Grzegorz Stec - born in 1955 in Cracow, graduated from the Cracow Academy of Fine Arts in 1981. He had more than 70 solo exhibitions in major art galleries in Poland and abroad (USA, Sweden, Germany, France). Between 1995 and 2009 he exhibited mainly in the USA (Chicago and New York). His paintings were presented in solo exhibitions at Polish diplomatic missions: at the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in New York (2008), at the Polish Institute in Leipzig (2014), at Berlin's Galerie Abakus in cooperation with the Polish Embassy and the Polish Institute in Berlin (2015), and at The Kosciuszko Foundation in New York (2009), where, for the first time then, the works of a contemporary artist hung alongside the outstanding masters of Polish painting. TVP made a film about his work called Zadręcza mnie zapach czerni (1991, directed by Cezary Nowicki). In 2019. Stec celebrated the 40th anniversary of his work, on this occasion a bilingual album of the artist was published under the patronage of the President of the City of Cracow: "Grzegorz Stec - Paintings - Fortieth Anniversary", Krakow 2019, pp. 320. Stec is also a poet, and has published two books of poetry: "Nikt tu nie szuka odpowiedzi", Krakow 1999, "Melencolia", Krakow 2007.
The artist occupies a separate place in contemporary art, between figurative art and abstraction, which can be called visionary art, taking up universal content. He has developed his own painting technique, his paintings are recognizable, despite the variety of themes, forms and formats he cultivates. He is called a master of light and an outstanding colorist by critics. He is also the creator of unique black oil paintings.
