Rafał Knop (b. 1970, Zywiec), "Madame Butterfly XXII" from the Swimming Pool series, 2021

Biography
Graduate of the State High School of Fine Arts in Bielsko-Biala. Studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznan at the Faculty of Painting, in the studio of Prof. J. Walczak. He works mainly in oil technique, creating large format paintings. He has participated in numerous individual and group exhibitions in Poland and abroad, presenting his work in BWA Gallery in Bielsko-Biala, exhibitions in Warsaw, Krakow, Ghent and Brussel (Belgium), Casaglia, Buonconvento (Italy), among others. His paintings are in private collections in Poland, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Italy, the United States, Hong Kong and Japan. Rafal Knop is a painter who transforms in his paintings the tendencies of the era - hurried, thoughtless and bright, in which reality becomes imitation and appearance. Drawing directly from commercialized culture (the swimming pool as a marker of luxury and a symbol of escapism) he goes beyond its boundaries, expressing his desire for silence. His paintings include idyllic shots of women's bodies, minimalist captures of props such as a lone palm tree or an outstretched umbrella, but also sublimated, futuristic architecture with elements of giant windows, labyrinths, staircases leading nowhere, and finally furniture - empty tables, chaise lounges and chairs (the presence of the absent). The aura of the works is created by their light and color scheme, maintained in shades of ultramarine, pale purples, whites and powdery pinks. The stillness of these irrationally sensual representations lingers in the memory for a long time, evoking extreme emotions and turning the obvious into the unobvious.