Jan Kamienski

Jan Kamienski was born in 1923 in Poznan, Poland where he began his art training. After studying in Paris at Ecole des Arts et Metiers, Kamienski attended the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts in Germany, where he studied painting and graphics and earned the designation of Master Student. Kamienski moved to Canada in 1949 and settled in Winnipeg to work as a commercial artist, designer, illustrator, and freelancing in advertising art, including film animation. In 1991, following a successful career as a political cartoonist, art critic, columnist, editorial writer and arts page editor, Kamienski returned to painting full-time. His works can be found in collections in Germany, France, England, Poland, and Canada.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Artists ought to remain motionless only in their self-portraits, or after they are dead and perhaps displayed as bronze statues in honour of their work.

Many of them work long enough to develop a uniquely personal style and stay with it, not daring to step sideways or go forward to explore other avenues.

It has been my good fortune to discover some of those avenues and experiment along their lines, not to find a stylistic pied-a-terre to stay put permanently, but to regard it as a place to rest, reflect and move on from there. This is why my work often varies in manner and approach to its thematic content, and consequently avoids the straitjacket of an immutable style.