Bartek OTOCKI (b. 1978), Untitled, from the series: YANG, 2016

oil, canvas; 90 x 90 cm;
Signed, dated and described on the back on the loom: B. OTOCKI UNTITLED FROM THE SERIES "YANG" 2016.

The artist received a diploma in painting in the studio of Prof. Ryszard Hunger at the Faculty of Graphic Arts and Painting of the Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź (2003), as well as a doctorate in the Faculty of Painting of the University of Arts in Poznań (2011) and a habilitation in the Faculty of Painting of the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk (2014). From 2003- 2012, he was an assistant, then assistant professor in the Painting and Drawing Studio at the Faculty of Textiles and Clothing at the Academy of Fine Arts in Lodz. Since 2012, he has led the Painting Studio at the Faculty of Painting and New Media at the Academy of Art in Szczecin, and since 2014 he has been working as an associate professor. Since September 2016, he has served as Vice-Rector for Science, Didactics and Staff Development. Painter and photographer, curator, juror of painting competitions. Author of series of works, among others: "Memory Portraits", "Alchemy of Illusion", "Is it safe/Is it safe?", "Yang!" and "Less time left than it seems". Participant in more than 50 solo and group exhibitions at, among others, the Contemporary Museum in Wroclaw, the Museum of History of the City of Lodz, the BWA Bielska Gallery, the National Museum in Szczecin, the Polish Sculpture Center in Oronsko.
(Source: www.bartekotocki.com)
"When exactly does that moment occur when we realize that something is wrong? How much time passes until we realize the inevitability of the coming events? How do we taste the moments that are truly last? Often, the process of escalating threats proceeds extremely subtly. For a long time only a few, those more sensitive and vigilant, see single symptoms of disaster. However, when the dynamics of events exceed the critical point for salvation is very difficult. The beginning escapes the attention of most because it does not necessarily have the clarity of a racist lynching or the momentum of a stock market crash. Years later, reading historical textbooks, we ask ourselves: how is it possible that they were blind to the obvious dangers? Why didn't they run away? Instinctive anxiety about our future is the main reason for the series of works titled "There is less time left than it seems." It takes the form of a more or less surreal vision, in which real and - perhaps - imaginary threats are intertwined. The chronological sequence of events is difficult to determine - some of the images are prophetic glimpses of what will already happen after the disaster. However, it does not follow from them that it is the people who will have the chance to witness these events."