His father, John Zdzieblan-Urbaniec was a diplomat. He took the first steps in art under the supervision of the sculptor Alfons Karny. His teacher of drawing was Zygmunt Kaminski - poster designer. The Urbaniec's father died in Lebanon in 1949 and his mother died in 1943 in Auschwitz. Maciej Urbaniec studied art in Wroclaw and Warsaw and became a poster designer and commercial artist. He was working as a Professor at Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw since 1975 until his death. By teaching he had a significant impact on the artists of the Third Generation of Polish School of Posters. The postwar fate of Matthew Urbaniec is almost like a journey around the country: he stayed briefly in Silesia, then returned to Warsaw and there he graduated from high school in 1951. In 1952 he married Mary Kotarbinska. Matthew studied at the WSSP in Wroclaw, and at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts. He received a diploma with honors in 1958. At this time he debuted: poster, "Not Me" from 1957 has been printed by the WAG and also published in the Swiss GRAPHIS magazine. In the seventies he worked for an American publisher Jack Rennert and began his collaboration with Warsaw theaters:. The theatre became the main theme of his works.
The characteristics of Maciej Urbaniec's art
Urbaniec is a graphical time traveler. On his posters we recognize postcards from various eras. His art ia a mixture of different styles. Urbaniec was inspired by some historical facts, he refers to the interwar avant-garde: geometry combined with photography, colors are reduced to black, white and red. It is undoubtedly worth seeing how naturally Urbaniec combines senses in his works: ‘Nie hałasuj niepotrzebnie’, ‘Chroń ręce’. However, most reproduced and most acclaimed work is undoubtedly his "ABC abc" - a poster diagram of 1972. Simple in form and yet brilliant, with a high emotional content. collision - Photographic image of three heavy bombs, marked the first letters of the alphabet - with inserted under them by the same lowercase letters, drawn in colored chalk, awkwardly, like a child's hand - it is very eloquent and touching. While the asceticism of expression reinforced by the strength of its impact. His style conveys simple and powerful messages; often with the use of ingenious and humorous devices as well as painterly gestures with exceptionally elaborate metaphors. His Mona Lisa CYRK poster, which is in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York has been honored with a postage stamp issued in 2002 by the Polish post office.
Major awards
•1958- Trepkowski Award, Poland •1970 & 1974 -3rd &-2nd Prize, IV & VI Biennale of Graphic Design, Brno, Czech Republic •1972 -1st Prize -International Posters for Peace Competition, Polish Peace Committee, Warsaw •1977 -Silver Medal -6th Polish poster Biennale in Katowice •2000 -2nd Prize -Competition for 17th International Poster Biennale, Warsaw Member - Alliance Graphic Internationale since 1974.
Artist's quotations
"Remove everything from the poster, which is not necessary. Use typography as equivalent in composition. Have the pleasure of doing what you think is right and the courage to walk."
"Sport and art have one of the best ideas of the humanities. The essence of this idea lies in the pursuit of excellence, achievement and exceeding the human capabilities."
