Current Exhibitions
Ewa Brachel – W drodze / On the Way
On the Cloisters Gallery
Monastery in Hebdów
Hebdów 110, Nowe Brzesko
22 May – 31 August 2023
Ewa Brachel, is a graphic artist and designer. She completed her art education at the Cracow Academy of Fine Arts. In 1967 she received her Masters Degree from the Department of Fine Art (Printmaking), guided by prof. Mieczysław Wejman and from the Department of Poster Design, supervised by assoc. prof. Maciej Makarewicz. After graduation, she worked intensively and was exhibiting her work receiving awards and gaining the acclaim of art critics. For over two decades, she worked as a graphic designer and artist. In the 90’s, she created a series of landscape paintings but she has used many mediums, from etching, oils, to newer techniques, such as digital painting. She used digital painting to create her latest composition series “Meditation” inspired by her travel to Jerusalem, and “Journey”, inspired by a longer stay in Japan.
Looking at the artist’s recent paintngs, we see a distinct pursuit of grasping the essence of the landscape, through the synthesis of shape, a strong personal message and expressive colours. Color sensitivity and tendency to simplify form is, to some degree, a lesson learned at the Cracow Academy of Fine Arts.
In images of Japan, the artist does not concentrate entirely on the modern landscape with domineering silhouettes of buildings and bridges, but in many compositions it is this landscape, full of human intrusion, that is shown against the natural scenery. Taking up the religious themes she makes a strong reference to human condition in the contemporary world. The emotional load of the scenes is underlined by vivid, often contrasting colours.
Neville Godwin, Quotes from cataloque of Ewa Brachel’s Exhibiton
Ewa Brachel – Meditation
The Ground Floor Gallery
114 Mount Street, Mayfair, London
February/April 2023
“Ewa works from memory, combining these thoughts with her sensibilities and individual visual language. All the problems are resolved on the digital canvas, rather than through traditional sketching and preparatory work. This technique creates a sense of immediacy which combined with the ability to undo previous work, means Ewa pushes the paintings even further, creating her strongest work to date.”
“Through her brushwork and use of colour, Ewa injects the images with an emotional tautness that make them stand apart from the usual. Through working she reaches a place of meditation, eventually imbuing the images with an aura of beauty and lyricism.”
“Together these themes create a body of work that stimulates and lasts long in the memory.”
Neville Godwin, Quotes from digital portfolio introduction 2022
The “Podróż” / “Journey” Exhibition shows Ewa Brachel’s latest works. Ewa, after many years, returns to her home city with a series of paintings inspired by her numerous travels to Japan. In her Japanese landscapes she not only concentrates on contemporary views dominated by silhouettes of buildings and bridges but also show the human intrusion against the natural world. For example: Mount Fuji, covered in snow is the backdrop of the changing town landscapes. The artist harmoniously juxtaposes the two worlds, acknowledging their coexistence. She contemplates the landscape, although sometimes we only get a glimpse of it, reflected in the window of a fast Japanese train. Enthralled by space and light, in a flash, Ewa forms a record of form and impressions of colour, documenting the moment for ever. Ewa uses modern technology, always fascinated with the new possibilities they offer. Whatever the medium, Ewa continues to bring out the expressive aspects of visual composition. The digital paintings do not lose any of the impact, whereas the artist herself confirms, that the final expression of a work of art depends on the strength of an individual message. The ‘Journey” paintings by Ewa Brachel are a synthesis of landscapes and the emotions associated with our viewing of the world . The title of the exhibition “Podróż” / “Journey” can be interpreted on many levels – as an artistic record of journeys over Japan, but also as Ewa’s creative journey, which started with the brilliant graphics of the late 1960’s and 1970’s, when Ewa, who had just finished her studies at the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts, started exhibited her work in galleries, including the former Nowa Huta gallery ”Rytm”, which is now “Huta Sztuki”.
