Grzybacz works with a technique all his own, where what matters is less laying paint on than lifting it back off with different sponges. He builds rhythms of light and shadow so tactile that I want to touch the canvas, because it really does look woven from different fabrics. With this one I can barely hold back, because I want to scratch that dog behind the ears, under the chin and on its belly. Even if petting dogs is not really my thing.
The painter
Krzysztof Grzybacz (born 1993) graduated with distinction from the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. He paints flowers, the people close to him and quiet interiors, and the real subject underneath is usually intimacy and the way communication slips and misfires. He has shown at X Museum in Beijing, Harkawik in New York and the Dawid Radziszewski Gallery in Warsaw, and in 2026 he has a solo show coming at Pace in London.