Opening on Friday evening, the exhibition features 19 works, among them bird’s-eye views of urban landmarks and vintage postcard-style depictions of the pre-war Wrocław—elevating his oeuvre to the realm of special is an underlying aesthetic redolent of a rich graphic novel.
“I look to evoke a Gotham City vibe through my work,” Jerzmański tells TVP World, “though I also like Celtic-style horror, so there’s a lot of Neo-Gothic architecture, abandoned hospitals and Art Deco skyscrapers.”
As such, his posters are lent a sense of historical timing through the addition of zeppelins, beaming searchlights and moody colors; others, meanwhile, effect a 19th-century atmosphere more in line with the macabre tales of Edgar Allan Poe.
Described by Jerzmański as “a fascinating fragment of Central Europe,” it is not just Lower Silesia’s best-known treasures that are present in his portfolio, but also its more closely guarded secrets and cult attractions.
These include, for instance, the creepy abandoned asylum in Mokrzeszów, which was once used as a Lebensborn facility by the Nazis.
We see, also, the handsome, fairytale form of the now non-existent Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Tower (demolished in 1945 as the Red Army approached what was then the city of Breslau), as well as the almost mystical old-world charms of the town of Bystrzyca Kłodzka.
“I’m fascinated by the castles in the area, the great churches, palaces, old buildings and derelict hospitals,” says Jerzmański, explaining the focus of his art. Clearly, however, it is Jerzmański’s hometown of Wrocław that is closest to his heart, and no corner has been left unexplored.
Through his use of sepia colors, Jerzmański cloaks the city’s Old Town in a warmly nostalgic veil, but it is his treatment of the more obscure locations that truly merits attention.
Modernist housing estates, grimy suburbs and industrial plants are all given the spotlight, as well as architectural pearls such as the Manhattan estate, so nicknamed due to its tapestry of 1970s high-rise towers.
In another poster, we see a spooky representation of the library in Wrocław’s Krzyki suburb—looking shadowy and forbidding, the ghostly ambiance is underscored by the depiction of a witch on a broomstick.
Working as an architect, illustrator and graphic artist, Jerzmański’s side hustle as a poster artist has earned him increasing exposure, this despite the artist distancing himself from Poland’s so-called ‘school of poster’ movement: “I don’t really know much about that, so I don’t feel part of it,” he says.
Jerzmański is similarly coy about the reasons for his success. “What makes a good poster? I have no idea,” he says. “I just draw and use my skills.”
These are skills he possesses in abundance. Painting digitally, but basing his art on hand-drawn sketches, photos and 3D models, his growing body of work has done more than merely present Wrocław and its environs in a fresh, compelling way, but rather captured the essence of the region along with its many quirks and eccentricities.
