►Daniel Zagórski - Thematic graphic designer

►Daniel Zagórski was born one year before the first half of the previous century passed in the most surrealistic city in Poland, or perhaps even in Europe - in the city of Łódź.

Artist's Statement...

In brief: I am a bricklayer-plasterer by education, I do not eat with a fork and knife, and everything else I am concerned with is a total horror.. . vacui.

And now more details: I have always known I am going to be an artist dealing with graphics, and obstinately, in many ways, I made this dream come true. Relief techniques, which in my case means linocut (read PCV-cut), were studied by me in the studio of my own academy, which, nevertheless, was appreciated in the competitions named after Józef Gielniak. 

I had much pleasure in visiting the Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź only once, giving - still in the previous old building - a performance of my own alternative theatre. Later, asit usually happens in our life, I accidentally met a graphic master Piotr Ciesielski who taught me the techniques of intaglio print. Whereas the planographic printing was presented to me by Witold Warzywoda,a master of Bavarian sandstone. 

 

My persistent work on numerous graphic techniques resulted in gaining the status of a qualified graphic designer granted to me by the Ministry of Culture and Art in 1984, after the presentation of my works and achievements in graphic competitions as well as the recommendations of Professor LeszekRózga and Professor Ryszard Hunger. 

It encouraged me to further development of my metal techniques skills and enabled me to sell my etchings and aquatints in some well-known galleries. Up till then, during my a f ew years' stay in Wrocław, I had been able to present and sell linocuts irn Stary Rynek, being a kin d of local attraction. It helped me enter the world of creative cycles. I recall with a lot of affection one of my first individual exhibitions in the student theatre 'Pstrąg' in Łódź. 

 

At this time I was overwhelmed by the ever-lasting human passion and longing for 'taking off' from the ground. In the pioneer time of hang gliding I tried to be better than the famous Leonardo. Not only did I design but also built and flew some rag-piped gliding apparatuses, which means hang-gliders. What is most important for me is the fact that I managed to survive this series of often painful experiences. 

 

By the way, I would like to pay tribute to all my companions Icaruses, who were not lucky enough to land successfully. The mountains were far away, the Łódź area was fiat, and you easily get addicted to adrenaline so, at the end of the 80s I attached the Trabant engine to the wings. After taming the ferocious machine and taking part in many competitions I managed to win the Championship of Poland in Motorgliding in 1991.

In the same year I bought my first computer (16 MHz, monochromatic system and monitor); it was the time when I jealously tried to discover its- strongly limited - graphic potential. The dynamic development of information technology opened my eyes to the new virtual world. After mastering the 2D graphics, it was time to deal with the 3D graphics and it turned out to be my great fascination. I gradually went into this complicated technique. Zdzisław Beksiński also tried it but he stayed faithful to 2D. In one of the interviews with him I read that he left the 3D graphics to younger creators, thus I, as a 'youth', faced the challenge, and I must admit it was not easy to do. It was time I could take up a quiet flying again; I said goodbye to the noise of a motor-gliding engine and I started paragliding. With much pleasure, in peace and quiet, with birds all around, I brushed against beeches on the Beskidy Ilillsides. 

I continued improving my skills in the virtual world, I dealt with advertising, and at the same time, for a few years, accompanied by respectable people, I went across our beautiful Polish mountains, traveling by MTB bike. The highest point I reached on my bike was Śnieżka. I participated in numerous mountain marathons, including the killing Danielki 2001. 

Then a disease forced me to go for many walks with a camera and it was when I discovered the charm of the old industrial Łódź. The computer and 3D technique helped me to protect from oblivion the Łódź surrealist atmosphere. Recording the atmosphere of the past Łódź took me 3 years and resulted in 3 cycles, 150 graphic works After cycling there was the time for inline skating, which means fast long-distance rides and participation in marathons. My record at t his distance was 1 h 42 min in Gdańsk; I hope I will soon break it. At the time of my struggle with graphics and various extreme sports I did a job of a bricklayer, a designer's assistant in designing agencies, a DTP operator, and finally, after the change of the political system, I started my own graphic design business.

Recently I have been more and more concerned with the computer graphic design, the topics and the approach to the technique I use change like in a kaleidoscope. There have appeared new works constituting thematic cycles.

In this catalogue I take pleasure in presenting in fragments only a little part of over 400 works, whose amount is growing day after day. Everything I was able to materialize in a graphic way can be seen, always and everywhere, on my website: www.danielzagorski.com, which has been available for many years and which you are welcome to visit.

'Life is not the Beskidy Mountains but rather a sequence of accidental events ... It is up to us whether we traverse its slopes or we flow along its crest.
I recommend downhill ride.'
I am still pleased to traverse.