Zbigniew Kasprzak

• nickname Kas
• born 1955
• born in Cracow
• he lives and creates his works in Brussels
• he specializes in cartoons, posters and illustrations

“Following Confucius’s advice, I have chosen the work I love and, therefore, I have not worked for a single day in my life”.

He studied at the Faculty of Interior Design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. In 1980, he graduated from artistic design, supervised by prof. Krystyna Zgud-Zdanowska. Since 1992, he has lived in Brussels. He is one of the most recognizable Polish comics artists who work abroad. He takes regular part in many individual and group painting exhibitions in France, Belgium and Switzerland.

The most important publications: “Człowiek bez twarzy” (art), story by A. Krzepkowski, “Fantastyka”, 1984; “Bogowie z gwiazdozbioru Aquariusa”, Vol. 1 and 2, Sport i Turystyka, 1985‒1987; “Yans” (art), story by A.-P. Duchâteau, Vol. 6‒12, Le Lombard, 1993‒2000; “Podróżnicy” (art), story by B. McLeod, Vol. 1 and 2, Le Lombard, 1995‒1997; “Halloween Blues” (art), story by Mythic, Vol. 1‒7, Le Lombard, 2003‒2009, Egmont, 2003‒2009; “Spadająca gwiazda – Marilyn Monroe” (art), story by J.-F. and M. Charles, Casterman, 2006; “Dziewczyny z Panamy” (art), story by L. Galandon (diptych), Le Lombard, 2011‒2014.

The most important awards and distinctions: Złota Szpilka, Biennale Rysunku Satyrycznego (Satiric Drawing Biennial), Łódź, 1981; Award for the best album, Comics Festival, Koksijde, 1995; Chambre des Experts en BD, Brussels, 2004; Audience award, Comics Festival, Sisteron, 2006; Coup de foudre award, Comics Festival, Lys-lez-Lannoy, 2011.

Illustrations by Zbigniew Kasprzak are always precise and perfect in terms of techniques used. Regardless from whether he chooses the science fiction, fantastic, historic, para-biographic, black criminal or thriller convention, his comics always use classic realist style, with neat drawings full of detail. Their features include elegant clean strokes with a smooth delicate contour of the same width all along. Although they include many details, the artist’s panels are legible owing to, among many things, the absence of shading and excessive chiaroscuro.
What makes Kasprzak’s drawings stand out among other artists’ works is the fact that Kasprzak attaches great importance not only to the faithful presentation of background but also to the manner of drawing faces. His characters have very individualised features and expressive countenance, including eyes.
Kasprzak uses the means of comics language in a standard manner, e.g. by putting multiple onomatopoeias directly in the visual contents of a panel. His other characteristic solutions include a series of silent panels, each drawn using a different plane and a different perspective, which makes the comics more dynamic. The pace of the narration is also influenced by an interesting way of framing, where the upper border is below the top of a character’s head. Apart from those, readers will not find more formal experiments in Kasprzak’s works; his ordered page composition is consistent with the traditional style of drawing.

Zbigniew Kasprzak Gallery

More information about the artist: kas-bd.be