Michał Kowaluk – Untitled

Michał Kowaluk (b. 1996) is a Polish artist based in Florence. He works in oil paint,
dry media, and digital, with a current focus on portraiture and the study of the
human figure. The practice draws on the classical figurative tradition and treats it
as a foundation to build on rather than nostalgia.
He treats craftsmanship as a return on attention: the hours given to a surface
should come back as the hours a viewer is willing to give it. Behind every visible
mark sits the invisible labour of years of study. Portraiture is approached not as
record but as perception: how one person sees another. Alongside the painting, he
builds web-based tools that open up the technical side of painting: materials,
optics, process. His broader research extends to questions of perception and
altered states of mind.
He worked across software, finance, and data in Poland before painting full-time. In
2023 he completed the Foundation Year programme at Florence Classical Arts
Academy, returning to Poland to continue working. He moved back to Florence in
2025 and is currently enrolled at Accademia Nuova.