Andrzej Nowacki (born 15 October 1953) is a Polish

op art Op art, short for optical art, is a style of visual art that uses distorted or manipulated geometrical patterns, often to create optical illusions. It began in the early 20th century, and was especially popular from the 1960s on, the term "Op ...

artist who lives and works in Berlin.

Early life

Andrzej Nowacki was born on 15 October 1953 in

Rabka-Zdrój Rabka-Zdrój (, Goral: ''Robka'', colloquially: ''Rabka'') is a spa town in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland. It is located between Kraków and Zakopane in a valley on the northern slopes of the Gorce Mountains, where the rivers Poniczanka and ...

, Poland. He spent his youth in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

. His first artistic experience was in

interior design Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. With a keen eye for detail and a Creativity, creative flair, an ...

and art restoration. In 1977 he left Poland to study Scandinavian languages at the University of

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

and later Art History in

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

, Austria.

Career

During the 1980s Nowacki discovered to himself Polish

constructivism Constructivism may refer to: Art and architecture * Constructivism (art), an early 20th-century artistic movement that extols art as a practice for social purposes * Constructivist architecture, an architectural movement in the Soviet Union in t ...

. Henryk Stazewski's art had an influence on the early works of Nowacki. Since the 1990s Nowacki had collaborated with Heinz Teufel, a collector who owned one of the most prestigious art galleries for concrete art in Europe, located in Cologne and later in Berlin. * 1994 Andrzej received a private scholarship in

West Orange, New Jersey West Orange is a suburban Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 48,843, an increase of 2,636 (+5.7%) from t ...

* 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2001 he participated in the workshops «Under the sign of Geometry» organized by Polish art critic Bozena Kowalska in Okuninka, Poland * 2001 he received a scholarship from the New York Pollock-Krasner Foundation * 2005 was his first exhibition in

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

, Japan. Later, he spent a year in his studio at Anna Maria Island, Florida, USA, where he created reliefs for the Seth Jason Beitler Gallery in Miami * 2015 Nowacki moved to a new large-scale studio at the former industrial area in Ostrava

Lower Vítkovice Lower Vítkovice (Czech: ''Dolní oblast Vítkovice'') is a national site of industrial heritage located in the Vítkovice (Ostrava), Vítkovice district of Ostrava in the Czech Republic. It includes an extensive industrial area Vítkovice ir ...

, Czech Republic. Here he started to create his multi-part and large-format reliefs. Currently, Andrzej Nowacki lives and creates in Berlin, Germany.

Important exhibitions

* 1994 Lederman Fine Art Gallery, New York, USA * 1997 Exhibition in Galerie "Avantgarde", Berlin, Germany * 2000 Galerie Heinz Teufel, Berlin, Germany * 2005 KISSHO Fine Art Gallery, Osaka, Japany * 2006 Seth Jason Beitler Gallery, Miami, USA * 2008 Milan Dobeš Múzeum, Bratislava, Slovakia * 2009 National museum Szczecin, Poland * 2011 Concrete art (Sztuka konkretna), National Gallery of Art, Sopot, Poland * 2017 Konkrete Anliegen. Sammlung Teufel, Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, Germany * 2017 "The magic of square", National Gallery of Art, Sopot, Poland * 2019 Milan Dobeš Museum: "Mystery of a quarter" *2019 "Variation on black": AP atelier Prague. And more than 50 other individual and group exhibition around the World.

Style and medium

*Op art,

abstract art Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a Composition (visual arts), composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. ''Abstract art'', ''non-figurative art'', ''non- ...

, concrete art, geometric abstraction *Unique optical technique performed manually on masonite board with acrylic colors. Works bring the feeling of 3D perception. Viewer is the part of the work. Colours and shapes change depending on viewer's position and create the feeling of moment. Since 1988, the sculptural form of the relief remains the exclusive medium of Nowacki's works. Since 1995, colour has assumed the leading role as a means of expression. From 1998, Nowacki's works are inspired by such artists as

Max Bill Max Bill (22 December 1908 – 9 December 1994) was a Swiss architect, artist, painter, typeface designer, industrial designer and graphic designer. Early life and education Bill was born in Winterthur. After an apprenticeship as a silversmit ...

Josef Albers Josef Albers ( , , ; March 19, 1888March 25, 1976) was a German-born American artist and Visual arts education, educator who is considered one of the most influential 20th-century art teachers in the United States. Born in 1888 in Bottrop, Westp ...

, Antonio Calderara and

Bridget Riley Bridget Louise Riley (born 24 April 1931) is an English painter known for her op art paintings. She lives and works in London, Cornwall and the Vaucluse in France. Early life and education Riley was born on 24 April 1931 in West Norwood, No ...

. Impacted by

Malevich Kazimir Severinovich Malevich (

and

Ilya Chashnik Ilya Grigorevich Chashnik (1902, Lucyn, Russian Empire, currently Ludza, Latvia – 1929, Leningrad) was a suprematism, suprematist artist, a pupil of Kazimir Malevich and a founding member of the UNOVIS school. Biography Chashnik was born to a ...

, the square remains the obligatory form for the surface of his reliefs.

References

External links

WikiArt
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nowacki, Andrzej 1953 births Living people People from Rabka-Zdrój Op art Concrete art Polish contemporary painters Polish painters