Waldemar Smolarek (1937 - 2010)

Waldemar Smolarek was born on 5 September 1937 in Warsaw, Poland. During World War II his family was separated by the German occupying forces and in 1943 his father was sent to Mathausen concentration camp in Austria, for religious and intellectual sympathies. His mother raised Waldemar with his younger brother Apolinary during the post war years under the influence of the new communist government in Warsaw. These were difficult times and he learned quickly to become independent and self-supporting.

It was during these younger years that he became interested in metalwork and painting and together with his brother he took art classes in the Praga district of Warsaw. After these initial classes he then took lessons with Prof. Zygmunt Tomkiewicz and Alexander Kobzdej from the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts. He continued his studies in the College of Vincent Sliwinski. Between 1958-1967 his work was exhibited in Warsaw and together with Zbigniew Kupczyńskim, John Naliwajko, and Alexander Soćko (John Wegner) he became an active participant in public, informal and independent exhibitions at the Barbican in Warsaw up to 1968. Authorities did not sanction the exhibiting at the Barbican and public displays were subject to confiscations and removal at any time, however Waldemar persevered and this action put him in contact with other independent artists with the result in a comprehensive development of the arts during the 1950’s and 60’s. His early creations were metalwork sculptures applied to canvas as well as paintings. He later specialized in painting abstract works in oil on canvas and paper in a Neo Russian Constructivism style, a style that he developed and extended his whole life.

Leaving Poland in 1968 with his meager possessions and very little money, he made his way to Sweden. Whilst there he forged many friendships with like souls in the art world and also in the Jewish community, who helped him to remain in Sweden until 1970. Feeling the need to get far away from the oppression of his native Poland, Waldemar left for Canada where he worked continuously crafting his art and exhibiting all over North America and Europe, including London, Paris, Berlin, Miami, Los Angeles, Vancouver and the UAE. In Vancouver, immersed in an atmosphere of freedom of life as well as expression of his art, he continued his experiments in oil on canvas work, occasionally selling his work but mostly keeping the art for his own pleasure.

During his artistic life Waldemar met and worked with many well-known painters, not least Salvador Dali, who all had an influence upon his work. Throughout his life his work was exhibited at many international exhibitions and his works are in many galleries and museums and in private collections worldwide.

EXHIBITION LIST

1954-1965 Barbican Warsaw, Poland
1959 Artist Cooperative Gallery San Francisco, CA, USA
1960 Toporow Gallery Hollywood, L.A., CA, USA
1961 Toporow Gallery Santa Barbara, CA, USA
1961 Kunstlerhaus Vienna Vienna, Austria
1962 Selected Artist Galleries Inc. New York, USA
1962 Miami Museum of Modern Art Miami, FL, USA
1962 The Gallery Miami, FL, USA
1963 Expozione Internazionale Padova, Italy
1963 Schramm Galleries Fl. Lauderdale, FL, USA
1964 Galleries Du Monde Objects D'art Memphis,Tenn., USA
1965 Philadelphia Museum of Art Philadelphia, USA
1965 Solbacaka Gallery Haisigbord, Sweden
1967 Gallery Classing Stockholm, Sweden
1972 Avella's Galleries Vancouver, BC, Canada
1972 Miami Museum of Modern Art Miami, FL, USA
1976 Presentation House North Vancouver BC, Canada
1977 Langton Gallery London, England
1978 Galerie Denise Rene Pars, France
1982 Kilakyushu City Museum of Art Kilakyuhu, Japan
1982 Galleria Fernondo Vijandeb Madrid, Spain
1982 Carol Taylor of Art Dallas, Texas, USA
1983 Nell G.Ovsey Gallery Los Angeles, CA, USA
1984 Gallery Silvia Menzel Berlin, Germany
1984 Quay Gallery San Francisco, CA, USA
1985 Galleria Daniel Templon Paris, France
1985 Bernard Galleries Laguna Beach, CA, USA
1986 Harrison Galleries Vancouver, BC, Canada
1991 "Zacheta", Narodowa Galeria Sztuki Warsaw, Poland
1991 Osaka Found of Culture, Japan
2001 Gallery Forma & Color Warsaw, Poland
1992 The 8 International Graphic Exhibition, Catania, Italy
1992 Montserat Gallery New York, USA
1999 Museum Historyczne Warsawm Poland
1999 Galleries d'Art, 4 av de Suede Nice, France
2000 Sharjah Art Museum, United Arab Emirates
2003 Melina Sztuki Artbarbakan Warsaw Poland
1997 2001 Axel Ebbe Konsthall Trelleborg,Sweden
2004 Melina Sztuki Artbarbakan Warsaw, Poland
2005 Gallery Konfercyina Warsaw, Poland
2008 Galeria N'69 Warsaw, Poland