A graduate of PaństwoweLiceum Sztuk Plastycznych im. Leona Wyczółkowskiego (Leon Wyczółkowski’sState High School of Visual Arts) in Bydgoszcz. Between 1987 -1993he studied at the Department of Fine Arts of the University of Nicolaus Copernicus in Toruń, majored in arts and pedagogy.In 1993he received a diploma at the prof.Mieczysław Wisniewski’s painting workshop.He was occupied with easel painting, advertising photography and graphic design.

He specialises in the watercolour technique – a difficult technique that requires making decisions instantly when placing each colour patch. In this unique technique he is searchinga personalform of expression.He participated in numerous prestigious collective exhibitions in the scope of watercolour technique.Adam Papkehas participated in numerous plein-air workshops and art voyages nationwide and abroad.

AdamaPapke’s works are stored in museums and private collections in the country and abroad – Germany, the USA, Canada, Japan, Spain, Ukraine, France,Sweden, Lithuania, Peru, Norway, Italy and Great Britain.

Member of the Board of the Polish Watercolour Association.

Watercolour

Difficult, petulant, she craves my mistakes
I’m runningto catch her, or just maybe
To keep close to her.
                                               Adam Papke


Adam Papke – the exhibition of paintings at the Gallery of Kazimierz Wielki Univeristy of Bydgoszcz

When painting the remote landscapes, almost untouched by civilization, the artist is romantic. Mountain ranges, towering towards the sky, seen in perspective and damp mist. Great valleys, where human settlements, nestled in hollows, are like sand grains against the immensity of the sea. Tranquil lakes, crystal water streams “take over” barely coloured mountains or shoreline plants and the sky. The matter of such depictions is delicate, smooth and blurred. It sometimes resembles steam, a warm breath on a window pane. Just a moment and this picture will disappear… But, as long as it lasts, it is built of multi-layered smears in a wide range of cool or warm grey shades, brightened with colour accents. Their transience, changeability also results from the undefined composition, i.e. devoid of framework. Some of the landscapes gently penetrate into the area of fantasy. It is fostered by the sky, occupying more than half of the painting. Limitless, colourful and dynamic. It exudes its own mysterious vision, inscrutable from the ground. The nature, as imagined by Adam Papke, contains the space that may arouse fear. But, so much space as delight – in the artist’s eyes.

Adam Papke is focused on watching the world that surrounds him. Nature and the city. That is where he draws his inspirations from. There is no pattern to be found here. A view encountered by the artist becomes an impulse to discover the appropriate matter, colouring and composition. typical of the poster.

Sometimes it seems that the artist treats the urban theme only as an excuse to show his technical qualities (Urban interpretations). Bold juxtapositions of colourful smears, their varied saturation, the effect of their multi-layering, splattering, shape blurring, and ‘venation’, which seems to constitute a circulation in their closed system. Is it a manifestation of his interest in abstraction? Or, on the contrary, a mere play with colour and light in watercolour painting?

Hanna Strychalska.