BWA Galeria Miejska Bydgoszcz

Łukasz Breitenbach. Painting

“Łukasz Breitenbach paints ordinary – sometimes even banal – situations and records the monotony that accompanies life: a remembered view of nature, of an interior and of a person from the immediate environment. Minimalist depictions of residential or post-industrial spaces are maintained in an atmosphere of mysterious understatement. The occasional silhouettes of people appearing in them melt into the background. The silent, but at the same time the most significant actors in these spaces are the objects: the jars of preserves standing on the shelf, the bedding folded on the bed in the empty room, the open kitchen cupboard, the outdated sanitary fittings. Things seem to say more than what they mean – they hold the memory of people who have used them before. In contrast, the landscape – which appears so often in the artist’s paintings – is sometimes viewed from a distant perspective, as if ‘passed by at high speed.’ The foreground is essentially non-existent here – its place is sometimes taken by the edge of the car bonnet. Alienated silhouettes of buildings and trees emerge against a desolate landscape, usually with a lowered horizon line. The single lights in the windows signal someone’s presence, also becoming a kind of beacon, perhaps a destination. Portraits of specific people close to the artist, painted against a neutral background and devoid of unnecessary detail, form a completely separate, albeit small, group of works in the exhibition. They are an insightful psychological study, focused on the model’s facial expressions, perfectly expressing their personality and the emotions they experience.”
Danuta Pałys

Łukasz Breitenbach (born in 1988 in Bydgoszcz, Polish painter)
He became interested in the concept of creation at the age of five. In 1992, he took his first steps in painting while attending the Municipal Centre of Culture No. 2 (MDK) in Błonie, Bydgoszcz. As part of his classes, he took part in his first artistic competitions. During this period, observing nature, he spent most of his time painting and drawing.
From 1998 to 2001, he continued his training under the tutelage of Tomasz Karcz at the Youth Palace, and then Ewa Miller at the Municipal House of Culture No. 5 in his home town. During his three-year education, he learned the basics of drawing and painting.
In 2007, he graduated from the six-year Leon Wyczółkowski State High School of Fine Arts in Bydgoszcz. Education under the tutelage of his teachers of vocational subjects – painting and drawing (Bogusław Kuraś, Lech Maciejewski, Piotr Wegner), confirmed his conviction that painting is the path he wants to continue to follow. This school became a valuable source of knowledge on drawing and painting techniques, mastering proportion, composition, and overall painting.
From 2008 to 2013, he studied easel painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. In 2013, he received his Master of Arts degree in the studio of Mieczyslaw Ziomek. The same year, he received a prize from the professor for the best painting diploma work. He chose a typically colouristic studio with a long tradition. The professor showed him the way towards synthetic thinking in painting and drawing. By doing so, he taught him how to look and observe nature.
He mainly works in oil painting. The artist’s works have been presented in numerous exhibitions at home and abroad. His paintings can be found in private collections in Poland and abroad.

exhibitions and awards:
2024 – solo painting exhibition, “Reminiscencje” (Reminiscences), PORT IŁAWA
2024 – group painting exhibition, “Wykorzenienie-zakorzenienie – Dom-Home” (Eradication-Putting down roots – Dom-Home), IMO Galeria, Stary Sącz
2023 – group painting exhibition, town hall, Słupsk
2022 – group painting exhibition, Bristol Hotel, Warsaw
2022 – group painting exhibition, “BEsiedem”, Radziwill Palace, Antonin
2020 – solo painting exhibition “Uwięzione dusze” (Trapped Souls), Galeria 3.1, UTP, Bydgoszcz
2020 – solo painting exhibition “Depresja” (Depression), “Pers” (Persian), art café, Toruń
2017 – solo photography exhibition “Melancholia Miasta” (Melancholy of a City), Artus Court, Toruń
2017 – people’s choice award in the photography competition “Wystaw się w CSW” (Show Yourself at CSW)
2015 – solo photography exhibition “Nostalgia Miasta” (Nostalgia of a City), Dom Muz, Toruń
2015 – third place in the photo competition “Dialog Torunia z Toruniem” (Dialogue of Toruń with Toruń)
2015 – first place in the photography competition “Wystaw się w CSW” (Show Yourself at CSW)
2012 – prize from the easel painting studio of Prof. Mieczysław Ziomek
2012 – group painting exhibition “Lviv, Spirit, Symbol, Sign”, Lviv
2012 – International Painting Plein-Air, Lviv
2012 – group painting exhibition, Rev. Dr. Władysław Łęga Museum, Grudziądz
2011 – group painting exhibition “Iława odbita w wodzie” (Iława Reflected in Water), Galeria Parkowa, Olsztyn
2011 – International Painting Plein-Air, Iława
2011 – group painting exhibition, town hall, Vilnius
2011 – International Painting Plein-Air, Vilnius
2010 – art workshops, University of Arts, Göttingen
2010 – group painting exhibition, Artus Court, Toruń
2010 – group painting exhibition, Madona’s Art Museum, Madona (Latvia)
2010 – International Painting Plein-Air, Madona
2009 – solo photography exhibition, coffee and chocolate parlour Mount Blanc, Toruń
2008 – group compilation of the book “Spotkania z Bydgoszczą” (Meetings with Bydgoszcz), edited by M. Idzik-Ropa