MARYSIA BURR

Born in 1956 in the southern Polish city of Wadowice, Marysia Burr began her study of art at the Bielsko-Biala High School of Fine Arts, from which she graduated Magna Cum Laude. She then moved to Warsaw and entered the Polish Academy of Fine Arts where she majored in Graphic Arts with special emphasis on painting and drawing.

Her early art experience was greatly impacted by two of Poland's premiere artists, Henry Stazewski and Eugeniusz Markowski, as well as several American artists, most notably Dutch-born Willem de Kooning, one of America's foremost Abstract Impressionists, known for his bold, formal style.

Marysia became a well-known artist in Warsaw, awarded many prizes for her realistic portrayals of the human form, presented in oils, watercolors and pencil. Shortly after receiving her Master degree in art from the Academy in 1981, she emigrated to the United States.

In southern California her focus changed from the portrayal of human figures to landscapes and nature forms, and increasingly incorporated light, color and shapes in a continuous spiral of motion. She sought to resolve the intrinsic dichotomy between realistic and abstract art. This is apparent in both the color and composition of her paintings.

In her blending of these two conflicting approaches to art subjects, Marysia begins with a realistic approach, choosing essentially unremarkable scenes and objects to paint. As the work progresses, she subtly introduces the counterpoint of some abstract shapes and colors, which release the paintings from the confines of rigorous realism and allows the viewer's imagination to embrace not only the reality, but the dream as well. This is what makes her work so exciting and why her images remain in your mind long after you have left the gallery.