Piotr Rypson studied Mediterranean archaeology at the University of Warsaw. He defended his doctoral thesis on traditional Polish visual poetry at the Institute of Polish Studies of the University of Warsaw (2000). In the years 1990-94 he was editor in chief of the Obieg art magazine and between 1993 and 1996 he was the chief collections and gallery curator at the Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle. He was a visiting lecturer at the American Rhode Island School of Design in Providence (1993-1999) and the Miami Ad School Warsaw (2002-2003).
Piotr Rypson is the author of many books, such as Pyramid, Sun, Labyrinths (2002), Books and Pages. Polish Avant-garde and Artistic Books in the Twentieth Century (2000), Krzysztof Wodiczko. Public Art (1995), Word Image. The History of Visual Poetry (1989), Not Silly. Polish Graphic Design 1919-1949 (2011), as well as over 150 articles, essays, texts in catalogues and reviews printed in Poland and abroad.
He has been the curator of many exhibitions, including those of Zbigniew Libera, Magdalena Abakanowicz, Jarosław Modzelewski, Dick Higgins, Andrzej Dłużniewski, Maria Jarema, Stefan and Franciszek Themerson, and a number of collective ones.
Piotr Rypson has been a member of different public bodies and committees. He was a member of the Arts Council at the Ministry of Culture and Art in the field of fine arts (1999), a member of the jury for the Policy Passport awards, a member of the Council for Promotion of Cultural Foundations (1994-2005), chair of the Programme Council of the Foksal Gallery Foundation (2001-2011), and chair of the Programme Council of the International Poster Biennale (2014).
Translated by Bozhana Nikolova, February 2015
