Text from the exhibition curators: A poster is a piece of printed paper designed to be attached to a wall or vertical surface. Typically posters include both textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or wholly text. Designed to be both eye-catching and informative, posters may be used for many purposes. They are a frequent tool in advertising (particularly of events but also campaigns or educational subjects). By the 1890s, the poster technique had spread throughout Europe. A number of noted French artists created poster art in this period, foremost amongst them Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Jules Chéret, Pierre Bonnard etc. In 1898 Jan Wdowiszewski organized the first International Exposition of the Poster in Krakow, Poland, professing one of the earliest statements that the poster developed into an art form. The Polish posters are firmly grounded in the vast, rich and sophisticated heritage of Poland's visual communications since the early 20th century, being acknowledged as a school that is distinguished by its thought provoking and bold compositions, masterful craftsmanship, and a unique aesthetic design that amalgamates some of the Polish cultural identity in the framework of various styles such as Jugendstil, Secessionism, Japonism, Surrealism, Cubism and other modernist elements of Pop art and Street Art. Above all, the Polish visual communication posters are characterized by their artistic integration of image and text that set them apart from the usual western design of advertising. The present exhibition displays 60 posters created by three representatives of the contemporary generation of poster art in Poland to which the exhibition poster dedicated by Tomasz Bogusławski is to be added. Tomasz Bogusławski (b. 1958, Gdańsk) The artist is active in domains as graphic design, editorial graphics, visual communication, he creates posters and philatelic stamps (see the stamp series for the Olympic Games in Atlanta 1996 or for the celebration of 20 years of “Solidarity” Independent Syndicate). Tomasz Bogusławski studied at the Fine Arts Academy in Gdańsk which he ruled as rector between 2002 and 2008. Since 2010 he is teaching graphic design at New Media Art Faculty inside the Superior School for IT Techniques in Gdańsk. As poster artist, Tomasz Bogusławski participated in exhibitions worldwide among which London, Heilbronn, Cracow, Copenhagen, Beijing, Mexico and Teheran. He is the laureate of many contests of which we mention the Polish Poster Biennale (1983, 1985, 1995, 2003), the Theatre Poster Biennale in Rzeszów (1987, 1988), Universal Design Competition (1995). He also was awarded the Grand Prix at the 18th edition of Polish Poster Biennale in Katowice, for the poster entitled “Husband and wife” and the Silver Medal at the 22nd edition of the same biennale for the poster entitled “The migraine”. Ryszard Kajzer (b. 1973, Świerczyn) A graphic artist, Ryszard Kajzer creates mainly posters and illustrations in the domain of editorial graphic. He studied at the Fine Arts Academy in Warsaw and at Schule für Gestaltung (Zürich) and is the grant beneficiary of Internationales Künstlerhaus Villa Concordia (Bamberg, Germany). Ryszard Kajzer participated in exhibitions that opened in Europe, Asia and America (Moscow, Mexico, Hong-Kong and New York). He was awarded the Grand Prize of the International Poster Contest for the promotion of Gombrowicz Year (2004), the “A. Stareyshinski” Award at the International Poster Triennial in Sofia and also awarded at the 19th edition of the International Poster Biennale in Warsaw. Sebastian Kubica (b. 1975, Żywiec) Sebastian Kubica creates posters, drawings, illustrations and woodcuts and is active in graphic design. He studied at the Graphics Faculty inside The Fine Arts Academy in Krakow. Since 2002 he received the Ph.D title in fine arts, developing an academic teaching carrier in Poland as well as in Chile. Sebastian Kubica was awarded many prizes by Awakening World Awards Festival in Teheran or International Biennale of Socio-Political Poster in Oświęcim (Poland). His works participated in exhibitions in Japan, China, Iran and USA.