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POLISH AQUARELLIST EXHIBITS IN BUFFALO'S MARKET ARCADE
by Peter K. Gessner
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At the opening of an exhibition of his paintings at the Gallery of the Empire State College in Buffalo's Market Arcade on February 18, 2000, Sacha Beres, an internationally known Polish aquarellist, termed the works on display - watercolors. Yet, while standing in front of the large vibrant images, seemingly portraying a dreamworld in subtle tonalities, transparencies and vibrant colors, he amended that statement to: "I paint with water."
The exhibitions featured his "Sense of Flower" cycle of abstract impressionist works inspired by a stay in the Bahamas where some of the paintings were created. The ehibited cycle of paintings was in no way realistic, yet one nonetheless perceived in them the brilliance of the sun, flowers, blue skies and water that so have influenced the artist. His rendering of that experience, the mood and feelings he evokes in the viewer and the inventive techniques he uses to achieve this are masterly. Secretive, as artists tend to be about their techniques, he allows that, in creating the watercolors, he relies in part on the use of immiscible liquids. No matter, the paintings challenge one's visual imagination and inspire a restful reverie.
Born was born in Lwów, Berčs studied at the Art Academies of Katowice, Wroc»aw and Krakow. Early in his training he was forced, as was true of all artists then living under the Soviet-imposed Communist regime in Poland, to produce works of art in the Social Realist style. As soon as there was a relaxation of those norms, however, he turn to abstract art, always however seeking inspiration in images reality presents him with. He has continued in this quest ever since. Not limited himself to this activity, he became for some eleven years the Art Director of the Wroclaw Philharmonic and, in the process, the person responsible for all decorative arts, including stage design and street decorations, for the "Wratislavia Cantants" International Music Festivals.
When, in 1981, tanks rolled in the streets of Polish cities, as the Communist regime imposed a stark state of martial law upon the nation and outlawed the "Solidarity" trade union, he happened to be in Vienna, where he had been invited to stage an art show. He decided not to return. Faced, for the first time, with the ability to travel and express himself freely, he struggled with the suddenly unbounded opportunities for self-expression. The escape from regime-imposed parochial political correctness, the freedom to make mistakes, possibly grave errors, was awe inspiring and, in a way, frightening. "I wanted to be free," he states, "without however knowing to what end." But he was lucky, he was able to exhibit in some very good galleries in Vienna and found collectors interested in his work. Never forced to wait for the muse, he often finds himself formulating images in his head, images which, first by sketching then painting, he seeks to transfer to canvas. This facility has served him well. With forty international exhibitions to his name, with works of his in public collections in Austria, Poland and Israel as well as in private collections in a dozen countries, Beres can be surely said to have overcome earlier questions of self-identity.
A new chapter in his life began in 1988 when he was invited to exhibit in New York City. Fascinated by the art life of SoHo and its myriad art galleries, he took up residence on Manhattan and remained there, painting and exhibiting for the next ten years. Then, he and his wife moved to the bucolic environment of Lewiston, in order to be nearer to their daughter. It was Manhattan's loss and Western New York's gain. Here, in the new surroundings, he is continuing his creative work, which will surely be affected by the beauty and grandeur of the Niagara Frontier.
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