2025
oil on canvas
160 x 120 cm
Starting bid: 5 000 zł
Jakub Słomkowski’s work navigates between abstraction and symbolism, constructing a distinctive personal alphabet of meanings through signature colour transitions and a refined sensitivity to tonal nuance. Babel is a symbolic painting from the Indian Slava series, a body of work rooted in the concept of apotropaic symbolism—an area of ongoing interest and exploration for the artist.
Słomkowski frequently draws on the ancient world to comment on the present. In his interpretation, Babel unfolds across multiple formal and philosophical layers, embedding “riddles” into the imagery. These are closely tied to his painting process—a dynamic oscillation of moods, incidents, and the artist’s intuitive ability to connect past and present, all of which animate the form and deepen the message.
To fully grasp these riddles, one must adopt several methodological approaches: some readings require familiarity with other works in the series and the origins of their themes; others emerge from the simplest of associations.
Jakub Słomkowski (b. 1982) is a painter, illustrator, musician, and installation artist. He graduated from the Faculty of Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw in 2007 and also studied at the Complutense University of Madrid.
He is a co-founder of the band Andy Why, the improv duos Kubatwice Improvise and Sicarios Unidos, and the music project I AM SORRY DAVE. Słomkowski has exhibited widely, including at HOS Gallery and the Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle in Warsaw, as well as Saatchi Gallery in London.
