Krzysztof Michał Bednarski (KMB) (25 July 1953 in Kraków) is a contemporary Polish-Italian sculptor.
Life
He was one of three sons of Irena and Jerzy Bednarski. Before the war, his parents lived in Lwów on Kulparkowska Street. Bednarski completed the XIV High School of General Gottwald in Warsaw. Later he graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw (1973-1978) in the sculpture department in the studios of Jerzy Jarnuszkiewicz and Oskar Nikolai Hansen. His diploma was entitled Portret Totalny Karola Marksa (Karol Marx's Total Portrait) and was defended on July 5, 1978. He was later associated with the theater of Jerzy Grotowski, for which, during the period from 1976-1981, he designed posters. At that time, his first son was born and he worked at the quarry in Borów. Since 1986, he has been living in Rome, Italy. In the academic year 1996/97 and 2014-2017 he was a guest lecturer at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. In 2014, he defended his doctorate at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw for his work W stronę rzeźby, czyli historia jednego dzieła bez końca (In the direction of sculpture, the story of endless work on one subject). In his early work, he criticized the communist propaganda in Portret totalny Karola Marksa (1978) (Total Portrait of Karl Marx) which is currently in the collection of the Museum of Independence in Warsaw or in Portret zbiorowy (1980) (Collective Portrait) which is currently part of the collection of the National Museum in Warsaw. He alluded to the political situation in Poland under the martial law in work such as Victoria-Victoria (1983) which is now part of the collection of the National Museum in Kraków. One of the recurring motifs in his oeuvre is Moby-Dick; its 1987 installation is currently in the ms2 collection of the Art Museum in Łódź. Bednarski acted in several movies such as Noc poślubna w biały dzień (1982) (The Wedding Night During the Daylight), Schodami w górę, schodami w dół (1988) (Walking the Steps Up and Steps Down) and he played himself in My Italy (2017). He is married to Marina Fabbri with whom he has a son, Federico. From a previous marriage with Barbara Kiszakiewicz, he has a son, Jakub.
Posters
In 1976 he began to design posters for theater projects of the Jerzy Grotowski Institute in Wrocław, and in the early 1980s, also film and theater posters. An example is a 1983 poster for the film debut of Waldemar Dziki Kartka z Podróży or a poster for the play in Teatr Studio "I, Bruno Schulz" directed by Jerzy Grzegorzewski. Most of his posters are collected in Muzeum Plakatu in warsaw. Since 1980 he exhibited posters during the International Poster Biennale in Warsaw.
Exhibitions
Bednarski exhibited his works in over one hundred individual exhibitions including: Gravity (dedicated to Tymoteusz Karpowicz), Galeria Awangarda, BWA, Wrocław (2016), Pamięci Ryszarda Cieślaka, Instytut J. Grotowskiego, Wrocław (2015), Pieśń z aluminium, Galeria Raster, Warszawa (2014), Widmo krąży, kurator: Achille Bonito Oliva, Narodowa Akademia Sztuk Ukrainy, Kijów (Kyiv, 2013); Egzorcyzmy, BWA, Opole (2013); Moby Dick – Opera Aperta, Państwowa Galeria Sztuki, Sopot (2013); Moby Dick – Rzeźba, Galeria aTAK, Warszawa (2012/2013); I coraz więcej bieli Galeria Foksal w Warszawie (2012); Prace z lat 1978-2008, Muzeum Narodowe we Wrocławiu; Thanatos polacco. Omaggio a Jerzy Grotowski, Museo Laboratorio d’Arte Contemporanea MLAC, Rzym (2009); Ku Górze – hommage à Jerzy Grotowski, Atlas Sztuki, Łódź (2009); Portret Totalny Karola Marksa (1977-2009), Muzeum Górnośląskie, Bytom; Moby Dick - Anima Mundi, Muzeum Narodowe w Szczecinie (2008); The Shadow Line / Brzeg cienia, Galeria Foksal Warszawa (2007) and at over five hundred group exhibitions.