He is a graduate of the University of Arts in Poznań at the Poster Studio, under Professor Waldemar Świerzy. Applied graphic design is his domain. He cooperates with various magazines - he is an artistic director of the Polish edition of Playboy as well as the owner and creative director of KreacjaPro.
Andrzej Pągowski, a leading representative of the commercial-free poster art of the the communist period, was able to take advantage of the economic transformation in 1989 and soon became very successful in the field of creative advertising.
In the present day an artist is no longer free to do whatever he wants. The commission tells you what to do. Luckily when I started creating adverts I was already quite well known and that gave me a chance to smuggle my ideas within the framework of any commission – says Andrzej Pągowski.
In his rich portfolio there is a firm border between his older posters, which are regarded as classics of the Polish school of posters, and newer works, cleverly applied to the commercial realities of contemporary advertising. It seems that he feels equally comfortable in both worlds and the transition seem to have made his works even more lively; the colours are more saturated, the tempo of watching is increased.
All of Pągowski’s works have one thing in common – spontaneous, handwriting emanating from a ‘charging gesture’. This characteristic flick of the wrist always leaves an impression of authenticity and commitment.
In 1975 Pągowski made his début by presenting his works at the University Exhibition in Nowa Gallery in Poznań. In 1977, he started his career as a poster artist by creating a placard for Man and Wife by Aleksander Fredro. In 1982 he participated in the Polish Nationwide Poster Fair. In the 1980s, his works were exhibited in Sophia, Berlin, London, Stockholm and Gottingen.
He won numerous awards including multiple distinctions for Best Warsaw Poster, Most Popular Poster of the Month, Best Film and Television Poster from The Hollywood Reporter (the so-called ‘Poster Oscars’) as well as an award at the International Film Poster Competition in Chicago. Tadeusz Różewicz and Andrzej Wajda consider him ‘their’ best poster artist. In 2005 he was honoured with the Order of Polonia Restituta, one of the highest Polish orders, for his lifetime achievement.
Even though Andrzej Pągowski used to be primarily associated with with posters, his interests are much wider. He has designed billboards, logos and CD artwork. He cooperates with the Polish Postal Service – designing stamps, sitting on the committee which evaluates projects, and searching for new designers. He designs covers for Brief, OOH Magazine, Pro-KREACJA and creates satirical drawings commenting on current news.
His portfolio is full of various successfully accomplished commissions, such as animated advertising spots for the TV channel Discovery History Historia Miecza, Historia Pióra, Historia Goździka (History of the Sword, History of the Pen, Carnation History), a mural in the Rosary Garden of the Warsaw Uprising Museum and a hand-painted Cow statue, one of a hundred, which ‘pastured’ in Warsaw in 2005 (each was painted by a different artist).
Pągowski has nothing but good memories of the ‘cow project’ unlike his idea for the painting of Fryderyk Chopin’s piano replica, which was meant to be placed in the centre of All Saints Square in Kraków during the Chopin In The City Project. The artist describes the emotions which he felt during the creative process:
I was eager to make it until the piano arrived at my door. The cow was simple and tractable. In contrast, the piano is terribly complicated and ‘culturally overcharged’.
The result of his effort is a blithely daubed, familiarized object. His involvement in the Chopin’s Year celebrations brought him a few other unusual commissions. He designed a label with a portrait of Chopin for a limited edition of Cisowianka Perlage mineral water. He described it as very demanding because of being forced to compromise between branding restrictions and his own vision. Chopin was also the subject of Pągowski’s project for Villeroy & Boch: a collectible teacup with the composer’s portrait and a saucer with musical score as well as a flag designed for the biggest Polish sail training ship, Dar Młodzieży (The Gift Of Youth).