Biography
Richard Wlodarczak was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1972, where he was raised in a Roman Catholic household by Polish parents. After receiving his BFA at the University of Manitoba (Gold Medal Recipient for Highest Standing in Fine Arts) and his MFA at the renowned School of the Art Institute of Chicago, he travelled through Europe to further explore art history, as well as his own Polish heritage. Richard now resides and works in Vancouver, BC, where his art has grown towards his German Expressionist, Abstract- Expressionist and Neo-Expressionist influences.
Richard’s work has drawn on themes of Christian/Pagan Dualism throughout his long career. Having attended Catechism and the Catholic Church in his formative years, his early work has drawn upon such biblical and passion imagery while at the same time undermining it with visual polemics and the sacrilege.
His current work maintains the constant conflict of his past, but as he becomes more influenced by modern expressionism, his paintings and characters have become more personalized and abstracted in form, reduced in lines, shapes and marks. The works speak of order and chaos, traversing history and personal mythos, revealing opposing yet cyclical and interconnected dualities. Modern in sensibility, the mystery of the primitive remains.
Richard’s work can be found in private and corporate collections in Canada, the U.S. and Europe.