JOAN WITEK

Joan Witek’s work has always been involved with the colour black: whether in oil paint, water colour or pencil, Witek’s works concentrate on specific materiality and formalist content, which she twists by adding a linguistic domain using titles from various sources.

The unity of Witek’s body of work is defined not through a signature style but through ways of picture making that permit the works to look very different, and yet all are immediately recognisable.

Although black can be associated with negative ideas and expressions, it occupies a wide range. Witek’s large paintings, as well as her small drawings imply a sense of emotional intimacy. The colour is strong and delicate, rational and emotional. Her paintings are defined by radical condensation and Witek’s potentially infinite suggestiveness is accomplished using deliberately limited means. For example, the expression of a black watercolour on delicate, wrinkled rice paper or a black painting made of repeated brush strokes; all create a meaning and intensity for the viewer.

Courtesy Bartha_contemporary