Piotr Horodyński (1970, born in Łódź) – a graduate of the Faculty of Graphic Arts at the Władysław Strzemiński Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź, Poland. He obtained his diploma in graphic design under the supervision of Prof. Stanisław Łabędzki and Prof. Bogusław Balicki; he honed his painting skills in the studio of Prof. Mariana Kępiński. His artworks grace private collections in both Poland and the USA, and he actively collaborates with galleries and auction houses domestically and internationally.

Piotr Horodyński embodies the essence of a modern Renaissance man, an artist in constant exploration, embracing interdisciplinary pursuits, with a broad spectrum of interests and a profound fascination with diverse artistic realms. Art has always been his passion and an integral part of his life. He has been exploring modern graphic techniques and forms for many years. He is a painter, as well as a designer, illustrator, animator, designer, photographer, songwriter, and children’s literature author. He values computer graphics as a means of artistic expression.

While he engages in various forms of creation, painting remains central to his creative endeavours, primarily as an easel painter. In his work, he employs oil and acrylic techniques alongside traditional mediums like pencil and ink. The vast majority of his paintings start with a sketch, which serves as a base for an acrylic primer. After it dries, he creates another layer, this time with oil paints. Before the layer dries, he adds more details, using smaller and smaller brushes. Finishing touches are applied using thinned paints.

Horodyński’s aversion to labels underscores his desire to transcend categorization within any particular artistic movement, preferring instead to experiment freely with form, colour, style, and themes. He attaches great importance to details. Delving into the issues of form, Piotr always seeks the appropriate shape, ideal composition, colour, and texture.

He paints from imagination, usually drawing inspiration from literature and music. Often, nature captured in a photographic frame and architecture serve as stimuli for creating his paintings.

Horodyński’s artistic style often intersects with the realms of magical realism and surrealism. Piotr categorizes his artworks into three thematic subsets: Spaces, Forms, and Illusions.

Key motifs in Piotr Horodyński’s paintings often include water and rocks, which signify vitality and resilience, serving both as elements and metaphors for fate and the condition of contemporary humanity.
Ruins, his favoured architectural features, serve as remnants of past eras and events, often marked by conflicts or the relentless passage of time.

Magical realism and elements from fairytales hold significant roles in Piotr’s oeuvre, with fantasy elements reflecting a universal yearning to escape reality into realms of imagination. He frequently depicts non-existent, imagined lands, seemingly joyful and carefree, far removed from the day-to-day reality, yet always grounded in real world and challenges posed by life, the desire to fight against imposed patterns and roles. This intriguing blend of realism and imagination, where fantasy intersects with reality, invokes both smiles and tranquillity, while gently provoking questions and prompting the search for not always easy answers.

The symbolism in his works is subtle, unobtrusive. Upon closer examination, it is easy to notice that the main theme addressed in Piotr Horodyński’s paintings is the constant pursuit of passion, discovery, and following one’s own path, pursuing goals against the odds. He also delves into the issue of decision-making, the need for transformation, the broad concept of freedom, and rising after a fall.

Piotr Horodyński avoids simplistic, obvious messages and does not impose interpretations, respecting everyone’s right to create their own narrative. He endeavours to ensure his works do not leave the viewer indifferent, aiming to evoke emotions, inspire reflection, unconventional thinking, to look “far beyond the box” and abandon established patterns. It is intuitive painting, stimulating the viewers’ imagination, their latent consciousness.

Piotr Horodyński has participated in exhibitions at EPCOT galleries and in collective exhibitions of fantasy painting and graphics. His works have been showcased in exhibitions including those at Forum Fabricum in Łódź and the Silesian Opera in Bytom. His painting “Changes,” dedicated to David Bowie’s memory, was among the finalists in a competition organized by DiamondsCraft NFT Art and was exhibited in Berlin in February 2023 and in Warsaw in March 2023. In February 2022, his painting “Awakening” was presented at the Jacek Malczewski Museum in Radom as part of the exhibition entitled “WOMAN. – contemporary artists in memory of Anna Bilinska”. Piotr Horodyński’s paintings have also been exhibited at the Mercure Centrum Hotel in Warsaw (2023), the BellArte Gallery in Koneser in Warsaw (2020), and at the Warsaw headquarters of Arthur Hunt Consulting Polska Sp. z o.o.. His graphics have been featured on many covers of CDs, VCDs, DVDs, books and numerous graphics and fantasy magazines (including Fantastyka, GFX).

Piotr is the author of the book “Photoshop. Sztuka Tworzenia” (Photoshop. The Art of Creation), an attempt to link art history with the latest graphic media. He is fascinated by children’s literature and illustration and their impact on children’s upbringing, emotional, and intellectual development, and has authored poems and books for children, designing their illustrations as well. For several years, Piotr Horodyński combined his artistic activity with teaching. He conducted original educational workshops for students focusing on the sense of sight, colour, perception of colours, their influence on human psyche, and optical illusions.