Michel Krzyzanowski “Pretty Love”

Krzyzanowski        
“Pretty Love”

Michel Szulc-Krzyzanowsi is an artist photographer. He was born in Oosterhout in 1949 and studied at the Academie St. Joost in Breda, the Netherlands. After he graduated in 1970 in photography and free graphic art he started working independently and exclusively on his own photography. He is known for making conceptual photography on deserted beaches in Mexico which is exhibited in museums and galleries. He is also known for making autonomous documentary photography that is published in books, magazines and newspapers and presented in exhibitions. He likes to work on the basis of his own ideas. Michel claims his art is about what he feels about people, places and his experiences among them. Krzyzanowski is a painter, illustrator and designer working with old used paper. In most of Krzyzanowski’s work he likes to use old paper some dating back more than 100 years. This combined with old postcards and stamps ensures he gets a very unique result. He states his technique of wet stamping with various materials, such as jeans, rags and leather give his paintings the expression of realism and truth. This ink painting doesn’t necessarily have a background. Half of the background is in black while the other half is shaped into a couple holding each other while using old paper and postcards. The woman’s features are much more noticeable than the males. I’m not sure if this was done on purpose but there is definitely an emphasis on the connection between the two. Krzyzanowski designed his art around his experiences so this photograph must symbolize a relationship or experience he went through. I chose this ink painting because I not only really liked the picture but I liked the use of the old letters as well. I felt his approach was very unique. This picture represents love not only by the title but by the mannerisms and expressions shown on the woman’s face.