Slawomir [ZBIOK] CZAJKOWSKI (b. 1982), Crooklin Kids, 2010

acrylic, canvas; 140 x 150 cm;
Signed, dated and inscribed on back: CROOKLYN / KIDS / ZBIOK / * / 010.

The creator of murals and urban interventions is associated with the Wroclaw street art community. His works have also been presented in gallery spaces. He is the author of the concept of several exhibitions, including Outside Artists. Out of Sth. (Wroclaw 2008) which is the first major presentation of this subject in Poland, as well as the creator of a documentary film dedicated to the Urban Art environment (premiered in April 2011). Tristan Manco, a critic specializing in the field of graffiti, ranked him among the most interesting artists of the genre. In his book Street Sketchbook (2007), he described him with the words: "playful, full of invention, referring to the classic graffiti style, the Ferdinand Léger of the present day." He has presented his work in many places at home and abroad, including Germany, Italy, the United States, the Czech Republic and France. He is the winner of the Grand Prix in the 9th Geppert Competition for debuting Polish painters in 2009, the same year he also received the Scholarship of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage.

"Sampling is the basis of the paintings I produce. It doesn't matter whether it's canvas or color. The method of drawing on other people's work is not new at all. Sampling is a dominant trend in contemporary painting, and many artists have used found material. I'm sampling because I've come to the conclusion that visual culture is now very complex and elaborate, and there are many things that can be processed. It's a simple reference for music. Hip hop or the first techno, when they were created, were based on samples. They drew from the surrounding culture and reworked it in their own fashion. I guess that's what it's all about. My sampling is very conscious. I build a base of materials that interest me, that have symbolic or allegorical meaning, and I work with them - reworking, stretching, cutting, extracting some value from them." [after: Slawomir Czajkowski in conversation with Magdalena Grabowska - source: sztukapubliczna.pl]