Mlynarzewicz, Ariel

Mlynarzewicz, Ariel

1964

Ariel Mlynarzewicz is an Argentine artist known as a draughtsman, painter and engraver. He has mastered a large range of artistic techniques: etching, aquatint, lithography, oil painting, drypoint and photoengraving. Mlynarzewicz underwent extensive training in Argentina and overseas and was mentored by other artists and backed by prestigious institutions. Born in Argentina on 2nd August 1964, his artistic talent became apparent early on, and at the age of just 10 he began to study painting in Oscar Botini’s workshop. Shortly afterwards in 1978, he studied life drawing and lithography with Ernesto Pesce. Born into an Argentine family of Polish descent, his journeys to Europe as a boy were formative. These journeys piqued his interest in different artists, firstly in Italian artists like Titian, Veronese, Tintoretto and Tiepolo (1978) and then on a trip to the Netherlands he developed a passion for Rembrandt. At the beginning of the 1980s, Mlynarzewicz began to dabble in engraving techniques and produced his first etchings and lithographs. In 1980 he was awarded the Banco Nación grant to study engraving with Eduardo Audivert. Subsequently, a journey around Latin America (1985) strengthened his interest in pre-Columbian art. In 1986 he represented Argentina at the Havana Biennial and obtained a bursary from the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts, Poland in order to perfect his engraving technique. His teachers were two renowned metal engravers, Stanislaw Wejman and Jacek Stroka. Upon returning to Argentina, he moved to the province of Córdoba to work with the famous Argentine artist Carlos Alonso, with whom he struck up a strong master-apprentice relationship. In 1992 he moved to Paris and obtained special permission to visit the Louvre daily for a six month period. Four years later he was awarded a grant by Fundación Antorchas, in association with the Tamarind Institute in the USA, in order to perfect his lithography skills. One theme that particularly stands out among his works is what Eva Grinstein has called “a double-sided daily routine” reflected in “a dialectic of public and private life” where the street, its landscapes and its characters alternate between private and family life. Throughout his career Mlynarzewicz has had numerous individual exhibitions in and outside Buenos Aires, as well as overseas in Poland (1987), New York (1991), Mexico (1992 and 1996) and Chile (1994). Recognition of his art is reflected in various prizes he was awarded early in his career, such as second place in engraving at the “Salón Nacional de Grabado y Dibujo” (1983), the “Banco provincia de Santa Fe” prize (1983), the prize for the Best Foreign Entry at the Bienal Internacional de Arte de Valparaíso, Chile (1994), and the Grand Prize for engraving at the Salón Nacional in Argentina (2008), among other awards. Between 1994 and 2001 he taught engraving at the Prilidiano Pueyrredón National School of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires and is also currently part of the teaching team for the Friends of the National Museum of Fine Arts. This multidimensional artist has participated in diverse projects from illustrating the novel La Historia by Martín Caparrós in 1997 to painting the lobby ceiling in the Royal Theatre in Buenos Aires in 2009. He was named Illustrious Citizen of Buenos Aires by the City’s Legislature on March 13th 2013. Text by Dulce María Dalbosco Translated by Max Turner and Sebastian Bustamante-Brauning