Within this series I created 18 paitings what looks like images of reality but shows what does not exist. This work is about other use of an unrealized idea.
From time to time a controversial issue of creating the first tramway line recurs to Radom. This never undertakeninvestment became an archetype of the prototype model for the futuristic tramway which is depicted near the rail track which was once proposed.
Acrylic on canvas, 100 x 70 cm, 2021
Impressions and visualisations
"It is quite clear what captures Karol Suwała’s imagination. It is Radom, Radom and once again Radom. Karol is an urban activist who is involved in the preparation and social promotion of projects for participatory budgeting programmes. In everyday life he works in “Łaźnia” Radomski Klub Środowisk Twórczych i Galeria (Radom Artistic Community Club and a Gallery) where he is responsible for the educational programme. Karol is an enthusiast and dreamer. He would like his city to be smarter and prettier; he opts for sustainable economy, ecological transport and cares for urban green spaces. Identical demands are put forward by urban activists in such large cities as Warsaw, Cracow or Wrocław. However, in a middle-sized, formerly working-class city like Radom, Karol is lonelier in his efforts than his colleagues from larger cities. I believe that Karol Suwała’s dreams and ideas which find it difficult to reach public opinion made him hit on the idea of expressing the issues present in the public debate of Radom inhabitants by means of painting. On the one hand, many of his paintings depict the ghostly, lost in the period of transformation, soc-modernist Radom with mosaics, a closed cinema and “Europe” hotel, an irretrievably lost predecessor of the present city fountain or artists’ studios in the shade of the city church. On the other hand, Karol generously makes up for these deficiencies and repairs the damage: he adds an arrow to the Archer statue, creates a garden in the old market square, reconstructs the Royal Castle, improves a block of flats façade in the “XV-lecia PRL” housing estate, switches on the neon sign over the shop or repairs the walls damaged by outer advertisements. Karol is worried about art in public spaces and insufficient infrastructure for modern art exhibitions. Among his paintings attention is attracted by his adventurous proposal of a new building for a municipal art gallery and a design of a new work by Joanna Rajkowska for the Radom Park. I met Karol Suwała 4 years ago and I consider him to be an amazingly positive person. I admire his enthusiasm and commitment as well as his natural faith in the driving force of art. Today I wish him success for his works – in terms of both social reception and his personal satisfaction."
Dorota Monkiewicz, The Centre of Polish Sculpture in Orońsko, Poland, 12 August 2021
