Book No 7 [Alfred Brehm, Life of Animals: Mammals]

Michał Stonawski's art is the ennoblement of beauty that accompanies the process of decay, a tribute to ordinary objects. The artist depicts them with the greatest possible accuracy, exposing and hightening the intensity of signs of wear. Worn out books occupy a special place in the artist's spectrum of interests. The painter is inspired by abrasions, losses, bent covers or yellowing of paper, which testify to a close, long-term relationship with the owner; the reader's liking, which is directly proportional to the level of object's wear.

Michał Stonawski (b. 1984) – pursues painting, drawing; creates objects and installations. Graduate of the faculty of Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow (diploma in 2010 from Professor Leszek Misiak's studio, Ph.D. degree in his alma mater in 2015). He creates three-dimensional objects composed of oil paintings on canvas. His hyperrealistic works are a study of corroded materials such as sheet metal and wood. The artist exposes the signs of the process of decay that everyday objects undergo.

His works are, among others, in the collections of Bunkier Sztuki and MOCAK.