Tomasz Tatarczyk was born in Katowice in 1947. He studied at the Warsaw University of Technology (1966-1972) and the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw (1976-1981) under Jan Tarasin. He held scholarships from the Kosciuszko Foundation and the Batory Foundation in the United States, and the Rockefeller Foundation in Italy. Between 1980 and 1988, he worked as an assistant at the Faculty of Painting at his alma mater.
Tatarczyk’s work, and in particular its motifs, are the result of scrupulous observation of his direct environment: closed gates, roads, hills, gorges, water, boats floating on its surface and dogs wading through it. Through his handpicked series of repeating subjects, Tatarczyk recounts fundamental truths about humankind’s place and role in the universe. Unlikely protagonists as simple as a hill, a road, a river bend, carpentry tools, wooden poles and piles of sticks tell a story, and capture sublime stills of an ongoing narrative. As such, Tatarczyk raises seemingly minor but important questions in a broader format. These questions can engender unease: what is behind the black gate? What is hidden in the water’s depths? Nevertheless, the artist encourages us not to be afraid.
Tatarczyk has received, among other awards, the Merit Award (ArtQuest’88 in Los Angeles); an award for his painting Black Hill at the Festival of Polish Contemporary Painting in Szczecin (1990); the Grand Prix at the 1st International Drawing Competition in Wrocław (1999); the Jan Cybis award (2008).
Since his first solo exhibition in 1984, which marked the start of his collaboration with the Foksal Gallery in Warsaw, Tatarczyk has shown work at: Studio Gallery, Warsaw (1985); Galleri Lång, Malmö, Sweden (1986); Foksal Gallery, Warsaw (1987); Frank Bustamante Gallery, New York, USA (1988); Soho Center for Visual Artists, New York, USA (1988); Foksal Gallery, Warsaw (1988); Galleri Lång, Malmo, Sweden (1988); Galeria Letnia, Muzeum Nadwiślańskie, Kazimierz Dolny (1989); Spicchi dell’Est Gallery, Rome, Italy (1991); Pomeranian Dukes’ Castle, Szczecin (1991); Galleri Adelgatan 5, Malmö, Sweden (1992); Foksal Gallery, Warsaw (1992); Galleri Art-On, Halmstad, Sweden (1992); Galeria Stara, Lublin (1993); Sculpture Gallery, Warsaw (1994); Upper Silesian Museum, Bytom (1994); Provincial Gallery, Słubice (1995); Museum of Contemporary Art, Radom (1996); Stara Gallery, Lublin (1996); Gallery 86, Łódź (1997); Galeria Koło, Gdansk (1997); Ucher Gallery, Cologne, Germany (with Andrzej Szewczyk) (1999); Stefan Szydłowski Gallery, Warsaw (1999); Studio Gallery, Warsaw (2000); Awangarda Gallery, Wrocław (2001); City Art Gallery, Łódź (2001); Gallery 86, Łódź (2001); Muzalewska Gallery, Poznań (2001); City Art Gallery, Sopot (2002); Grodzka Gallery, Lublin (2003); Foksal Gallery, Warsaw (2003); Zachęta – National Gallery of Art, Warsaw (2004); Visiting Gallery, Warsaw (2005/2006).
Tatarczyk passed away in 2010.
