Inside the Studio
Janusz Galuszka
Favorite material to work with?
I like cardboard, paper, hardboard, any materials that do not create too much pressure. I feel respect towards canvas. I always have a feeling that my paintings on canvas could have been better, that they are not finished…
What themes do you pursue?
For my paintings I choose whatever is closest at hand: my family, the neighborhood, news. My other favorite themes are waiting and nostalgia. I like paintings that seem to stop mid-sentance, ones that allow you to discover the rest.
How many years as an artist?
If you count the moment I gained by diploma as a starting point, then it’s 14 years. In my opinion, being an artist means continuously searching for something new, so everything is still ahead of me.
What was the best advice given to you as an artist?
The only method in art is to keep banging your head on the wall until you succeed. About painting– “you have to keep painting and painting and painting once more and finally everything will fall into place.”
Where is your studio?
I rent a garage that is a 10 minute walk or 3 minute bike ride from my home.
Art school or self-taught?
Academy of Fine Art in Wroclaw, Poland, finished with a diploma in art.
Prefer to work with music or in silence?
Painting preoccupies me to the point that I do not mind the music. If music is on, I sometimes get carried away by it. Recently I have been listening to Chinese Man and Edward Sharpe.
What’s around the corner from your place?
There is an interior design studio above me and next door– the house of our family friend, Mrs. Krystyna.
Where can we find you outside of the studio?
I like writing my blog, taking pictures, and editing films.
If you couldn’t be an artist, what would you do?
It’s hard to say, I probably wouldn’t be happy doing anything else. Maybe I would be a film director if I couldn’t be a painter.
Favorite contemporary artist?
I don’t have one. I like particular paintings. I think that each artist has only a few or even less really good pieces. I like Gerhard Richter, David Salle, Neo Rauch, and Howard Hodgkin.
What do you collect?
I collect old record covers, old fashion magazines, and wall calendars– mainly because of the paper they’re printed on, which is great for painting.
If you could only have one piece of art in your life, what would it be?
At the moment I would chose a decorative painting, for example Matisse’s “Still Life With an Orange”.
Who are your favorite writers?
Truman Capote, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Albert Camus…
Use anything other than paint?
I use permanent markers, oil paint, crayons, and much more.
