According to Bloomberg New Contemporaries, Piotr Krzymowski is one of the 30 most talented Central Saint Martins alumni. The artist works in collage, graphics and film, and he has collaborated with the greatest fashion houses. For inspiration, he looks back at the past, but we sense a brilliant future in the field ahead of him.
He was born in the seaside town Darłowo and moved with his family to Warsaw at the age of twelve. Poland’s capital city was the place of his adolescence, and of his first encounters with art. “I attended painting and drawing lessons in Warsaw and frequented its galleries. It was there that I became familiar with everything and everyone for the first time,” says Piotr Krzymowski in an interview for Vogue.pl. This, however, was not enough for him. He decided to pursue his education in London, at the prestigious Central Saint Martins University of the Arts.
It was in the UK capital that he developed a fascination for creating art based on what is already history, and presenting it in a new form. Initially, his interests revolved around film (he dedicated his graduation work to the French New Wave cinema). But soon afterwards, he discovered the surprisingly broad common ground between film and... Polish magazines from the 50's and 60's, which he received from his grandmother, who had built up quite an impressive collection of titles.
Like many young artists, Krzymowski draws his inspiration from the past. As a result of his work with this material, the artist (he told Vogue.pl that, after initial reservation, he is slowly coming to accept this epithet) has begun to examine why the message of the contemporary media, and their promotional message in particular, has lost its irony, humour and characteristic flamboyance. This is not nostalgia, though. It is more of a fascination for the analogue form, which Krzymowski on one occasion deemed much more humane and honest than the digital one. Posters for imagined films, collages juxtaposing cut-out sixties advertisements with catwalk silhouettes, wallpapers consisting of repetitive images and resembling a wall covered with film posters – Krzymowski’s work sends a message that both respects the past and keeps it at a distance.
Krzymowski, hailed by Bloomberg New Contemporaries as one of the 30 most talented Central Saint Martins alumni, quickly attracted a lot of attention not only in the art world but also in the fashion and beauty business. He has so far created campaigns for brands such as YSL, Guerlain and Dior, photo session backstage films for the Thai, Portuguese and Ukrainian Vogue editions, and the illustration promoting the Art & Fashion Forum by Grażyna Kulczyk.
He recently presented a series of GIFs created in collaboration with a friend of his, the designer Magda Butrym. Although Krzymowski's works are often part of fashion projects, he is far from treating fashion and art on equal terms. “I use fashion magazines in my work and I collaborate with fashion designers, but I have never thought of fashion, fashion shows or clothes in artistic terms. Of course, some things may be exceptional and move beyond fashion, but I draw a distinction between these two terms.
Despite his youth (he will be 29 this year), Krzymowski has already had his works exhibited in the Saatchi Gallery and has taken part in the prestigious Art Basel fair in Miami. But he considers himself a spontaneous planner and says that he creates all of his large projects organically. Luckily, he can afford to do so, for London has given him a lot of artistic freedom and he receives support from a group of trusted friends and associates.
“I’ve got my own studio, and I surround myself with people who inspire me and tell me honestly what they think about my projects. It is important to find a space where you can feel comfortable and where you can do what you want without bothering about the unnecessary. To me, this is the greatest success,” admits Krzymowski.
Translation Elżbieta Pawlas/Solid Information Solutions
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