Lech Majewski
Painter, poet, prose writer, director. Born in Katowice in 1953,
working mainly abroad since 1981. He studied Painting at the Katowice
branch of the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków. He graduated from the
Directing Department of the Łódź Film School. His films, e.g. The Knight, Wojaczek, Angelus, The Garden of Earthly Delights, The Mill and the Cross, Field of Dogs,
were presented at international film festivals (incl. in Cannes,
Venice, Berlin, Toronto, Rome, New York, Rio de Janeiro, London,
Barcelona, Jerusalem and Montreal) and won numerous awards.
He is also the author of novels, such as Chestnut Epic (1981), The Pied Piper of New York (1993), Pilgrimage to the Grave of Brigitte Bardot Miraculous (1996), Metaphysics (2002), The Hypnotist (2003), Manhattan Babilon (2015) – volumes of verse – e.g. Tales of Thousand Nights and One City (1977), Paradise (1978), Home (1981), Museum of My Poverty (1997), St. Sebastian (1998) – and essays – Asa Nisi Masa – Magic in Fellini’s 8 1/2 (1994), Official Center of the World (1998).
Lech
Majewski’s videoart, photos and sculptures were presented by many
museums and galleries in the world. In 2006 the New York Museum of
Modern Art honoured his works by organising an individual retrospective
and a year later his Blood of a Poet installation became part of 52nd Venice Biennale. His next videoart cycle entitled Bruegel Suite
was exhibited in the Louvre, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, the National
Gallery in London, Prado in Madrid, the National Museum in Kraków and at
54th Venice Biennale. His latest cycle, Supermarket Dante, was part of the world modern art presentation in Fundição Progresso in Rio de Janeiro.
He
also lectured at many universities and higher education schools around
the world; from the Canterbury University in New Zealand, through
Harvard and Berkeley in the USA to the University of Pisa and Accademia
di Belle Arti in Rome.
Filmography (selection):
1980: The Knight
1986: The Flight of the Spruce Goose
1988: Prisoner of Rio
1992: Gospel According to Harry
1996: The Roe’s Room
1999: Wojaczek
2000: Angelus
2004: The Garden of Earthly Delights
2007: Glass Lips
2010: The Mill and the Cross