The Art of Metal: Mariusz Lewandowski

 

Recently, I got lazy, and I still don't have the mojo back, so for this week exclusively, I will release another batch (in english only, to save time) about the greatest Metal artists of all time.

Finishing this week on a high note with another legendary Polish artist. Not the football / soccer player Mariusz Lewandowski (and certainly not Robert Lewandowski), but instead a late painter, who died in 2022 (RIP) at the age of 61. But before he died (like we all will), he did some interesting and unique works in The Name of Metal.

His surreallistic works with a philosophical touch do remind me of another great (Polish) artist, Beksiński, alas, while "Beksa" creatures looked hostile, impevorished and edgy, the ghosts, spirits and various disturbed, wandering beings presented by Lewandowski are much more warm, smoother and calmer in general. Probably, because there's a lot of blue colors in his paintings (outside of orange)... But yes, there is something soothing about these paintings, despite their disturbing content. And them being tonally consistent does create a signature, authentic, unmistakable style.

The art is not as detailed as with other Metal artists, as I think that Lewandowski believed in the "less is more" approach. That does not mean that the outcome was simple or primitive, quite the contrary, it requires real talent to know how to "cut off the fat" in order to make it look more powerful  *. I mean, it's easy to overuse cross shading without making sense, just look at the 90s comic book artists, like Liefeld, Larsen, or Jim Lee (okay the last one was actually pretty good at his craft).

I couldn't find much info about the man's career before his big break, so one could say that Mr. Lewandowski was a late bloomer, as he started doing art for hire in 2017 (like 5 years before is unfortunate death), with his first employer being Profound Lore (a so-so label, they are hit and miss with their releases), for whom he painted a cover for american funeral band Bell Witch (mediocre band). His next assingments were for 20 Buck Spin (pretty okay) and Trandescending Obscurity (god, I hate them and their digipacks), quickly becoming internationally recognized artist.

During his life, he made some notable covers for Polish finest - Trauma, Frightful and Deivos, Australian Psycroptic, US Abigail Williams, or Black / Speed masters Bewitcher. Majority of the artists were / are more or less upcoming bands, so the cover art provided by our hero probably raised their profile a little bit.

Post-mortem, his work was used ie. for Obituary's 2023 album (every Metal road leads to Obies, can't help it), as well as Paganizer's 2024 album, so one can say that the man himself got another life through his works, which are still being used.

Among the more weirder trivia, it also turns out that Lewandowski also did some collabo with a skateboard company, but I'm not a skater, so I can't elaborate much about it.

Overall, it does feel inspiring when people can redefine themselves, despite being near-retirement, age-wise. Nothing is cooler than a Heavy Metal grandpa. It does show that it's never too late to follow your dreams, and no matter the age, you can always feel young inside. And if there are people who appreciate your works? Then it's even better...

LINKS

https://www.mariuszlewandowski.pl/

https://www.instagram.com/mariusz_lewandowskiart/

* A minor private bit - I myself have a similar attitude when I (try to) draw, except I first go with a lot of details that I think might be useful, and then I take the rubber and either erase anything that I consider excessive, or turn the drawn lines into various depths of shades. Alas, I digress...