Premio Combat Prize

My paintings explore the relation between daily life and human nature. I perceive humanity as a chocolate cake, where beneath the ‘iced’ surface lies those more intriguing and challenging mixtures, with fears and social pathology.
Through the application and process of painting, I cut a piece of that cake to explore the nature of these problems.
Simple yet powerful gestural strokes and mark-making, search and re-investigate solutions to bring these hidden depths to the surface.
Biography
Born in Poland in 1984, Bartosz Beda relocated himself to the UK in 2008 to study at the Manchester School of Art. After graduating with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art in 2011, and selected for the 2012 Catlin Art Guide for most promising emerging artists in UK, he progressed onto the Masters programme at Manchester Metropolitan University to develop his practice as a painter. Beda has been short-listed for the Title Art Prize, the Door Prize, and the Saatchi New Sensation, and won the esteemed Torwy Award for the Best of the North of England in 2012. He was awarded for a six-month scholarship between Manchester Metropolitan University and Academy of fine Arts in Dresden, Germany, in 2012/13, where he developed the concepts of his work. Beda has been showing nationally and internationally. He has participated in many group shows in Poland, Germany, Spain, to name four: Schools of Art. Voll.3, Oktogon der HfBK Dresden, Germany, 2013; Petty Theft, Launch f18, New York, USA, 2013; Microarte. El tamano si importa, Galeria Liebre, Madrid, Spain, 2012; Head and Whole - Talking Heads, Abbey Walk Gallery, Grimsby, UK, 2012, with his solo exhibitions including those in Poland, England and Spain. His works are in private collections throughout Europe, United States, and South Africa.
Before relocating himself to England, Beda was involved with animation within the film making industry. He has worked in two movie productions, Ichthis by Marek Skrobecki (2005) and Peter and the Wolf by Suzieh Tempelton (2006), which received the Oscar Prize in 2007. This involvment has provoked his interest in moving images and ultimately images themselves. His interest in painting began from a young age, and he knew painting would be his profession. He is a very dedicated painter and for him painting is a medium where he can fully express his passion.
Beda’s work has been widely reviewed and referenced in journals and books. He was mentioned as a ‘one to watch’ at BBC Radio 4 in February 2013. He discribes himself as an artist who explores the idea of painting across the world and outside the local environment.