Exhibition poster by Bogna Otto-Wegrzyn
from the collection of Wlodek Orzel
25.02-08.03.2017
Galeria Schody, 39 Nowy Swiat, 00-029 Warsaw, Poland
An artist of her time
Italian philosopher Remo Bodei said that in the face of technological revolutions, the fall of totalitarian regimes or as a result of large and unexpected changes people start looking for new forms of identity, transforming the past, and modifying the common culture.
Bogna Otto-Wegrzyn began her career during one of such breakthroughs. The early 1990s witnessed not only the collapse of the communist regime, but also the advent of the digital revolution. The latter started to change Polish graphic design scene, dominated up to that point by manual techniques, painting and drawing. Bogna Otto-Wegrzyn went against the prevailing tradition, reaching for vector graphics (not valued by recognized designers at the time), which she made not only her tool of choice, but also her means of expression. The artist wanted digital style and vector graphics to become the field of her experiments, and a kind of creative manifesto. Like the Futurists and Dadaists before her, she decided that her technique would be a reflection of her time.
"Poster is alive" is one of such manifesto projects, an attempt to deal with digital style, as well as the possibilities and limitations of vector graphics. Being an artist of her time means also addressing current political and social themes in the form of the so-called self-published posters. Examples of this are "Transmission", which the artist created after watching a televised debate on military conflicts and "Revolution", which comments on technological breakthrough. Her self-published posters have something of the spirit of Raoul Haussman's Dadaist style or the collages of Roman Cieslewicz, but the most important is a strong, original message. Moving smoothly from the areas of well-established genres to the periphery of art, Bogna Otto-Wegrzyn created a recognizable style that is still evolving with the changing reality.
Bogna Otto-Wegrzyn
Graduate of the Krakow Academy of Fine Arts, Department of Graphic Art in Katowice - diploma in 1990.
A scholar of the Ministry of Culture and the Arts.
Engaged mainly in designing a poster, illustration and editorial graphics. As a graphic designer for several years actively collaborating with advertising agencies and design studios, as an illustrator - with the newspapers and cultural magazines (including "Przekrój", "Foyer").
Since 2004 working as a lecturer at the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice.
Art-works by Bogna Otto-Wegrzyn concerned area between art and graphic design. Her self-edited posters and illustrations participated in numerous national and international exhibitions and was awarded several times.
Text by Katarzyna Matul
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