Affection is exactly what the title promises and almost nothing else. Grzybacz lets tenderness be the whole subject, with no irony to protect it, which is much harder to do than it sounds. The painting asks for the same patience it was made with.
The painter
Krzysztof Grzybacz (born 1993) studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. He paints tender, narrative pictures that fold together intimacy, fairy tale and a little folklore. He has shown at X Museum in Beijing and Harkawik in New York, and a solo exhibition opens at Pace in London in 2026.