Portrait of the artist 2019
Marek Świetlik was born in 1965 in the Baltic Sea resort of Kołobrzeg (the former German naval port of Kolberg). His parents were repatriates from Vilnius, a Polish region that was assigned to Russia after the Second World War and is now part of Lithuania. To this day, Świetlik lives in the parental home together with his almost blind brother.
Double portrait of Alina Ludmiła Otten 2023 – Oil on board 100×70 cm
He attended special education due to a learning disability and then worked as a gardener in the local city park. In 1990 he received a meager pension benefit due to disability.
Crucifixion on Calvary
In 1993 he made his first painting. The cause was an article in the local press about the theft of a painting of the crucifixion on Golgotha from the basilica of Kołobrzeg. As if by inspiration, he decided to paint a reproduction of the stolen work. With the produced work (format of 157 x 116 cm) he won the national painting competition im. Teofila Ociepki in Bydgoszcz. This success provided an incentive to continue with crucifixions and other Biblical scenes. At a later stage he expanded this palette with city and family scenes, (self)portraits and variations on famous works of art. He often uses images in books and magazines, postcards or (sent) photos as a source of inspiration.
Dutch harbor view 2023 – Oil on board 100×70 cm
Świetlik has never stopped painting. He estimates to have produced around 350 works in the period 1993-2023, which enabled him to support his brother and himself. He had several individual exhibitions (Kołobrzeg, Koszalin, Szczecin, Poznań, Lublin and Bydgoszcz) and successfully participated in group exhibitions and national competitions. His work is represented in the permanent collection of the regional museum J. Malczewski in Radom and in important private collections at home and abroad.
Three generations of family 2023 – Oil on board 100×70 cm
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INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT WILLEM OTTEN (#marekświetlik)