Łukasz Olek

“Do you like getting lost on purpose? I love it. I always prefer local roads to the highway, and they usually lead me to the most interesting places.

Usually, the landscapes I paint come to life as a result of me getting literally lost. There, at the very end of the map, in peace and solitude, I can reflect on the surrounding world. And then, back at the studio, I look for ways to transfer my impressions onto the canvas. It is always my paramount goal: to imbue the painting with the emotions, forms, colours or, sometimes, even the after-images that place had left within me.

When creating, I like to get lost in various ways, looking for and testing new media, forms and techniques. Sometimes, from that momentary chaos, things emerge which stand in opposition to the calming landscapes which have inspired me. Surreal demons appear that dwell in most of us, under the skin or deeper within.

I see art as a road that takes me somewhere. That road is my meditation and a way to achieve peace. I hope it never ends because there should always be something more worth discovering.”

Lukasz Olek (born in 1982, Warsaw). Applied graphic designer, illustrator, and creative director with several advertising agencies for over 15 years. He has now associated his professional life with the English agency MiltonBrown, where as Art Director and Executive Producer he coordinates film and video productions. After years of drawing with pencil and ink, he has now discovered the colours of acrylic paints.

He creates mainly dark, large-format abstractions and turpist portraits. Fascinated by the works of Francis Bacon, Marek Rothko and Lucian Freud. In his works he often focuses on the study of texture and colour by resorting to non-obvious materials and media.