Jan Larsen, A-09, 2023

116,0 x 89,0cm - oil, canvas signed on the reverse on canvas: Jan Larsen | A-09, 2023

Slawomir Wojciechowski, artistic pseudonym: Jan Larsen (born Kamień Pomorski 20.VI.1974, lives in Stare Mokotow, Warsaw). Fascinated by travel, diverse cultures and antiquity, he wrote a paper on the settlements of the Predynastic period in Egypt. For many years he was professionally engaged in reportage photography, and his photos were published in the press, books and album studies. Among other things, he made reportages in areas of armed conflict (during the war in the former Yugoslavia and Afghanistan).

The artist, who was raised on the paintings of Zdzislaw Beksinski and was fascinated by his work, recalls that some of the situations and things that Beksinski painted he later saw, unfortunately, in the real world. Due to traumatic experiences and repeatedly rubbing shoulders with death, he eventually gave up his previous occupations and devoted himself to painting. He mainly creates fantasy, surreal and dystopian paintings, which are illustrations of his dream visions and memories. His paintings are ambiguous and make him think about human nature, the relationship between people and the world, and life and death. A self-taught artist, he does easel painting in oil, acrylic and watercolor, drawing with dry pastels and charcoal. The author does not give titles to his works in order to leave space for interpretation to viewers. His works are in private collections at home and abroad. He works exclusively with music, which he selects according to his current emotional state and the subject of the painting. Just as his taste in painting was created from childhood largely by the visions of Zdzislaw Beksinski, his taste in music was shaped by Tomasz Beksinski, whose nightly broadcasts such as "Romantics of Rock Music" had a great influence on his sensibility. The spectrum of Wojciechowski's musical fascinations is broader today, ranging from classical music to jazz to death metal, but the music of the group Dead Can Dance has a special place in his heart. Besides Beksinski, the masters for Wojciechowski in painting are: Rembrandt, Titian, Hieronymus Bosch, Albrecht Durer, Jan Van Eyck, Pieter Bruegel, Francisco Goya, William Blake and Gustave Dore.