Jozef SZAJNA (1922-2008), Landscape

Linocut, paper, 18 x 14 cm,
Signed in pencil p.d.: Szajna J.


Jozef SZAJNA (1922-2008)
Theater director, playwright, stage designer, graphic artist, painter. Born in Rzeszow. Prisoner of concentration camps in Auschwitz and Buchenwald. Studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow, graduating with a diploma in graphics (1952) and stage design (1953). His artistic sensibility was formed during the period of domination of informel. He created collages, assemblages and spatial installations. He taught stage design at the Academies of Fine Arts in Cracow and Warsaw (since 1972). He was associated with the People's Theater in Nowa Huta, where he directed and served as artistic director and manager. He was also active in J. Grotowski's Theatre of 13 Rows, the Old Theater in Cracow, the Silesian Theater in Katowice, the Contemporary Theater in Wroclaw, the Polish Theater in Warsaw, among others, and in 1971 he transformed the capital's Classical Theater at the Studio Art Center into the author's Theatre-Gallery, which he ran until martial law was declared. He represented Poland at the Venice Biennale (1970 and 1990) and the São Paulo Biennale (1979 and 1989), among others. His 75th birthday was celebrated with a major monographic exhibition at the Polish Sculpture Center in Oronsko.