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Slowinski Exhibits in New York
The Post Eagle, Fall 1989


Artist Tim Slowinski's immigrant grandfather, Joseph Peter, was (like the artist) a man of few words. One of his favorite sayings was, "if you want something done right you better do it yourself". Tim Slowinski still adheres to this good, old time advice.

In 1987, after a binge of compulsive painting lasting twelve years, Slowinski was ready to show his work to the world. Unlike other artists who travel from one art gallery to another in search of a dealer, Slowinski took the do-it-yourself route, and decided to open his own art gallery. He emptied his savings, borrowed what he could, and rented a storefront at 216 East 10th Street in Manhattan's East Village. After renovating the store himself, he moved in, hung up his paintings, and opened Limner Gallery.

The gallery was named after the limners of 18th century England and colonial America. These limners were independent artists who, like Slowinski, were self taught and worked in a detailed, linear style.

Unexpectedly, in the first week, sales were made. In a short time Slowinski's paintings were being -sought out by Manhattan's foremost collectors of avant-garde art. Now, two years later, artists around town jokingly know him as "prince of the East Village".

The unbelievable nature of Slowinski's success becomes believable the moment one steps through the door of Limner Gallery. A masterful technique combines realism with fantasy in a result that is at once humorous, but shocking in its piercing revelation of the evils of modern society. Disembodied heads bulge out from pressurized toxic waste tanks. Gold toothed, spider-limbed, stock market video monitor heads race rats, pit bulls and humanoid pig men down gold brick tracks toward strings of dollar bills. Police ride slot machines spewing money and drugs; doctors saw open heads full of alarm clocks, hot dogs and the six o'clock news. Suburban mothers, blockhead businessmen, politicians, evangelists, psychiatrists, all are stripped bare by the artist's revealing brush.

In a world where it is sometimes difficult to tell the difference between a work of art and a pile of worn out shoes, it is well worth a trip to the East Village to view the work of this truly unique and gifted artist.