Iwo Zaniewski. Born Warsaw, 22 May 1956. Polish painter, photographer, director and artistic director of PZL advertising agency (Przybora, Zaniewski, Ltd.). From 1976 to 1981 Zaniewski studied at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts. Until the mid 1980’s active solely as a painter but later began creative work in commercials and photography. As a painter, Zaniewski works mostly in oils and drawing media. His themes usually centre on scenes from everyday life while his earlier works are still lives, nudes and the occasional landscape. Despite changes in the convention as to the portrayal of reality over subsequent periods the characteristic feature of Zaniewski’s paintings has remained essentially that of composition. His Use of Composition rest upon an arrangement of forms wherein every potential alteration would give rise to a break down of cohesive construction and a deterioration of harmony. As such, his paintings are not readily ascribed to any one particular requisite trend in the history of contemporary art. The key to Zaniewski’s work is not its context or its being a public medium, rather a visual sensitivity in seeing comprehensively.
Zaniewski’s first commercial projects were for the Spanish advertising agency Bassat, Ogilvy & Mather in Barcelona. Thereafter, his first Polish commercials were for ITI Agency. From 1992 to 1999 he was the artistic director of the Grey Agency in Warsaw. He created advertising campaigns for lead brands such as Knorr, Frugo, Okocim, Radio Zet, Lucky Strike, Malma. In 1999, along with Kot Przybora he founded the PZL Advertising Agency, where hs 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 brand name Plus.
2008
Today Art Museum, individual exhibition, Beijing, China
Gallery All, individual exhibition, Beijing, China
International Art Fair, Shanghai, China
Wison Art Center, individual exhibition, Shanghai, China
Levant Gallery, individual exhibition, Shanghai, China
Sunshine Museum Beijing, inauguration of Sunshine Museum collective exhibition Beijing, China
CANART - Institute of Contemporary Art, inauguration of Canart, collective exhibition, Shanghai, China
2005
National Museum in Cracow, Chartoryski Museum Arsenal, retrospective exhibition under the patronage of the Polish Ministry of Culture, Cracow, Poland
2004
Opus Film Gallery, individual photography exhibition. Lodz, Poland
1990
Inny Swiat Gallery, individual exhibition, Cracow, Poland
1989
SARP Gallery, individual exhibition, Warsaw, Poland
Internationale Kunstausstellung Freiburg, collective exhibition, Freiburg, Germany
1986
Albrech Halne private exhibition. individual exhibition, Hamburg, Germany
Triennale Kalisz Regional Museum, collective exhibition, Kalisz, Poland
1985
Japan International Artists Society, collective exhibition, Tokyo, Japan
Art Basel, Basel, Switzerland
Zacheta National Gallery of Art, collective exhibition, Warsaw, Poland
1984
Centre d’Estudios d’Art Contemporani, Barcelona, Spain
Grand Prix ad the 1984 Joan Miro Foundation International Competition, Barcelona Spain
Ukase City Culture Center, collective exhibition, Urasoe, Okinawa, Japan
1983
Galerie in Hinterhaus, individual exhibition, Gottingen, Germany
Theatre Galerie Furth, collective exhibition, Furth, Germany
1982
Stadthalle Wilhelmshaven, individual exhibition. Wilhelmshaven, Germany
Stadthalle Mettman, individual exhibition, Mettman, Germany
1981
Wahl Gallery, individual exhibition, Warsaw, Poland
1980
Galerie am Ritterplan, individual exhibition, Gottingen, Germany
Hannes Lins Private Exhibition, individual exhibition, Recklinghausen, Germany