the slime and gore of Jan Lenica

Poster for Kanal, by Andrzej Wajda, 1957

Jan Lenica (1928-2002) is a master of the so-called "slime-and-gore" period of the Polish poster. He studied in the Faculty of Architecture at the Poznań Technical University. 

From 1963 – 1986 he lived and worked in France, then in 1987 he lived and worked in Berlin.  Lenica was a professor of graphic poster and animation at the prestigious University of Kassel, Germany in 1979. 

Lenica's art was associated with film and theater. 

Lenica worked in satirical cartoon drawing, illustration, graphic art and graphic design, exhibition design, scenography, posters, animated films. 

Lenica's touch: 

1- surreal images, 
2- dark humor, 
3- absurd, 
4- dadaist photomontage. 

Major awards: National Exhibition of Illustration, Posters and Small Format Graphics, Warsaw, 1955, first prize; Film Poster Exhibition, Warsaw 1956, Central Film Office prize; Toulouse-Lautrec Grand Prix, Versailles 1961; International Film Poster Exhibition, Karlove Vary 1962, first and third prizes, International Poster Biennale, Warsaw 1966, gold Medal; International Tourism Poster Exhibition, Catania, 1971, Gold Medal; Prix Jules Cheret, France 1985.

Wiesław Wałkuski and the "monster poster"

Wiesław Wałkuski (b. 1956) studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. He is an illustrator,painter and designer. At the end of his studies he was employed by Film Polski to produce art work and cover designs.   

During this period he worked with visual studio publishers and numerous theater groups, producing artwork and set design for production. 

Walkusky has more than 200 posters to his name and continues his work as poster designer, illustrator and painter. He lives and works in Warsaw. 

What's Wałkuski's secret?

1- shocking surreal, 
2- be cerebral, 
4- be aggressive,

Franciszek Starowieyski's calligraphic superrealism

Franciszek Starowieyski (b. 1930) studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow. He works in graphic design, drawing, theater, television scenography, murals and posters. 

He was the originator of the so-called "Theater of Drawing," a superimposition of acting with drawing backdrops.

He was the first Polish artist to have a one-man show at MoMA in New York, in 1986.

No standard typeface either, in the school of Tomaszewski. See how he favors calligraphy over typeface. Are they not related? 

Major Awards: International Biennale of the Arts, Sao Paulo 1973, award; Cannes Film Festival 1974, film poster award; International Poster Biennale, Warsaw, Silver Medal 1974, 1978; International Film Festival, Chicago, film poster Gold Plaque 1979, film poster competition Silver Hugo 1982.

What's Starowieysk's style? 

1- use of fine calligraphy,  
2- theatricality, 
3- female bodies & the skull, 
3- ornamental motifs,

Roman Cieślewicz (the metaphysical poster)

Cieślewicz (1930-1996) transformed the poster into a metaphysical medium to express ideas that would be difficult to articulate verbally. 

Cieślewicz brought a number of techniques to graphic design: 

enlarging, 

montage, 

halftones images to a scale that turns the dots into texture, 

setting up an interplay between two levels of information: the image and the dots they create. 

Cieślewic worked in poster art, book typography, photomontage and collage. 

What's Cieślewicz style?

1- Surreal, 
 2- Russian constructivist avant-garde of the 1920s + the feel of Blok (the Polish group), 
3- Romantic poetic vision + Cold rationalism, 
4- Symmetry pictorial elements.

Major awards: WAG Trepkowski Prize 1955; Film Poster Exhibition, Warsaw 1956, Central Film Office Prize; International Film Poster Exhibition, Karlove Vary 1964, first prize; National Poster Biennale, Katowice, Silver Medal 1965, Gold Medal 1967, 1971; International Poster Biennale, Warsaw, Gold Medal 1972, Bronze Medal 1984; Polish Poster Biennale, Katowice 1973, Gold Medal; Poster Biennale, Lahti 1993, second prize.

 

  

Hanna Bodnar

Bodnar is a Swedish/polish designer born in 1929. Over her career she worked with various publishers to produce at least 118 film posters between 1958 and 1980, including lots of beautifully colored children’s film posters and the rare and iconic Sleeping Beauty (below). 

Bodnar took part in many national and international exhibitions. winning the auspicious Grand Prix of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec in Versailles, 1962. 

Her  style is a mix of Disneyesque, Pop, with a bit of avant-garde. 

What's the style of Bodnar? 

1- painting + drawing = mixed media, 

2- female figure, 

3- quizzical images, 

4- lower case,

Jerzy Flisak, master of the "ugly"

Jerzy Flisak was a drawer, poster, graphic and set designer. Graduated from Jose Marti High School in Warsaw, he studied architecture at the Warsaw University of Technology.

Just compare Flisak's poster above with the original Warner Brothers movie poster (1971).

Flisak's illustrations are painted sort of naïvely, with thick brushstrokes. This way of painting is the source of their great power and surprising diversity. 

Flisak used colours with great lightness. He also applied creative typography 

He made his debut in 1950, still as a student, in the competition organized by the weekly magazine Szpilki, where he became graphic editor later.

Furthermore, his illustrations were published in Świerszczyk, Płomyczek, Polityka, weekly magazine Świat, Przeglądz Kulturalny.

Flisak' is the master of a style often described as neglectful.

1- deliberately ugly,
2- non-aesthetic,
3- painted with fat paintbrushes, done almost casually.
4- be "clumsy," 

5- HUMOR works!

Stanislaw Zamecznik

Stanislaw Zamecznik (1923-1967) was a distinguished Polish graphic artist, architect, photographer, and interior designer. 

Zamecznik's touch:

1- neue typographie for the 1960s
2- to design is to collage

3- He said: "My goal is to organize reality around me."

Wiktor Górka

Wiktor Górka (1922-2004) was one of the founders of the Polish poster school, whose most famous work is the poster design for the cult film Cabaret (1973) directed by Bob Fosse with a memorable performance by Liza Minelli.

The poster depicts cabaret dancers’ legs in black stockings as well as Joel Grey’s face in daring makeup, which together form the shape of a swastika. 

In 1970, Górka went to Havana with a group of Polish artists to conduct design workshops in Cuba.

What's Gorka's touch?

1- make it big
2- pop influence,
3- cartoonish humor,
3- striking color,
4- center symmetry,

Henryk Tomaszewski

Henryk Tomaszewski (1914-2005) was born in Warsaw and studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. 

He taught there from 1952-1985 and was granted the title Honorary Royal Designer for Industry by the Royal Society of Arts, London. 

Though he studied commercial art, satirical illustrations and stage design, he devoted himself to poster design for most of his career. 

Tomaszewski was highly influential as a professor, and many of his students became influential poster artists in Poland. 

What do we see here?

1- photo-montage, 
2- dramatic perspectives,  
3- bizarre cropping, 
4- abstract collage with expressive lettering instead of standard typeset typefaces.