Ireneusz Bęc creates abstract paintings that can be described as post-media. While his work initially stemmed from the traditional alchemy of easel oil painting techniques on canvas, he gradually moved away from conventional certainties and rules. Many painters from the generation preceding Bęc have already been recognized as working in a “post-medium” condition[1]. Over time, Bęc, too, began to break with tradition. Though fabric remained central to his practice, it was no longer stretched over a frame or even primed. Traditionally, stretched and primed canvases are expected to be taut and rigid, forming a surface akin to a membrane. When struck with fingers, they resist and emit a characteristic sound. As British artist Gareth Jones observed, „I believe the intention is for a stretched flexible material to approach the properties of a wall.”[2]  By contrast, Bęc’s paintings reject this rigidity. His use of unstretched canvases, left to hang in loose folds, encourages viewers to approach his work from multiple perspectives, fostering prolonged observation and deeper contemplation. Jones described a similar effect in his own work with unstretched canvases, noting how their soft, flowing materiality invites longer engagement. For Bęc, the fluidity and unpredictability of fabric became a source of fascination. The unruly folds, creases, and draping transformed his paintings into objects that resembled curtains, flags, or perhaps something entirely undefined. Even when Bęc occasionally adhered to tradition by nailing a canvas onto a stretcher, he subverted expectations by placing the finished piece on the floor instead of hanging it on a wall. In this unconventional position, the painting gained a tangible materiality and entered a three-dimensional space – its physicality underscored by the possibility of someone stumbling over it. This ambiguous and unorthodox status of Bęc’s paintings demands time and reflection. Furthermore,  as the primed canvas sagged and bent, the coating began to crack. Spontaneous craquelures were emerging, widening and shifting their paths unpredictably. Rather than painting, the artist embraced scratching techniques reminiscent of sgraffito. This act of scratching the surface seemed, at times, to strip away the superfluous, cutting to the core of the work; at other times, it ruthlessly exposed what sought to remain hidden. This time, the painting was no longer a sculpture, a stumbling block, or a curtain. It became a bas-relief – or perhaps an open wound. The works challenge viewers to engage not only with their aesthetic qualities but also with the very nature of painting as a medium, prompting longer and deeper thought.



[1] Rosemary Hawker, “Idiom Post-medium: Richter Painting Photography”, Oxford Art Journal, 2009, Vol. 32, No. 2 (2009), 263-280, https://www.jstor.org/stable/25650860
[2] Gareth Jones, “Paintings on Unstretched Canvas”, Leonardo, Vol. 5, No. 4 (1972), 337,  https://www.jstor.org/stable/1572590


The entire text is available in the exhibition catalog.