Perhaps Jan Sawka is a visionary of our times. In 1980, he designed a poster titled "Car of the Year" which won first prize at the Eighth International Poster Biennale in Warsaw. It pictured a new-style, Russian tank rolling down a city street. On December 13, of the next year, tanks did indeed roll in Poland as a show of strength behind the government-imposed martial law. Sometime before that fateful day, Sawka had also been requested by the leaders of Solidarnosc, the powerful Polish union, to design the official Solidarnosc poster which would express, among other things, the hopes of the Polish people. The design for the poster showed the sun of Solidarnosc shining down forever on the hopes and dreams of a colorful landscape of the Polish people below. The original artwork was secretly transported into Poland and proudly displayed in the headquarters of the Solidarnosc until it was destroyed by the Polish government. The poster, however, could not be suppressed; nor could Solidarnosc, which contributed to the toppling of the Communist regime in Poland.

As a student, Sawka had participated in the political underground, but being a talented and gifted artist, he was rescued from any serious repercussions. He was a student of design and the fine arts at the time of his emergence into the Polish poster movement. Realizing that acceptance into the Polish poster movement would have to be step-by-step up the already established ladder, he set out designing posters according to his own rules, artistic expertise, and available technique. His first poster was a linoleum cut for a student musical group; after that, he was asked to design other posters for various music clubs and student groups. By the time of his diploma show for graduation, Sawka had thirty posters to exhibit, as well as his paintings, prints, and drawings.

Later, Sawka moved to Krakow, which he considered the cultural center of Poland. There he was asked to be art director for the renowned Polish avant-garde theater, STU. Although he received no salary, he was given a free hand to design whatever he chose.

In his student days, he has studied all aspects of design in order to understand all the processes and fine art of culture. By understanding the varied aspects of culture, Sawka believes that he can then better understand the relationships and complexities of mankind. He attempts to express this in his work.

As an artist who developed during the 1960's, Sawka reveals the influence of the psychedelic in both his compositions and in his use of colors. While his designs are always -- without exception -- powerful, they are also satirical, symbolic, humorous, bursting with energy, and imaginatively created. The colors he uses are combined in an explosive melange. The lasting and overall effect is one of total honesty. Sawka converses in his language -- art -- succinctly, truthfully, and creatively. He does not compromise his iseas or designs for expediency. His images cause one to confront oneself, to examine one's thinking, one's way of life, one's hopes and dreams.

A versatile artist, Sawka paints, draws, and designs what he sees and what he believes in. His graphics reveal his insights into every phase of life -- culture, politics, society, history, etc. He considers the poster a personal statement about the problem or subject. When designing a poster, he uses the medium he is working on at the time. If he is working on a print, the poster will look like a print; if a painting, the poster will look like a painting. Having studied architecture, his work naturally includes many architectural elements. He displays talent in every medium; etching, engraving, stencil, linocut, drypoint, etc. From miniatures to wall-sized works, he works on masonite, paper, plywood, etc., using gouache, crayon, felt-tip, ball point, and acrylic -- in any combination.

While in the United States, Sawka has become recognized not only for his expertise as a painter, but also as an illustrator. He has made more than 200 illustrations for the op-ed pages of the New York Times and the Boston Globe. These assignments have helped Sawka to understand the United States. Before he could execute the commission, he had to understand the current political or social situation he was to interpret. He has a knack for reducing each complex assignment to its simplest common denominator. His social comments on "the system" are artfully and delightfully drawn.

Freedom, as one can imagine, is very important to this designer, and he has expressed this though his graphics. His designs warrant more than one look, for although the exuberance is apparent, the real meaning, which is often biting, is sometimes concealed, often in narratives in the form of the comic strip, revealing the message which has been interwoven through the design.

Sawka's first major international award was won in 1975 in Cagnes-sur-Mer for a painting. The painting consisted of 216 smaller paintings that gave the illusion of being prints and drawings. In New York City in the 1980's, he again turned his creativity to painting. Sawka's achievements and zest serve as an inspiration to other young designers throughout the world. As Sawka himself has said oh his life so far in this country: "I am successful, I do what I want, I shall stay my old self, I, Jan Sawka."

-- Elena Millie

Curator, Library of Congress, Washington D.C.

Contemporary Designers - Third Edition
St. James Press, New York, 1997