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Jurek Wajdowicz

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Wajdowicz in 2015

Jurek Wajdowicz (born April 26, 1951, Cracow) is a Polish-born American artist, graphic designer, fine art contemporary photographer and art director. He lives and works in New York City.

In his graphic design practice Wajdowicz has concentrated on images of poverty, famine and social justice. Separately, in his semi-abstract photography he creates a more tranquil, contemplative, poetic painterly images.[1] From 2009, Wajdowicz has focused on fine art abstract photography resulting in several ongoing thematic series. His book, Liminal Spaces was published in 2013.[2] In 2018 Wajdowicz's 67/11 photo-book was published. His work was represented at the Kasia Michalski Gallery in Warsaw, Poland 2015, the Vienna contemporary art fair in Vienna, Austria 2015,[3] Nailya Alexander Gallery in New York in 2016, at the Book Art Museum exhibition in Lodz, Poland 2018, at New York's EWS-Gallery in 2020, at the Nailya Alexander Gallery in New York in 2021, and at the AIPAD Photography Show, New York in 2023. Wajdowicz was selected as one of the "Most Influential Graphic Designers of the Past 50 Years" in the 50th Anniversary Survey of Graphic Design: USA magazine.[4]

Life and career

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Wajdowicz began his career as an artist in Lodz, Poland, where he graduated summa cum laude with a master's degree in graphic design from the Lodz Academy of Fine Arts. After working on design projects for theaters and museums in Lodz, Warsaw and England (Pentagram, London), he went to the United States as an art director at Lubalin, Burns & Company in New York before co-founding Emerson, Wajdowicz Studios (EWS) with Lisa LaRochelle in 1982.[5] EWS' partners and clients include international humanitarian organizations and non-profit institutions active in social change.[6][7] From the 1990s to the present Wajdowicz and EWS created projects for the Rockefeller Foundation, Domtar, Doctors Without Borders (MSF), the Arcus Foundation, International Rescue Committee, Magnum Photos, Freedom House and the United Nations, working with photographers such as Eugene Richards, Sebastião Salgado, Steve McCurry, Antonin Kratochvil, Deborah Turbeville, Philip Jones Griffiths, Richard Avedon, Elliott Erwitt, Jonas Bendiksen, James Nachtwey, Alex Webb and Gueorgui Pinkhassov.[8] From 2013 Jurek Wajdowicz became the art director, curator and also a contributing photographer of the international LGBT-themed, photography books, a concept co-created by Jon Stryker and Wajdowicz. The ongoing series is published by The New Press including photojournalists Kike Arnal, Delphine Diallo, Misha Friedman, Sunil Gupta, Lola Flash, Steve McCurry, Maciek Nabrdalik, Jenny Papalexandris and Charan Singh.

Publications

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Publications by Wajdowicz

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  • Emerson, Wajdowicz Studios: Graphic Design. EWS/HMP, 1998. ISBN 978-0970718204
  • Liminal Spaces: Fotografie_75. Lars Müller, 2013. With introductions by Fred Ritchin and Jennifer Sterling. ISBN 978-3037784105
  • Pride & Joy: Taking the Streets of New York City. The New Press, 2016. With introductions by Kate Clinton and Jon Stryker. ISBN 978-1620971857
  • 67/11. EWS Press, 2017. ISBN 978-0-692-92473-0

Publications with contributions by Wajdowicz

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Collections

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Wajdowicz's art photography and design work is held in the following permanent collections:

References

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  1. ^ "Solace - Kasia Michalski Gallery". Kasiamichalski.com. 2015-07-31. Archived from the original on 2015-10-18. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
  2. ^ Wajdowicz, Jurek (2013). Liminal Spaces. Zürich, Switzerland: Lars Müller Publishers.
  3. ^ "viennacontemporary". Viennacontemporary.at. 2015-09-27. Archived from the original on 2020-03-30. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
  4. ^ "Most Influential Graphic Designers of the Past 50 Years". Graphic Design: USA. Archived from the original on 2016-05-28.
  5. ^ Stevens, Carol (September 1995). "Provoking the Monster. Jurek Wajdowicz". Print Magazine.
  6. ^ Gutowski, Sharon. "New York Design Firm Shines Light on Social Justice, Poverty and International Organizations". Advocate by Design: Designing Solutions to Global Problems. Archived from the original on 2014-08-11.
  7. ^ Rudolph, Eric (September 1999). "Emerson, Wajdowicz: Masters of Photo-Journalism". PDN. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  8. ^ Hughes, Holly Stuart. "Pix People: Interview with Jurek Wajdowicz". PDN. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  9. ^ "Endure: Renewal from Ground Zero". New York 9/11 Memorial & Museum. Archived from the original on 2015-10-05.
  10. ^ "AIGA Design Archives". designarchives.aiga.org. Archived from the original on 2022-07-12. Retrieved 2022-08-01.
  11. ^ "Collection of the Center for the Study of Political Graphics". Archived from the original on 2015-11-17. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
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