Piotr Drzewiecki

• born 1963
• born in Szczecin
• he lives and creates his works in Szczecin
• he specializes in comics and caricature

“There is nothing more uplifting than black humour.
The blackest of black humours… and, what is more, on the whitest of white papers”.

Piotr Drzewiecki has created not only comics; he is also famous for satiric drawings and cartoon movies. A graphic designer, a screenwriter, a caricaturist. He is recognized as one of the main representatives of the New Wave of the Polish comics of the 1990s. In 1983, he graduated from the Constantin Brâncuşi Secondary School of Fine Arts in Szczecin.

The most important publications: “Zemsta Rodu” (art), story by M. Nowakowska, Glob, 1990‒1991; “Love Robot” (art), story by WillMax, P. Drzewiecki, WillMax, 1992; “Czarno na Białym” (art and story), Studio Reklamowo-Wydawnicze Komix, 1994‒1996; “Bayki” (art and story), Studio Reklamowo-Wydawnicze Komix, 1995; “Black Joke Series” (art and story), Studio Reklamowo-Wydawnicze Komix, 1998‒1999.

The most important awards and distinctions: in the 1990s he won many awards and distinctions, including in Comics Conventions in Łódź (1993, 1994, 1995, 1998); Szczeciński Twórca Popkultury BETON statue, Szczecin, 2017.

Piotr Drzewiecki uses expressive, underground and grotesque strokes. The overdrawn cartoons style is, paradoxically, accompanied with the elaborate presentation of reality as well as extensive shadowing and careful chiaroscuro. The artist sometimes resigns from simplifications and caricature and decides to use a realistic or even hyper-realistic drawing style. He creates both black and white and colour works, choosing watercolour apart from ink. Drzewiecki ridicules the absurd of the reality, combines humour with brutal action. In his satiric comics, he plays with fairy tale conventions, e.g. Little Red Riding Hood or Cinderella, by adapting them to the modern reality. In the similar manner, he treats characters from other comic books, e.g. Superman, Batman or Hulk, icons of pop culture, e.g. Frankenstein and Dracula, or main characters of the Dynasty TV series, which was very popular when the comics was developed, as well as the most important Polish politicians at the time.
In particular in satiric comics, he often uses onomatopoeias and question marks, typical for that medium, which are placed directly in panels. Rectangular speech balloons are put not only in panels but also outside of them and they overlap other images. Dynamic strokes are accompanied with equally dynamic framing, which consists of changes of perspective and a specific arrangement, i.e. a sequence of panels, where each shows a character or an object closer and closer.

Piotr Drzewiecki Gallery

More information about the artist: fb.com/piotr.drzewiecki.3192