Igor Dobrowolski

Born in Jelenia Góra, Poland, Dobrowolski has long drawn from the aesthetics of his childhood hometown for inspiration.  Delicately shaded large-scale paintings in monochrome hues are often layered with overlapping body parts or dream-like imagery. Inspired by Dalí and Escher as a child, Dobrowolski spent hours indoors sketching; drawing from his family’s collection of art books which had a profound influence on his practice.

“At that time, I was reading about what was going on in the world and I was struck by the trauma, the pain, the suffering – I wanted to do something. It was my way of expressing myself and I felt it in my heart. I was just painting and sleeping. Painting and sleeping. Trying to make a difference.”

Dobrowolski has been concerned about social issues and humanitarianism for a long time. His creative forms include oil painting, photography, and mixed media creation. Motivated by the desire to convey true stories, Dobrowolski launched a series of street art campaigns in different countries, using his art to juxtapose Western consumerism with human suffering. Intent to arouse people's attention to social issues. In 2017, the artist created on billboards, which combining photographic artworks evoked the detrimental impact of fast fashion, try to guide the audience to reflect on, value, reduce harm and help who or which directly and indirectly affect under the world of the prosperous. In 2017, Igor Berlin hosted another "Christmas in Yemen" event, through the combination of contrasting the world, to show the long neglected reality. “I just want to give a voice to the voiceless. Because for many, the world is a merciless thing.”

There is one text from Russian writer influent Igor a lot and artist try to reflect in his artworks.

“My faith has been tempered in Hell. My faith has emerged from the flames of the crematoria, from the concrete of the gas chamber. I have seen that it is not man who is impotent in the struggle against evil, but the power of evil that is impotent in the struggle against man. The powerlessness of kindness, of senseless kindness, is the secret of its immortality. It can never be conquered. The more stupid, the more senseless, the more helpless it may seem, the vaster it is. Evil is impotent before it. The prophets, religious teachers, reformers, social and political leaders are impotent before it. This dumb, blind love is man's meaning. Human history is not the battle of good struggling to overcome evil. It is a battle fought by a great evil struggling to crush a small kernel of human kindness. But if what is human in human beings has not been destroyed even now, then evil will never conquer.”

― Vasily Grossman, Life and Fate

Through continuous attention and action on social issues and humanitarianism, the artist Dobrowolski has developed a new series of works recently, using metal media and mirror treatment, carving on metal surfaces, and using mixed media and polyester which creates three-dimensional crystals. The sorrow and suffering in the past are sublimated into beautiful crystals. Through the characteristics of the metal and special treatment, the new series artwork is like the sun, shining brightly. The work is no longer just sorrow, but with a strong hope and power. “It is very important for me to include, in all of my works a particle of hope, because I believe it’s going to be ‘better.’ Even after the greatest tragedies.”

Dobrowolski’s work has been exhibited in Miami, Warsaw, Wroclaw, Berlin, Rzeszów and London and can be found in the private collections of numerous celebrities including Channing Tatum, Gigi Hadid, and Nicole Scherzinger. In recent years, artists have actively cooperated with different fields. Besides the fashion industry, Dobrowolski collaborated with internationally recognized band 5 Seconds of Summer for a live painting masterclass. In 2020, the artist held the first Asian solo exhibition at GIN HUANG Gallery, which has received great response and support.

CV