Post-open-air exhibition of the artists from the bydgoszcz district of the association of polish artists polish applied arts
Jan Gordon, born in 1955 in Bydgoszcz. Studied at the State Academy of Fine Arts (now University of Arts) in Poznań, in the studio of interior design of Prof. Jan Węcławski, and in the studio of woodcut of Prof. Zbigniew Lutomski. Got his diploma in 1983. Does workshop graphics and painting, functional art (interior design, art of exhibition. He presented his works at eight individual exhibitions and over sixty group exhibitions in Poland and abroad. Lives and works in Bydgoszcz.
Cecylia Janeczek Matuszewska studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, under the tuition of Prof. Tymon Niesiołowski and Prof. Stanisław Borysowski. Graduated in 1961, she paints and draws. The author of nine individual exhibitions. She participated in several group exhibitions in Poland and abroad. Her works are in the collections of museums and institutions, and in private collections in the country and abroad. Lives and works in Bydgoszcz.
Janusz Maciej Kochanowski was born in 1937. He’s been working creatively since 1961. Graduated as an interior designer in 1963, at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Gdansk. Does easel painting, monumental painting, designs interior architecture, commercial illustration, cartoons, designs industrial forms, art of exhibition. He’s the author of 13 individual exhibitions and a participant of some 135 all-Polish and regional exhibitions of painting and interior design. His paintings are in the collections of museums in Poland, and in private collections at home and abroad Germany, France, Switzerland, Canada, Finland. He is the author of many hotel interior designs, spas, office buildings, restaurants, cinemas; as well as the author and creator of several monumental mosaic composition. He’s the Chairman of the Association of Polish Artists Polish Applied Arts for the District of Bydgoszcz. Lives and works in Bydgoszcz.
Jadwiga Kotlarczyk, in the years 1956-1958 studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts of Mikołaj Kopernik University in Toruń For many years, she created artistic tapestries (1985 Exhibition of Art Crafts in Goettingen). Currently, she does easel painting. Has participated in many group exhibitions of the Torun and Bydgoszcz artists. Her works are in private collections in Poland and abroad. Lives and works creatively in Torun.
Włodzimierz Krzemkowski was born in 1940 in Bydgoszcz. In the years 1962-1968 studied at the State Academy of of Fine Arts in Gdansk, in the studio of Professor S. Teisseyre. Graduated in architectural painting in the studio of Barbara Massalska. In 1979, got back from Gdańsk to Bydgoszcz. He is an industrial designer, designs and makes mosaics and stained glass windows, applied graphics, screen printing, photography and painting. Participated in several exhibitions of applied art. Presented his artistic achievements at an individual exhibition in 1980. Lives and works creatively in Bydgoszcz.
The Bydgoszcz District of the Association of Polish Artists „Polish Applied Art” was formed in 1984. It embraced designers from several arts disciplines. The newly elected Board decided to begin its activities with an artistic open-air that would be different from those existing. Thus the National Open-Air for Designers was born, under the watchword of „Converting function into form,” and including two disciplines: designing and painting. The concept of the open-air was endorsed by the Main Board of the Association and met with huge interest of the members belonging to ten districts. The open-airs were initially financed by the Main Board. It was also subsided by the District Office in Bydgoszcz. The program of the open-airs turned out to be interesting for the companies promoting Europlakat (Europoster): Outdoor from Warsaw, Euro Plakat from Poznan, Saba Computer Company from Bydgoszcz and others. These companies sponsored the open-airs until the changes in the tax system, when the possibility of tax deductions for culture was removed. Initially, the open-airs took place in different localities. Since 1993 until today, they have been held in the Mikotor Centre in Funka in the Tuchola Forest. The open-air organisers were: Waldemar Kornacki, January Gaca, Ryszard Schneider, Wiesław Borożyński, Halina Krzemkowska, Andrzej Tomczyk, and, for many years now, Janusz Maciej Kochanowski. In the first two decades of the open-air activities, there were numerous interesting projects in interior design, posters, advertising graphics, industrial and furniture forms, as well as many interesting paintings. Juries were appointed to evaluate and award the best works. Initially, a very large group of artists from Poland, Serbia, Montenegro, Lithuania and Russia participated in the open-airs. Financial hardship forced the organisers to limit the number of invited artists. Simultaneously, the duration of these artistic meetings was shortened (from 30 to 20 days) and they became exclusively painting open-airs. In the last decade, the open-airs have been organised thanks to the subsidies of the Office of the City of Bydgoszcz and financial contributions of the participants.
Janusz Maciej Kochanowski