Interview
Michal Tadeusz Golanski
Rome-based Polish graphic artist, Michal Tadeusz Golanski is a graduate of RWTH Aachen University in Germany, where he completed his Master of Arts Degree. Golanski has participated in dozens of contests, biennials and exhibits across Europe and Latin America. He has won first place in such prestigious competitions as 25th International Poster Biennale in Warsaw, Poland (category: animated poster), BICeBé La Paz, Bolivia (category: motion design) or International Contest of Theatrical Poster in Odessa, Ukraine. Although, he successfully designs also logos, book covers etc., his main focus are posters which he believes will always be a kind of a gateway for art to get into our everyday life.
What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?
“I express myself through visual creation since I was a child - which has been quite a challenge for my parents who used to discover continuously my doodles on the walls and furniture or household objects and cloths missing because I had used them secretly for my handicrafts. After high school, I surprised everybody and chose to study law. However, after obtaining my degree both in Poland and Germany and 2 years of working as a diplomat, I’ve started to feel something was missing a lot in my life. I was lucky to move at that time for personal reasons to Italy where – as a foreigner - I couldn’t practice law and I needed to reinvent myself. Encouraged by my Italian beloved, I’ve started to participate in several graphic design contests across the world - unexpectedly and in spite of my still pretty scarce practical skills - winning many of them. My successes motivated me to further development as graphic designer artist. I graduated additionally of RWTH in Aachen (Germany) completing my Master of Arts Degree and so my freelancer career took off – both: commercially and artistically. In my work, being born in Warsaw (Poland), I am very influenced by the Polish School of Posters and hence, I love the combination of strong concepts, curious metaphors and the freedom of street art encapsulated in ephemeral, big format paper medium.”
What does your work aim to say? Does it comment on any current social or political issues?
“If I work on commission, the subject is obviously dictated by the client. However, I always do my best in order to infuse my creations with personal feelings and sensibility since I strongly believe that a mere copying of existing and well known styles, moods or imagery provides the artist with superficial satisfaction. It’s like taking advantage of the phenomenon from human psychology according to which people usually acclaim what seems familiar and repel what they cannot identify with the known. Consequently, working for business I respect “people’s expectations” on the one hand and “my own voice” on the other, whereas my non-profit projects are all about how I perceive the world around us in terms of subject, aesthetics and techniques applied. From time to time, I enjoy making political posters however, I am aware that conveying social and political message requires more "strong synthesis" and less “arty vein” – and the latter is my biggest asset.”
“I love the combination of strong concepts, curious metaphors and the freedom of street art encapsulated in ephemeral, big format paper medium.”
Do you plan your work in advance, or is it improvisation?
“Probably because of my first degree in law, I tend to be very methodic in my approach to work; whether I design a commissioned theatre poster or I create because my soul calls for expression – I usually follow a schedule which is of particular importance if there is a deadline to meet. However, creation cannot by fully planned. I try to organize myself enough to avoid the time pressure and leaving sufficient time and space for the inspiration to come. As a matter of fact, I meticulously prepare a fertile field for the rise of the “momentum” by gathering information, images, associations, by sketching, paper-cutting, crafting and by welcoming everything that comes to my mind; there are never bad ideas – on the contrary: the more crazy and absurd at first glance the better! Once I get through this process – the concept comes up spontaneously within a couple of days, sometimes immediately, usually when least expected. I guess we’ve all heard of ingenious inventions born under the shower, haven’t we? As to the execution in most cases I decide the technique, style and aesthetics in close connection to the concept itself in order to maintain a certain congruity of my artworks also from the formal point of view.”
Are there any art world trends you are following?
“As mentioned before, I try not to follow trends which doesn’t mean I ignore them! I do observe and analyze tendencies in nowadays graphic design with big attention: sometimes with nostalgia for the pre-digital era when everything used to be done by hand and therefore each creation had its own, inimitable touch; sometimes with excitement for incredible possibilities offered by the new technologies and sometimes with a little fear, too - most of all witnessing the progress of AI in arts.”
What process, materials and techniques do you use to create your artwork?
“I appreciate that we can digitalize almost everything nowadays because being a big fan of the vast variety of traditional techniques, I can apply them in my artworks and then scan and process them digitally. I find it particularly exiting to work “by hand” not having the possibility to press “ctrl z” and thus being prompted to integrate into my creation all that’s unexpected and unwanted i.e. inkblots, dirt, blurring, imperfections of all kind. I try literally everything in my designs: from paper, clay, pencils, charcoal, ink to photography, vector, 3-D and animation; however I have to admit I have the most fun with wet brush strokes on carton board.”
What does your art mean to you?
“In the first place, art has always meant to me the possibility to express myself. Furthermore, I think art is just a beautiful way to interpret and reinterpret our reality making it richer, more exciting and less foregone. I believe diversity “sensu lato” is what gives our lives the special taste. One of the reasons for me to become a graphic designer was the realization that we should have more art in our everyday life – that’s why I focus on posters which are to me a kind of a gateway for the art to be present also outside of museums and galleries, to accompany and to influence us outdoors.”
What’s your favorite artwork and why?
“I could never spot just one in the entire history of amazing artworks! Right now my mind cross: Saturn Devouring His Son by Goya, View of Toledo by El Greco or The Garden of Earthly Delights by Bosch. However, as a graphic designer artist from Poland most of my favorite artworks are to be found in the legacy of the Polish School of Posters with special predilection for posters by Jan Lenica, Jan Młodożeniec, Henryk Tomaszewski, Zbigniew Kaja. There are too many to enumerate!”
Have you had any noteworthy exhibitions you'd like to share?
“Since the beginning of my adventure with graphic design, I have participated in dozens of biennials and exhibits around the world; the 3 most noteworthy: I had the honor of being chosen among the winners of the 25th International Poster Biennale in Warsaw (Poland) with my animated version of Shin Matsunga’s poster “Peace” (2016), I won the first award in category Motion Design Poster within Bienal del Cartel Bolivia BICeBé with my animated social poster “Surf at Your Own Risk” (2021) and my poster “Frida” was selected the winner of the 2nd B.I. International Poster Art Biennale in South Korea (2023).”
