Iwo Zaniewski (b. 1956) is a Polish painter, photographer, director and artistic director of PZL advertising agency. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw in 1981 and won the Grand Prix at the Joan Miró Foundation International Competition in Barcelona, Spain in 1984.
Iwo Zaniewski works primarily with traditional oil painting and drawing. The artist’s works reflect a distinct sensitivity to the ordinary and celebrate moments and scenes of everyday life. His voluminous oeuvre can be divided into classical subject matter, namely: portraits and self-portraits, still life, interiors, and landscapes. Despite numerous changes in the contemporary painting conventions concerning the portrayal of reality, the characteristic feature of Zaniewski’s paintings has remained essentially that of composition. As such, his works are not readily ascribed to trends in the history of contemporary art. His figurative oil paintings retain harmoniously combined colours and painstakingly structured composition—an arrangement of forms wherein any potential alteration breaks down a cohesive construction and leads to deterioration of harmony. After conducting extensive theoretical and practical research with visual psychologists and neurologists, Iwo Zaniewski is now considered the first person in the world to have described the mechanism governing visual harmony. His paintings are included in private and public collections in Europe, USA, Mexico, China, and Japan.
In the mid-1980s, Iwo Zaniewski also began creative work in commercials and photography. His first commercial projects were for Spanish advertising agency Bassat Ogilvy & Mather in Barcelona. He directed his first commercials in Poland for ITI Agency. From 1992 to 1999, he was the artistic director of Grey Agency in Warsaw. He created advertising campaigns for major Polish brands, including Knorr, Frugo, Okocim, Radio Zet, Lucky Strike, and Malma. In 1999, together with Kot Przybora, he founded PZL (Przybora Zaniewski Ltd.) Advertising Agency, where he is now both the artistic and commercial director. PZL has created advertising campaigns for Frugo, Dębowe Mocne, Żubr, Redds, Orlen, Tetley, Olej Kujawski, Manuel, Simplus, and the longest-running Polish advertising campaign for Plus, a brand of a mobile phone network operator.
Solo Exhibitions
2014
Polswiss Art, Warsaw, Poland
2008
Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
All Gallery, Beijing, China
Wison Art Center, Shanghai, China
Levant Art Gallery, Shanghai, China
2005
National Museum in Cracow, The Princes Czartoryski Museum, Cracow, Poland
— retrospective under the patronage of the Polish Ministry of Culture
2004
Opus Film Gallery, photography exhibition, Łódz, Poland
1990
Inny Świat Gallery, Cracow, Poland
1989
SARP Gallery, Warsaw, Poland
1986
Albrecht Halne, Hamburg, Germany
1983
Galerie in Hinterhaus, Göttingen, Germany
1982
Stadthalle Wilhelmshaven, Wilhelmshaven, Germany
Stadthalle Mettmann, Mettmann, Germany
1981
Wahl Gallery, Warsaw, Poland
1980
Galerie am Ritterplan, Göttingen, Germany
Hannes Lins Private Exhibition, Recklinghausen, Germany
Group Exhibitions & Art Fairs
2020
Pinta Miami, online and Miami, USA
2008
CANART—Institute of Contemporary Art, inauguration of Canart, Shanghai, China
Shanghai International Art Fair, Shanghai, China
Sunshine Museum Beijing, inauguration of Sunshine Museum, Beijing, China
1989
Internationale Kunstausstellung Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
1986
Triennale Kalisz Regional Museum, Kalisz, Poland
1985
Japan International Artists Society, Tokyo, Japan
Art Basel, Basel, Switzerland
Zachęta—National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland
1984
Centre d’Estudis d’Art Contemporani—Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain
Ukase City Culture Center, Urasoe, Okinawa, Japan
1983
Theatre Galerie Fürth, Fürth, Germany - Stadttheater Fürth
Monographs
New Harmony: Paintings by Iwo Zaniewski. Today Art Museum Beijing, China/IRSA, 2008
Iwo Zaniewski: New Harmony. Wison Art Center, Shanghai, China, 2008
Iwo Zaniewski: Paintings and Drawings 1978 - 2006. Warsaw, Poland, 2006
Exhibition Catalogues
Iwo Zaniewski. Polswiss Art, Warsaw, Poland, 2014
Shanghai International Art Fair - 2008. Shanghai, China, 2008
Iwo Zaniewski - Fotografie. Warsaw, Poland 2005
Contemporaryism - Inauguration of Sunshine Art Museum Beijing. Sunshine Art Museum, Beijing, China 2008
Internationale Kunstausstellung Freiburg. Freiburg, Germany 1989
Triennale Rysunku. Kalisz Regional Museum, Ministerstwo Kultury i Sztuki, Kalisz, Poland, 1986
XXIII Premi Internacional d’Dibuix Joan Miro. Centre d’Estudis d’Art Contemporani, Barcelona, Spain 1984
Japan International Artists Society. Tokyo, Japan 1984
Iwo Zaniewski. Recklinghausen, Germany 1984