"Orange Savannah" Drawing

Janusz Kokot was born in Kalisz in 1960. He studied at the Pedagogical University in Częstochowa. He practices painting and drawing. In the years 1988 - 2020 he organized 19 individual exhibitions. He took part in dozens of collective exhibitions in Poland and abroad. He is a laureate of 13 awards and honorable mentions in national competitions. The creative process goes hand in hand with making choices. It is not as obvious as the choice of media or motifs, but about making decisions that are fundamental for the artist and his work. The first question that must be answered is whether to continue to exploit a known and controlled area of activity, or rather to give up the feeling of security and being led by intuition, go into the unknown. From the time of my high school studies, my attention was drawn to realistic painting. My greatest idols were Malczewski, Gierymski and other Polish painters of the late 19th century. When the opportunity to travel around European museums appeared, I always spent the most time in the halls with works by Rembrandt Goya and Repin. The fascination with the work of the great Masters over three decades was reflected in my artistic activity, but a couple of years ago during a few months of studying the landscape, there was a definite shift in my interests in the field of abstract art. In 2013 I prepared a series of works entitled ‘HORIZON’ where the general motif was a horizontal line. The artworks presenting in the Gallery in Gorzów contains several drawings from this previous cycle and compositions created during my four-year stay in Africa. The medium used in these works is oil pastels and I think you can find in them both a negative and a positive answer to the question contained above. I have entitled it ‘BEYOND THE HORIZON’ as an expression of longing for crossing borders and discovering the unknown….. in myself. In my art I like to speak quietly. The meaningful message is often only heard in a whisper. To show something strong, but subtle, without shouting, is a challenge for me and an adventure I enjoy. I believe this way can reveal the talent of the artist. I love to explore the possibilities for the medium I am using, to see how much I can take from it, to push the boundaries. Often I create a series of paintings, taking something from the last to form the next.