THE MEETING  

Among many roles and tasks that are the burden of art there is also the enigmatic social mission. We expect intuitively that the artist can create not only non-verbal messages through his or her art but we also trust his wisdom. It is a conviction that the artist will discover and reveal us some unknown mystery which will enrich and enchant us. It also sometimes happens that this anticipation is fulfilled and in such a case we may believe in the social function of art.

Painting which is able to touch our emotions must originate either from immense sensitivity or be preceded by careful listening and tasting of the world. In the case of Robert Bartoszek's works, such careful observation is psychically transferred into a conventional canvas.  

The paintings of this artist are internally coherent, very precisely composed and balanced. The use of colours is almost ascetic, very limited to sophisticated shades of grey and white. If any colour appears, it is almost always subdued. Careful order of the canvas and almost monochromatic tonality is an outcome of numerous repainting and an almost relief texture. Composition and iconography are rather reduced and very often based on geometric figures: a circle, a rhomb, a triangle or a rectangle. This action causes a synthetic impression and a feeling of communing with a form similar to a sign which contains a condensed information within itself. One of the many sources of Robert Bartoszek's inspiration are nature and landscapes. The artist found his own language to describe a lake, a fog, a campfire, a river or a walk in a forest. It seems though, that the main foundation of his art is somewhere else. The rapture with the world and nature is in fact a background for a very emotional need to meet with another human being and a desire to share and a desire of mutual cognition. Observation of the world transformed into a painting is like a sentence, perhaps a question addressed to the recipient of his art.  

The artistic work of this artist runs along two interweaving themes. On the one hand these are almost anecdotal canvases filled with narration which refer to a landscape with a human silhouette placed in the middle. On the other hand these are actually completely abstract paintings with dominating geometric figures. The geometric figures are at the same time a bond connecting both themes of Robert Bartoszek's painting. They are present in almost every painting, just like the aspiration to record a landscape in a simplified compositional form. A wealth of the artist's skills is evident in his use of subdued, but carefully processed, rhythm enclosed use of colours.

The first theme of the artist's works includes paintings like: "Spring cycling", "Watching the light ", "The lost teleportation", "The meeting" or "A girl and the sun". The painting called "A cyclist" is especially sensuous and full of tenderness. A lonely person is riding a bike and touching a yellow spot along a red road with its right hand. It seems that it is a late, calm evening and the illuminating touch of the cyclist strengthens the impression of harmonic equilibrium. The painting "The meeting" is a story about giving and becoming rich. Two people probably got through a crevice in a grey - sky blue and red wall. The person on the left side is red and casts a sky blue shadow and the person on the right side is sky blue and its shadow is red. Each person gained something from the other. A slightly surreal impression is introduced by unnatural, lengthened shadows coming from various sources. The people stand in front of each other in a rather unnatural way, what causes an atmosphere full of questions and mystery. The people in the painting "Watching the Light" are holding hands. It is probably a parent with an adolescent child or a woman with a man. Right in front of them the world is safe, but it is closed in a square of a sandpit, a swimming pool or a garden. This world is permeated by colourful overlapping circles. They are a trace of a reflection of light on water or in the sky and at the same time a reminder of an unknown, mysterious nature. An almost idyllic mood is introduced by a painting "A girl and the sun", whereas the paintings with aeroplanes introduce a man hidden in the products of his own unreliable civilisation. The aeroplane has become not only a symbol of travelling, but also of fear and anxiety. The second theme of the artist's works includes abstract paintings "The light from an island", "Winter roads", "Cut down trees" or "Winter walk". The dominating shapes are: a circle, an oval and a cylinder. The origin of these shapes has its source in nature, but their geometric representation refers to a man and his attempts to organise the world. Although a man is not present in those paintings directly, we have a clear trace of his aspirations to describe the reality in his own chosen way.

The painting of Robert Bartoszek has its roots in the admiration of the world and the urge to find the most direct, devoid of disruptions and coincidences form of recording it. It is both a willingness of meeting another human being and the need of creating each other. Thus the artist performs one of the most demanding tasks of art, which is an exchange of impressions, reflections and emotions. 

Dariusz Głowacki