueness of the individual, their natural environments and their emotions'.
Website: joannapilarczyk.com
Instagram: @joannapilarczyk