Working on a multitude of paintings at a time, Karl Bielik’s brew of abstractions are developed in batches. Canvases of varying scale cover his studio walls, where he shifts from one painting to another, experimenting playfully with mark making. Formal lines taken from photographs and diagrams contrast loose oily wounds, thick emulsions offset light glazes and dribbles. Bielik fluctuates between techniques, pushing and challenging the paint until a kind of harmony is met. In contrast to this emotive imagery, banal solitary words form Bielik’s titles, tempering and balancing the melancholy character of his paintings; the result, a prolific collection of finely tuned sophisticated studies.
Solo Exhibitions
2009
Crossfire, Art Factory, Budapest, Hungary
1999
First Born, Bratri Capku, Prague, Czech Republic
Group Exhibitions
2010
*Hang then decay… it says something to me about my life. Terrace 5th Annual Open, London
3-7pm Saturday the 25th of September 2010
Vintage at Goodwood, a painted mannequin for an Oxfam Artists charity auction.
The Barbican Arts Group Trust 2010 Open, London
The Anthea Turner Prize, Compton Studios, London
The Filthy Songs of Their Fathers, Scapegoat Society, London
2009
And it's Time, Time, Time and it's Time... Terrace G2, London
Surface, The Imperial College, London
2008
The Marmite Painting Prize, Studio 1.1, London
Dynamite Fighter featuring Lark, The Royal Academy, London
So Much Wasted Wine... So Many Dead Flowers, Terrace G1, London
2007
Oh Deborah! CA Projects, London
Departure Lounge, Terrace, London
Visual Slang, Abrons Art Center, New York
Doodles, Noodles and Snippets, Vital Arts, Whitechapel Hospital, London
2006
Time Flies, Terrace, London
New Pain, Vertigo Gallery, London
2005
Happiness Blues, Terrace, London
Painting, Y.A.Gallery, Berlin
2004
Lexmark European Art Prize, Eyestorm, London
London Arts East, 291 Gallery, London
2002
2X36X36, Mafuji Gallery, London
Art 2002, Stricoff Gallery, New York
1999
36X36, Mafuji Gallery, London
Art Essenz, The Bahnhof, Berlin
A Fine Mess, Targus Gallery, Lisbon
Do Not Go Gently, Jednorozec, Prague
* Upcoming
Publications
The Times Magazine
NY Arts Magazine
The Marmite Painting Prize catalogue
American Vogue, paintings used in a photoshoot by Mario Testino
EMI Publishing Barcelona CD cover
Intern Magazine, Prague
Pozor Magazine, Prague
First Born Catalogue, Bratri Capku Gallery, Prague
