In between 1997–2002, he studied at the Faculty of Painting of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw and graduated with a degree from Jarosław Modzelewski’s studio. He lives in Warsaw and works at his alma mater.
For many years now he has pursued the subject of public transport – he is fascinated with the railway, locomotives, and buses. Przybylski’s hobby has become almost exclusively the theme of his work. It was no accident that his diploma exhibition entitled Oblicza / Faces took place in the Warsaw Railway Museum. He also made graphic elements for the computer simulator of the EU07 locomotive. He is most interested in the types and brands of modes of transport whose glory days have passed and are now being slowly withdrawn from city streets. Thus, his projects show a particular sense of nostalgia.
In his paintings, Przybylski introduces details of locomotives, buses and characteristic fragments of train stations (Przylep, 2006). Some of them have been turned into warning signs, well-known from railway platforms. (Uwaga pociąg / Beware of the Train, 2006). The artist’s diploma exhibition was composed of paintings presenting the front of locomotives (Oblicza/ Faces, 2002). Przybylski knows nearly everything about them. He even created a train motif out of bottle caps (Intercity, 1999). In 2003, he put up an ornamental wallpaper made of approximately 10 thousand public transport tickets on a gallery wall (Komunikacja publiczna / Public Transport, 2003).
Przybylski also takes series of photographs which he arranges into mosaics (e.g. Trabant 601, 2006). The artist photographed all the Ikarus buses that drive around the city of Warsaw (Ikarus Total, 2007). He also spied on bus drivers, photographing the dashboard from hiding to see if they went over the speed limit, Speed - niebezpieczna prędkość / Maximum Speed, 2005). He also took over 2000 photos from the driver’s perspective, while travelling approximately 60 thousand kilometres, and presented them in the form of a multimedia project (Polskie drogi / Polish Roads, 2004-2006).
Igor Przybylski’s exhibitions revolve around a topic chosen by the artist, which of course has to do with public transport, for example, a certain type of locomotive or bus manufacturer. They consist not only of paintings but also series of photographs, screenings and even driving simulations. In 2006, Przybylski transformed the Pies Gallery in Poznań into a railway rolling stock, painted the walls with respectively suited colours and placed his paintings – warning signs on the walls (Zakłady Taboru Poznań / Poznań Rail Rolling Stock).
The artist also creates performance art, introducing the audience into the world of his unusual hobby. Some of them are related to painting. In 2003, in the Warsaw Rasta Gallery, Przybylski took on the role of a ticket inspector. In 2005, in the same gallery, he painted over a previous wall painting of his. It represented the front of a train and he painted the wall with white paint leaving only the serial number left to be seen (ET22-550).
Selected solo exhibitions
- 2003 – Public Transport Warsaw 2003, Manhattan Gallery, Łódź
- 2005 – ET22-550, Raster Gallery, Warsaw
- 2006 – Polish Roads – BWA Zielona Góra, and Baltic Contemporary Art Gallery, Słupsk
- 2007 – Ikarus Total, Kordegarda Gallery, Warsaw
- 2009 – Inhuman transvestite, m2 gallery, Warsaw
- 2010 – Czecho-Slovakia – prologue, Szara Gallery, Cieszyn
- 2011 – Białystok Railway Station, Arsenał Gallery / PKP railway station, Białystok
- 2012 – Live Show, BWA Gallery, Tarnów
- 2013 – Bratislava-Prague, Polish Institute, Bratislava
Selected group exhibitions:
- 2012 – Art Yard Sale, Raster Gallery / Uffizio Primo, Warsaw
- 2011 – 71369, El Gallery, Elbląg
- 2009/2010 – Show 4, High Silesia Museum, Bytom
- 2008 – Varsavia Saluta Roma, Polish Institute, Rome
- 2006/2007 – Binary City, Manhattan Gallery, Łódź
- 2006 – New Documentarians, CSW Contemporary Art Centre, Warsaw; Stewpod with lid askew, Platan Gallery, Budapest
- 2005 – Art Forum, Berlin
- 2004 – Reversed Art and Engineering, Sculpturens Hus, Stockholm; Underground, Gallery Space/Priestor, Bratislava
Author: Karol Sienkiewicz, December 2008, Translated by: Zuzanna Wiśniewska, September 2015