Tomasz Jerzy Vetulani (born 21 December 1965) is a Polish

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

drawer A drawer is a box-shaped container inside a piece of furniture that can be pulled out horizontally to access its contents. Drawers are built into numerous types of furniture, including cabinetry, cabinets, Chest of drawers, chests of drawers ...

and

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

. Born and educated in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

, he moved to

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

in 1991, and he has been active there since, holding also a citizenship of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. In his works, using among others

silicone A silicone or polysiloxane is a polymer made up of siloxane (−R2Si−O−SiR2−, where R = organic group). They are typically colorless oils or rubber-like substances. Silicones are used in sealants, adhesives, lubricants, medicine, cooking ...

and

sponge Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through t ...

, he includes both personal references and comments on current political and social issues.

Life and work

He was born in 1965 in

as the second son of

Jerzy Vetulani Jerzy Adam Gracjan Vetulani (; 21 January 1936 – 6 April 2017) was a Polish neuroscientist, pharmacologist and biochemist, professor of natural sciences, member of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Polish Academy of Learning, one of the mo ...

and Maria née Pająk, younger brother of Marek. He was baptized by bishop

Karol Wojtyła Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

, who was a friend of his family. He attended the August Witkowski High School, where he passed

matura or its translated terms (''Mature'', ''Matur'', , , , , , ) is a Latin name for the secondary school exit exam or "maturity diploma" in various European countries, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech ...

. He studied at the

Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts The Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków ( pl, Akademia Sztuk Pięknych im. Jana Matejki w Krakowie, usually abbreviated to ''ASP''), is a public institution of higher education located in the centre of Kraków, Poland. It is the oldest Pol ...

, at the Faculty of Painting (1986–1991), and graduated from the studio held by professor Juliusz Joniak. During the studies he shortly collaborated with a renowned artist

Tadeusz Kantor Tadeusz Kantor (6 April 1915 – 8 December 1990) was a Polish painter, assemblage and Happenings artist, set designer and theatre director. Kantor is renowned for his revolutionary theatrical performances in Poland and abroad. Laureate of ...

. In 1990 he went to Israel for two semesters to study at the

University of Haifa The University of Haifa ( he, אוניברסיטת חיפה Arabic: جامعة حيفا) is a university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation in 1972, becoming Is ...

. In 1992–1993 he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent, holding a scholarship from the Flemish Community of Belgium and the Minister of Culture of Poland. In Poland, Vetulani made his debut in 1992 with a group exhibition at the Stawski Gallery in Kraków. In 1994 he was among the awarded at the 31st National Painting Exhibition Bielska Jesień organised by Galeria BWA, and in 2002 he was nominated for the Daniel Chodowiecki Award for Polish drawing and graphic art. In 1991 he moved to

, Netherlands, where he has since been living and working. In Utrecht, he was commissioned to design several sculptures in public space, including the balustrade of the bridge over the canal between Bleyenburgstraat and Huizingalaan called ''Eendjesbrug'' (''The Duck Bridge'', 2014) and the sculpture titled ''De Stoel'' (''The Chair'') at the Voorveldse Polder Park (2018). His works have been shown at several dozen individual and collective exhibitions in Poland, the Netherlands, Germany and Norway, including at the Ujazdów Castle Centre for Contemporary Art in Warsaw,

Museum of Contemporary Art in Kraków The Museum of Contemporary Art in Kraków (MOCAK), ( pl, links=no, Muzeum Sztuki Współczesnej w Krakowie), is a contemporary art gallery in Kraków, Poland that opened on 19 May 2011. Situated 3 kilometres from the centre of the city, on a demo ...

, Galeria BWA in Bielsko-Biała, , , and in private galleries. Since 2014, he exhibits at the Galeria Olympia in Kraków. The critics of Tomasz Vetulani's work noticed that “the artist juggles with ease and defiance with various means of expression and media” creating critical works with "strong social and political connotations”, “mocking and ironic character”, in which he looks at Poland “with great concern (...) from the perspective of an emigrant, from the differently shaped, both culturally and socially, Netherlands, which has become his new homeland”, yet on the other hand he creates “subtle images-objects”, showing mostly a female figure, in which he “deliberately rejects the classic beauty of a figure in favor of fragility, transience or simply greater sensitivity to what is present”. In his painting, among other techniques, Vetulani often uses sketch and

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

, he works with

oil paint Oil paint is a type of slow-drying paint that consists of particles of pigment suspended in a drying oil, commonly linseed oil. The viscosity of the paint may be modified by the addition of a solvent such as turpentine or white spirit, and varn ...

and

, sometimes adding old photographs to paintings and collages. Interviewed in 1998, he said that he likes working on

“because it's a simple, light material and always ready to use. The colour and texture meet my aesthetic requirements and it has a lot of volume and physically, is very present in the space. The ink or paint is immediately absorbed into the foam surface, making any corrections almost impossible. It is a material which lends itself to quick, fast application and is particularly good for spontaneous sketching with paint squeezed directly from the tube. The fact that these works will not last (sponge is not a very durable material) does not deter me; it suits the character of the work very well and to an extent reflects my ideas about art”. He is inspired, among others, by religious architecture and the surrounding Dutch nature and landscape. He has three children and declares as an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

Selected shows

Individual shows * 1994: Moira,

* 1996: Sluijmer & Van Leeuwen, Utrecht * 1997: Hordaland Kunstnersentrum,

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

* 1999: Galleri Allmenningen, Bergen * 2000: Galerie De Verrasing, Utrecht * 2001: Expositieruimte Stichting 1/2,

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

* 2001: INTERDRUCK Schipper+Patitz,

Lipsk :''Lipsk is also the old Slavonic form of the name of Leipzig in Germany.'' Lipsk , (also pl, Lipsk nad Biebrzą; lt, Liepinė; yi, ליפּסק נאַד בּיבּג'ו) is a town in Augustów County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, Poland, with 2,520 ...

* 2003: Galerie Besselaar, Utrecht * 2005: EM Galerie,

Kollum Kollum ( Low Saxon: ''Kölm'') is a village in Noardeast-Fryslân municipality in the province Friesland, the Netherlands. It had a population of around 5529 in January 2017. There is a restored windmill, ''Tochmaland'' in the village. History Th ...

* 2009: Solo tentoonstelling Windesheim,

Zwolle Zwolle () is a city and municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Overijssel and the province's second-largest municipality after Enschede with a population of 130,592 as of 1 December 2021. Zwolle is o ...

* 2011: Galeria Aneks,

Opole Opole (; german: Oppeln ; szl, Ôpole) ; * Silesian: ** Silesian PLS alphabet: ''Ôpole'' ** Steuer's Silesian alphabet: ''Uopole'' * Silesian German: ''Uppeln'' * Czech: ''Opolí'' * Latin: ''Oppelia'', ''Oppolia'', ''Opulia'' is a city loc ...

* 2013: Galerie Niek Waterbolk, Utrecht * 2014: ''Site inspection'', Galeria Olympia, Kraków * 2017: ''(Re)search: schetsen en sculpturen'', Museum Warsenhoeck,

Nieuwegein Nieuwegein () is a municipality and city in the Netherlands, Dutch province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. It is bordered on the north by the city of Utrecht (city), Utrecht, the provincial capital. It is separated from Vianen to the south by the ...

* 2017: ''There is no threat. Weapons and colour'', Galeria Olympia, Kraków * 2020: ''Art in a time of the Plague'', Galerie Niek Waterbolk, Utrecht * 2023: ''Pucheroki'', Galeria R, Faculty of Sculpture,

, Kraków Group shows * 1992: Stawski Gallery, Kraków * 1994: Galeria BWA,

Bielsko-Biała Bielsko-Biała (; cs, Bílsko-Bělá, german: Bielitz-Biala, szl, Bjylsko-Bjoło) is a city in southern Poland, with a population of approximately 168,319 as of December 2021, making it the 22nd largest city in Poland, and an area of . It is a ...

* 1995: ''Krąg'', Bunkier Sztuki, Kraków * 1997: ''Krajobraz końca XX wieku'', Bielska Jesień * 1998: ''At the time of writing'', the Center for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle,

Warszawa Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...

* 1999: Galerie de Verrasing, Utrecht * 2002: BWA Sopot, Daniel Chodowiecki/Gunther Grass Graphics Competition,

Sopot Sopot is a seaside resort city in Pomerelia on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000. It is located in Pomeranian Voivodeship, and has the status of the county, being the smallest city ...

* 2003: Deutsches Textil Museum, “Kirche und Design”,

Krefeld Krefeld ( , ; li, Krieëvel ), also spelled Crefeld until 1925 (though the spelling was still being used in British papers throughout the Second World War), is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, i ...

* 2005: ART Poznań,

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...

* 2016: Galerie Regio Art Rijnmond,

Spijkenisse Spijkenisse () is a city in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. Following an administrative reform in 2015, it is part of the municipality of Nissewaard, and has a population of 72,500. It covers an area of of which is water. It is part ...

* 2018: ''Juliusz Joniak and his students, Studio 124'', Palace of Art in Kraków * 2018: ''Multi-Kulti'', Dom Norymberski in Kraków * 2018: ''Regaining dignity. Poland is a dream'', Galeria Olympia, Kraków * 2020: ''Artists from Krakow: The Generation 1950–1969'', MOCAK Museum of Contemporary Art in Kraków Source

Family

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vetulani, Tomasz 20th-century Polish painters 20th-century Polish male artists 21st-century Polish painters 21st-century male artists 20th-century Polish sculptors Polish male sculptors 21st-century Polish sculptors 20th-century Dutch painters 21st-century Dutch painters 20th-century Dutch sculptors 21st-century Dutch sculptors Dutch male painters Dutch male sculptors Polish people of Italian descent Polish emigrants to the Netherlands Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts alumni 1965 births Artists from Kraków Living people Polish male painters 20th-century Dutch male artists