Ryszard Grzyb

Ryszard Grzyb

Born on the 17th of July, 1956 in Sosnowiec. Ryszard Grzyb began studying painting in 1976 at the State Higher School of the Visual Arts in Wroclaw. While a third-year student there, he began to paint neo-Expressionist compositions. After transferring to Warsaw in 1979, he continued his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts, where in 1981 he obtained his diploma from the studio of Professor Rajmund Ziemski. While a student, he established contacts with a number of artists who would later come together to form GRUPPA, a group that Grzyb co-founded towards the end of 1982. In 1983 he began to participate regularly in the exhibitions and actions organized by GRUPPA and was a co-editor of its magazine titled "Oj dobrze juz" / "Alright Already," in which he published his poems, theoretical texts and drawings. Between 1983 and 1987 he confined himself almost entirely to painting his so-called "papiery" / "papers," i.e. tempera compositions on cardboard. These depicted riots and fights involving fantastic creatures with any and all human figures portrayed in a caricatured manner (WALKA JAKUBA Z ANIOLEM / THE BATTLE OF JACOB AND THE ANGEL - two versions, ROWNOWAGA JANG I JIN / THE BALANCE BETWEEN YANG AND YIN). He also depicted animals, though often as victims of violence ("Medytacja nad glowa koguta" / "Meditation on the Head of a Rooster," ZARZYNANIE CZARNEGO KOGUTA / THE SLAUGHTER OF THE BLACK ROOSTER). Grzyb additionally created erotic scenes ("Pojedynek na szparagi" / "Duel with Asparagus," "Szlifierz nocnych diamentow" / Night Diamond Polisher") and scatological scenes (ZAKLECI BRACIA / CURSED BROTHERS, SRANIE KU WOLNOSCI / SHITTING FOR FREEDOM). Selected exhibitions: • 1986 - EKSPRESJA LAT 80-TYCH / EXPRESSION OF THE 1980S, BWA (Office of Art Exhibitions), Sopot • 1987 - CO SLYCHAC / WHAT'S UP, Former Norblin Factory, Warsaw • 1990 - KONSTRUKCJA W PROCESIE (3) / STRUCTURE IN PROGRESS (3), Scheibler Palace, Lodz • 1991- KUNST, EUROPA, Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn • 1992/93 - GRUPPA 1982-1992, Zacheta National Contemporary Art Gallery, Warsaw