Dimensions: 47 x 37 cm
signed and dated lower right: '[artist's monogram] 22'
signed, dated, and labeled on the reverse: 'Piotr Młodożeniec | "Hungarian Prince" | [artist's monogram] 22 | x'
Mounting instructions on the reverse
Condition
Work mounted
Biography
He studied at the Faculty of Graphic Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw from 1976 to 1981. He received his diploma from Prof. Henryk Tomaszewski’s poster studio. Since the 1980s, he has been working in both painting and graphic arts, often combining the two. In the 1980s, he helped shape the “New Expression” movement in painting, while also participating in the independent cultural movement that challenged the official art scene during martial law. He participated in exhibitions of this movement; above all, however, he is the creator of widely known commemorative prints—such as holiday cards, posters, flyers, illustrations, signs, and calendars—which were widely circulated through underground channels at the time. He produced them using screen printing, employing the first graphic design software programs. The result was distinctive lettering, a simplified and flat human silhouette, and a coarse halftone screen. This aesthetic permeated his paintings, which the artist enriched with elements of collage, spray-painting (as in graffiti), neon lights, and so on. These characteristics have persisted in his art to the present day, undergoing only further synthesis, which means that some of Młodożeniec’s more recent paintings approach allusive abstraction in their expression. The artist exhibited at numerous private, church, and independent exhibitions in the 1980s, such as “Testimony of Presence,” Warsaw 1982; the First National Exhibition of Young Painters “The Way and the Truth,” Wrocław, 1985, “What’s Up,” Warsaw, 1987, and others. In the 1990s, he presented his works several times alongside his father, Jan, and his brother, Stanisław, a painter based in New York. Since 1992, Młodożeniec has been working with Marek Sobczyk in a graphic design partnership called “zafryki.” They design posters and billboards and collaborate as illustrators with magazines, such as “Gazeta Wyborcza.” Individually, Młodożeniec has won numerous awards, including Best Poster of Warsaw in 1982, the Grand Prix at the Chaumont Poster Festival in 1993, and a silver medal at the International Poster Biennial in Warsaw in 1998.
