Rk Polak

Carelessly we throw away our half empty paper coffee cup, leaving a brownish beige film without giving it a second thought. A moment of somewhat purposeful carelessness, or a childish accident that creates another mark on our urban landscape. These little signs of human life create an image of necessary human imperfections, the forgotten clumsiness associated with our daily lives, an image of our disregard for spaces and things that we assume as unimportant, banal, but at once individual and particular. It is in these unnoticed moments that R.K. Polak’s finds ‘objects of beauty’, the leftover shards and stenciled markings created by momentary disorder that represents the actions and remnants of a throwaway culture.
These works act as an extension of the artist’s broader practice that borders the threshold of abstraction and minimalism, with reference to the emotional dis-attachment of the Colour Field Paintings of the 50s and 60s. The artist returns to previously worked canvases, painting over and scratching the surface, adding ash, soil, cat litter, coca cola, coffee, wine, toilet paper, everyday dirt, which give the canvas a sculptural element creating opportunity for a new visual language. Imbued with the artist’s action these...

self- taught

"mexico city dust & other short stories" galerie sonia monti paris 2021
‘’penile absolute’’ ovalo galeria di arte,
mexico city 2020
"consequences" peacock skins studio, london 2018
"white paintings" cf unit studio, london 2017
"tendencies" peacock skins studio, london 2016
"dirty paintings" london college of contemporary art, london 2015
"sterling" royal college of art,london 2014
"the wall will fall tonight" royal college of art, london 2013
"two twos" light house studios, london 2012