Michal BACA (b. 1958), Duel; 2017

Oil, canvas; 100 x 100 cm
Signed, dated l. d.: Michal Baca 2017
Signed, dated, described on the back: Michal Baca/ , "Duel"/ oil on canvas/ 100 x 100/ 2017.

Graduate of the Faculty of Painting at the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow, he received his diploma in the studio of Prof. Juliusz Joniak in 1983. Member of the Union of Polish Artists (ZPAP). He has presented his works at many exhibitions in Poland, including in Krakow, Gdansk, Warsaw, Tarnow, Zielona Gora, Zakopane, Olsztyn, as well as abroad in Denmark, Germany, Austria, Holland, France, Sweden, Japan and the USA. His works are in many private and institutional collections throughout Europe.

"A few years ago, I was invited to participate in an issue-based exhibition titled "Consent or Dispute" The project was created as a result of cooperation between the districts of Cracow and Munich. Selected artists from these districts presented their works first in the post-industrial walls of the former power plant in Czeladź, and then in Munich at the municipal gallery there. Without referring to current politics or the history that unites us, I used the form of the grotesque, showing a peculiar chess game that evokes unnatural emotions, agitation and exaltation in the audience.
Chess, one of the oldest games, in which the more athletic or resilient, but the more foresighted and resourceful, does not win. It is considered an insanely fair game, in which winning does not depend on luck or favorable chance, but on the depth of strategic thinking, the tactics chosen and the precision of thought. However, in chess it is possible to lead debut disputes, fall into traps set or agree to draw proposals in winning positions. The same, moreover, as in life. "