Natalia Rak Explained

Natalia Rak (or just Rak; born 1986) is a Polish street artist. She uses brightly colored paint to do multistory murals on the sides of buildings around Poland and Internationally.^[1] Originally painting canvases, she switched to street art.

Education

Natalia Rak is a graduate of Art High School in Radom. She studied Fine Art at the University of Łódź, Poland, focusing mainly in Graphic Design.^{[2] [3]}

History

Natalia Rak's subjects are typically murals of one or two individuals, mostly women. Her larger than life paintings try to invoke mystery and metaphor, often using classic stories like Adam and Eve and Romeo and Juliet. The artist uses a palette of bright colours in many of her realistic murals.

Rak started showing her work in street art exhibitions in 2009 in Łódź. A year later she participated in a show called "Different histories, join futures" in Zgorzelec.^[4] In Greater Poland at the SCABB festival, she painted a mural that was filmed by CNN.^[5] Coming back in 2012 and in 2013 to contribute to the show. Also in 2012 she made an appearance at the Stroke Art Fair in Berlin, Germany ^[6]

In 2013 she went to the US and participated in "Art Battles" in New York City. At 5 Bryant Street she helped convert an unused space into an exhibition of sorts of street art. There she collaborated with Don Rimx's ideas to create a mural.^[7]

Since 2014, the artist has painted murals in various cities worldwide, including Dunedin, New Zealand,^[8] Ragusa, Italy,^[9] Providence, Rhode Island (US),^[10] Berlin (Germany),^[11] Napa, California (US),^[12] and Port Adelaide (Australia).^[13]

Notes and References

1. http://twistedsifter.com/2013/10/street-art-by-natalia-rak/ "Building-Sized Street Art Portraits by Natalia Rak"
2. http://warholian.com/2014/02/natalia-rak/ STUNNING STREET ART FROM POLISH ARTIST NATALIA RAK | Warholian
3. http://www.amusingplanet.com/2013/10/street-art-by-natalia-rak.html Street Art by Natalia Rak | Amusing Planet
4. http://www.widewalls.ch/artist/natalia-rak/ Natalia Rak | Widewalls
5. http://www.scabb.pl/pl/11/strona/1/3/ Odrobina historii | SCABB Festival Turek
6. http://nolimitboras.com/?project=natalia-rak Natalia Rak | No Limit
7. http://untappedcities.com/2013/11/12/art-battles-5-bryant-park-converts-unused-space-into-street-art-gallery/ "Art Battles" at 5 Bryant Park Converts Unused Space Into Street Art Gallery | Untapped Cities
8. McAvinue, S. "Artists still making their marks," Otago Daily Times. 25 May 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
9. Levy, R. "Natalia Rak unveils a new mural in Ragusa, Italy, for FestiWall," Street Art News. 25 October 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
10. Ryan, E., "Debuted mural highlights Narragansett tribe," The Brown Daily Herald. 12 September 2018. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
11. Yao Lan, "Walls come alive with Berlin's mural festival," ecns.cn. 22 May 2018. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
12. Raskin-Zrihen, R., "New arts district unveils first mural in downtown Napa," Times-Herald. Updated 29 August 2018. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
13. Williamson, B., "Streets of Port Adelaide splashed with colour for Wonderwalls Festival," ABC Radio Adelaide. 20 April 2017. Retrieved 2 December 2018.