Blanka Adamus (b. 1988), From the back of the head, 2021

oil, canvas, 46 x 38 cm, signed l.d.: BA

Blanka Adamus was born in Krakow where she spent most of her childhood until she left to study in Paris. Initially she took up studies in philosophy at the Sorbonne, but very quickly turned her attention to art history and eventually visual arts. She also took courses in artistic morphology at the Academy of Fine Arts in Paris as well as courses in painting and drawing at the Ateliers beaux-arts de la Ville de Paris. After spending more than a decade in Paris, Blanka moved to Canada from where she made numerous trips to the US and Latin America. In her artistic practice, she mainly uses oil paints which allow a lot of freedom in terms of the texture that can be given. She often draws inspiration from abstract painters, but her paintings are figurative with a preponderance of portraits. Despite traditional materials, the painter tries to give her paintings a modern look. Brush marks remain visible, paints are applied thickly which allows her to model their appearance. Colors are used with great creative freedom and do not always reflect reality. The visual effect remains more important than the realism of the object presented in the painting.