# Antoni Karwowski

Antoni Karwowski (born 14 April 1948) is a Polish lyrical abstraction, neo-figuration painter and performance artist.

## Early life and family

Antoni Karwowski was born and raised in Grajewo, Eastern Poland near Biebrza National Park. His father, Józef Karwowski, was a social worker. His mother, Larysa Karwowski (née Zub), was a hairdresser. He has one younger brother, Maciej.
Karwowski grew up in a multigenerational family under the strong influence of his father and Russian grandfather, Szymon Zub. His father gave him his first drawing lesson, and his grandfather wrote poetry and sang old Russian songs. His later work was influenced by both Polish and Russian cultures and traditions, and his childhood was surrounded by the wilderness.

## Painting and performance art

After graduating high school, Karwowski started painting more and experimenting with different forms of art media. While looking for a place where he could fully develop his talents, Karwowski moved and changed universities several times., and worked as a miner. Later, he joined the Fine Arts Faculty at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, where he became a professional artist.
In the early 1980s, Karwowski and Zbigniew Oleszynski started a Polish performance group known as "Group A". Since then, Karwowski has been heavily engaged in performance art, both as an organizer and a participant. Since 2003, he has organized the International Performance & Intermedia Festival in Szczecin.
Through the course of his career, Karwowski has developed his own style, which a Berlin art critic described:
   From his images comes colorful light, which is created by perfection in his workshop. The metaphor of this light gives magical, surreal meaning to figurative elements in his paintings. The power of his paintings, aside from the illuminating colors, comes from the richness of symbolic meanings and certain multilayers by which Karwowski’s paintings are far from simple decorative function.
Karwowski's paintings focus on color and light. They are housed in various private collections in Europe. He has also been commissioned by compound corporations and institutions, including the Clinic in Dortmund (Germany) for which, in 2005, he created 53m long wall panels that have received attention from a wide audience.

### Art exhibitions

1981 – “Palacyk” - Wroclaw (Poland) 1985 - "Nagra Malare" - Vanersborg (Sweden) 1987 - "Bridge West & East" - Antwerpen (Belgium) 1988 - XV Festival of Polish Contemporary Art - Szczecin (Poland) 1988 - "Fine Art Gallery" - Trollhattan (Sweden) 1990 - "En-Garde Gallery" - Aarhus (Denmark) 1992 - Municipal Gallery - Nakskov (Denmark) 1992 - "Gaia Cztery Sezony" - Gerlesborg (Sweden) 1993 – “Cztery Zywioly” – Museum Greifswald (Germany) 1994 - "Forum Gallery" – Leverkusen (Germany) 1994 - "Anders Gallery" - Lünen (Germany)
1996 – “Forum Ost – West” – Bergisch Gladbach (Germany) 1999 - National Museum in Szczecin - Szczecin (Poland) 1999 - Galerie am Domplatz – Münster (Germany) 1999 - Ostholstein Museum – Eutin (Germany) 2001 – "Wystawa malarstwa, Reimus gallery - Essen (Germany) 2001 - "RAUMTRIEB 2001", art festival – Berlin (Germany) 2001 – “Kunst am limit”, "Pussy Galore" - Berlin (Germany) 2001 - Europäisches Kulturzentrum - Köln (Germany) 2002 - "Distance 777", 68elf gallery – Köln (Germany) 2002 - Berliner Landtag – Berlin (Germany) 2003 - V International Baltic Biennial – Szczecin (Poland) 2004 – Project "MOTION" - Berlin (Germany) 2005 - Polish Art Fair 2005 - Poznan (Poland) 2005 - Art Platform - Tel Aviv (Israel) 2005 - "Galerie automatique" - Berlin-Strasbourg 2006 - Museum Contemporary Art – Naples (Italy) 2006 - Museum of Art - Santa Fe (Argentina) 2007 - "ZERO Gallery" - Berlin (Germany) 2007 – "Anders Gallery" - Lünen (Germany) 2010 - "Anders Gallery" - Lünen (Germany)

### Selected performance projects

1980 – Public Space Action ”My Tram” – Torun (Poland) 1981 - "Koncert na Kaprala i grzalke" Teatr Otwarty "Kalambur" – Wroclaw (Poland) 1993 - "The Last Breath of Aborigine” – Gerlesborg (Sweden)
1998 - "Middle ages anatomy" & "Gilgamesz – Enkidu’s Dream” - Ermelerspeicher Gallery, Schwedt, (Germany) 1998 - “Sentimental trip on east" - Moltkerei Werkstatt, Cologne (Germany) 2001 - "Salz arm" - Berlin (Germany) 2005 - "Reading White Books " - Tel Aviv (Israel) 2010 - "Extension Series 2" - Grim Museum 2, Berlin (Germany)
2010 - "My Tram" - Szczecin (Poland) 2011 - La Porta 2011 - Barcelona (Spain)

### Cultural projects involvement

1980 - 1981 Cooperated as an artist with Open Theatre Centre "Kalambur" in Wroclaw (Poland) 1981 - 1986 Organized and kept Centre of Art in Swinoujscie (Poland) 1992 - 1994 Co-organizer international project "Gaia the four elements" 1995 - 1999 Originator International Performance festival "Trawnik" (Poland – Germany) 2002 - 2005 Co-organizer international performance project “Private impact” 2003 - 2009 Curator International Performance & Intermedia Festival – Szczecin (Poland)