Alex Bartolowicz
Polish-born, London-based illustrator and graphic designer specializing in bold colours and halftones, whimsical and retro influences.
reebah.works@gmail.com
Hey, my name is Alex. I am Polish, I was born in March, so I am a Pisces and I always carry a realistic, fish-shaped pencil case alongside my sketchbook. When you say “reebah”, it sounds like the polish word “ryba”, which literally means fish, so that’s where reebah came from. I designed myself a little friend, a whimsical fish with legs to accompany me with any project I take on. Reebah works, because I don’t just draw. I do illustration, graphic design, I dabble with crafts and printmaking, and I also bartend sometimes, so I cannot close reebah in one profession.
B2: what inspires me?
The supposedly mundane world around me, the things that we overlook (because even a juice box can be an exciting topic to draw). I take a lot of inspiration from music, film, TV, art books and my tiny, local craft beer pub, always carrying my small sketchbook with me.
I tried my hand at risograph and screen printing at uni and the two techniques stuck with me to this day. As a child, I has a stack of very old comic books (Alien v Predator was the first comic book I read by myself at ripe age of 5) and I loved not only the drawings, but the way these comic books were printed. The limited palettes and lack of smooth gradients that nowadays are easily done with our home printers is not a limitation to me, but a way to keep the spirit of these traditional, tactile ways of printing, even if they’re done digitally now.
Riso Pop
Fire Horse
Amsterdam, NL
202
Heart of the Tribe Gallery
Winter Open 2025
Glastonbury, UK
2025
Fronteer Gallery
Apothecary
Sheffield, UK
2025
Isle of Riso x XOYO Pride Exhibition
Edinburgh
2023
Girls to the Front Zine #11 Secret
2023
Girls to the Front Zine #10 Conflict
2021