Art in advertising, advertising in art. What hit will a famous artist prepare?

Mêskie Granie is going on tour for the fifteenth time this summer. The Mêskie Granie festival route will visit seven cities. It starts in Żywiec on June 28-29, and will end in Warsaw with concerts on August 23 and 24. On the occasion of the anniversary, the ¯ywiec brand, the sponsor of the event, has prepared a lot of surprises for fans of the project. It started with the song “My¶lê się ¯” – Brodka x Igo, which is a cover of the song “Nim się za, as if you’ve never heard anything” by VOO VOO. This is an additional song created before the premiere of this year’s single promoting Mêskie Granie.

The ¯ywiec brand supports Polish culture. He cooperates with the most important Polish artists. This year, it joined forces with Andrzej Pągowski, who designed another surprise for music fans for Żywiec, i.e. a limited series of eight cans. They contain four graphics depicting musicians and four with artists associated with Męskie Granie. These are Daria Zawia³ow, Igo, Mrózu and Vito Bambino.

Andrzej P±gowski is an icon of Polish poster, one of the most famous Polish graphic designers and poster artists

Applied art or engaged art?

In advertising, it is important to focus on meeting customers’ wishes. I am an artist who once decided that he would work on commission in this discipline. I finished my studies in graphic design in Poznań. Back then, I had no idea what advertising was or what applied art was. I was delighted with the poster. Everything I did after graduation, before 1989, was a higher art, ennobled and awarded. The last thing we did in our jobs was advertise. I’m talking about movie posters. There is a famous anecdote about how Miloš Forman asked one of the Polish directors why I didn’t like him. It was a poster for the musical “Hair”, which Forman directed. I wrote his name in small letters in the corner. Today, of course, it would be considered a scandal and I would be told to write the director’s name in capital letters first, and only then put my small graphic somewhere. I was brought up in the belief that the so-called applied art, i.e. a poster, a label, a badge, a drawing, everything that was not made for an exhibition – although film posters quickly found their way to galleries – this is art with a capital “S”. We all graduated in painting. or graphic, we had artistic roots. Those were completely different times.

Promotional material

Polish film posters world championship. You are the author of many iconic works.

We used to be allowed to be ourselves. Today we have to implement global ideas. Before 1989, for this so-called The Iron Curtain created many wonderful posters for films that had completely different graphics in the world. Another story from years ago. Woody Allen had a grudge against Wiktor Sadowski’s poster for the film “Zelig”, it was not how he imagined it. But everyone in Hollywood and the United States knew that Poles made their own posters. We received awards for them. In the “The Hollywood Reporter” competition, I was the only Pole who had the honor of winning the gold medal six times. Some truly iconic posters were created, also loved in the United States, e.g. Waldemar ¦wierz’s for “Sunset Boulevard”. Its first edition fetches gigantic sums at auctions. Americans love this Polish poster, although there are also websites “has the Polish graphic designer seen the movie”? And there are, for example, posters for “Jaws” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”. Americans wonder how it is possible to come up with such a graphic idea after watching the film.

Advertising and art intertwine?

Sometimes yes, but probably less and less often. I was an advertising pioneer in the 1990s, when all this was born in our country. I founded one of the first advertising agencies. I also worked in large advertising agencies that came to Poland from all over the world. I had hope and ambition that I would be able to include everything that was present in our graphics in previous years, all these creators and excellent talents, in advertising. I only succeeded in “Playboy”, where I was the artistic director and employed the best Polish graphic designers. They created wonderful illustrations and the Americans were delighted. In advertising itself it was too difficult. Although my professor, Waldemar ¦wierzy, worked with me and made some cool graphics for very commercial projects. Waldek was great when it comes to female portraits. Collaboration with other graphic designers from the Polish poster school was a complete failure.

Some graphic artists did not understand the requirements of advertising?

They did not understand that if the customer pays, he has the right to say that he does not like something and wants to change it. Various stories were happening, and I withdrew from it very quickly so as not to lose the friendship. You had to have a special approach to advertising. Polish graphic designers were the kings of life, they were authorities, no one – apart from commissions also composed of graphic designers – argued with them. And here suddenly there were Americans, English, French and Italians who didn’t know them. Once, one of the presidents of a large company called me and asked me to recommend a graphic designer. I told about Waldemar ¦wierzy. The president replied: “then please tell this guy to come to my place.” He had no idea who it was. And how was I supposed to tell the professor to prepare a portfolio? I didn’t even mention it to him, I collected the briefcase and went with it myself. The project was a success. For Poles, the fact that the advertisement was made by ¦wierzy was a magnet, but not for the company owner. I still regret that I did not realize my dream of creating a Polish school of billboards, just like the Polish school of posters.

Let’s move from film to music. You started cooperation with Męskie Granie. How did you find your way into it and what music did you listen to while working?

Of course, music from Męskie Granie. At this stage of my life I’m at now, I’m looking forward to projects that are a challenge. And these are the projects that appeal to me. This year is an incredible year of anniversaries. Every now and then I get asked whether I would support an anniversary with my work. And now it’s the 15th anniversary of Mêskie Granie. I didn’t even notice that 15 years had passed. I have accompanied this project as a listener from the very beginning. I buy CDs regularly, they accompany me on my travels. Now I was listening to the album from last year’s edition of Męskie Granie, because there are heroes who were featured on the Żywiec cans. I am grateful that they trusted me because I faced a completely different medium than before.

Promotional material

Andy Warhol made a can of tomato soup, and Andrzej Pągowski – beer. And not one, but eight.

It would be easier to do something like Andy Warhol. Here it was the other way around. He made a graphic for a soup can, and I had to make a graphic for a beer can. I was looking for an idea, a line, a patent. It wasn’t easy at all. The first attempts did not satisfy me, my artistic dynamics did not work in such a small format. We searched together with people from Grupa ¯ywiec and teams of artists. They supported me very much, but there were many shallows.

What was the most difficult thing?

Artists’ images are subject to many marketing arrangements and at the beginning, not knowing these conditions, I did whatever came to my mind. However, it turned out that if this year there is a specific image of Daria Zawia³ow or Mróz, we will create such images. I said “ok”, I asked for images that you considered acceptable and I received a package of photos.

So I made sketches, they understood what I wanted, what I needed and I got ready-made material on which I worked. So it was a kind of mutual learning about each other. For the marketing of these four stars, it was also a kind of lesson in how to approach the artistic image of an artist. There were no problems, we polished the details.

I had a bigger problem with instruments. It was necessary to choose the most important ones that appeared on the Męskie Granie stage. I immediately thought of Kortez, whom I love. The last album is beautiful, but terribly sad. I appreciate Kortez very much and I thought it would be nice to show a live piano on a can. Of course, we couldn’t do without drums and that was a bit difficult. It turns out that fitting a lot of drums and cymbals into a small can is a real challenge. I struggled with the drums for the longest time, I approached it several times.

Projects like the one for Męskie Granie show that art has no boundaries?

Art is everywhere – it could be a poster or a can. Not just a gallery. I feel comfortable that the people around me are looking for art. There are groups of people who will never be interested in art and will not appreciate aesthetics, but there is no way around it. People need to be educated from an early age. And children are very sensitive to art. Every child has the joy of creating and let’s not forbid them from doing so.

How do you feel about the fact that people talk about your recognizable style and characteristic lines?

I have always tried not to have a specific style or a specific line, I try to find something new in each project. I still practice this profession very intensively and with a lot of fun, because I am constantly having fun with something new. But it’s true, people say that what I do is recognizable. I do not know why. Apparently there’s something hidden inside.

What inspires you?

Life. That’s why I’m so eager to observe people, what they do and what’s happening around them. I read, I watch everything. For example, I go to see very different movies. If I know what fascinates people, it is easier for me to create an artistic message. The trap for an creator is to lock yourself in your artistic and intellectual bubble, because then you only reach a narrow group. Over the last 8 years, I have tried to watch the news sometimes to see what is happening on the other side of the mirror. It was difficult and stressful, but necessary. You can’t have blinders on.

That’s why the offer from ¯ywiec and Mêskie Granie is so valuable to me. We turned to an artist who has a specific achievement, his own approach to art and his own style. It was a really brave decision on the part of Grupa Żywiec.

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Can we say that large companies are patrons of art?

I’ve been saying this for years. I see and feel. Only large companies can afford to be patrons of art and create collections. And I don’t hide the fact that since the 1990s, when I worked in advertising, I have always done the most interesting artistic projects with companies that could afford it.

There was a time when people collected cans “from the West”. Now you can create a collection of cans with Andrzej Pągowski’s works. And how to get an autograph?

I’m going on tour in a moment, I’ll be in several places in Poland. I invite. There is a schedule on my website. I will be happy to sign the cans. Many people ask me about this.

Will you be attending Mêskie Granie concerts?

I will be at the ones in Warsaw at the end of August.

Promotional material of the ¯ywiec brand, sponsor of the Mêskie Granie route.