Waldemar Swierzy - Biography

Waldemar Swierzy was born in Katowice, Poland and studied at the Cracow Academy of Fine Arts Department of Graphic Arts, in Katowice, Poland. In 1952, he graduated from the university and moved to Warsaw. In the years 1965-1996, he taught at what is now the Poznan Academy of Fine Arts. Starting in 1994, he also lectured at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts. From 1979 until 1997, Swierzy served as President of the International Poster Biennale in Warsaw specializing in poster, illustration, scenography, and exhibition design. He has won countless major awards for his work including: Toulouse-Lautrec Grand Prix, Versailles 1959; Polish Poster Biennale, Katowice, Gold Medal 1965, 1971, 1975, Silver Medal 1977, 1987, 1989; International Tourism Posters Exhibition, Mediolan 1967, Silver Medal; International Biennale of the Arts, Sao Paulo 1969, first prize; International Poster Biennale, Warsaw, Silver Medal 1972, Gold Medal 1976. First Prize, Lahti, Finland, 1977; Gold and Bronze Medal at the International Jazz Salon “Jazzpo,” 1985;Gold Medal at the Polish Poster Biennial, Katowice, 1989; He is a member of the elite Aliance Graphique International (AGI). His works have been shown internationally, including the Smithsonian Institution’s Traveling Exhibition Swierzy has so far produced more than 1,500 posters — an impressive number which may make him the record holder. Many have been tremendously popular; the 1954 Mazowsze poster has sold over a million copies. While his main focus has been culture (theatre, film, circus and music), he has not shunned social and sports themes. Niklaus Troxler a Swiss designer and the organizer of the Willisau Jazz Festival, in his book, Swierzy. wrote, “Swierzy’s works are always fresh, easy and entertaining,. They are full of a joy of life, humor and optimism…and there is no end to the approaches. He has made Polish poster art famous internationally. His pictures depict the world as a circus, a tragic transience of ideologies, a surrealistic dance.”

America’s influence on Swierzy, whether it be motion pictures, Chicago gangsters, Las Vegas card sharks or, most notably American jazz performers and their instruments, shines through in his art with sparkling energy and bubbling good humor. “The 1980s saw him arrive at an expressionist painting poster style. Equaling the form of poster with the form of painting, this style has continued up to the present. What sets it apart — besides vivid colors — is a particular dynamics targeted at the hurried viewer whose perception of the street poster is likewise hurried. From close up these posters resemble a multi-colored mish-mash of abstract items such as pasta-like lines, splashes, smudges, spots, dots and streaks giving the impression of randomness. They become legible only when seen from a certain distance, the gay mish-mash then revealing a human face or figure, and the artist's intention becoming clear. Powerful color combinations, expressive color spots, sensuousness, vitality, dynamics and virtuosity of form are the hallmarks of Swierzy's style,” wrote Ewa Gorzadek in a 2006 profile of the artist. A leader in the wryly subversive, deceptively buoyant poster movement that sprang up in Poland during its Communist era, Swierzy is widely acknowledged as one of the most important poster artists of our time. "He has made Polish poster art famous internationally," writes Niklaus Troxler in the recent book Swierzy. "His pictures depict the world as a circus, a tragic transience of ideologies, a surrealistic dance."