SNIETUPSKI

Sławomir Maria Nietupski is one of Poland's most innovative modern design artists. Renowned for his highly conceptual content, esteemed musical releases, and his commercially distributed magazine, it would be fair to say that Nietupski's ideas and the execution of his artistic intention goes beyond what anyone might expect.

Nietupski's professional story began in 1996. Black metal was trending fast in the Polish city of Gdansk, and bands such as Behemoth were swiftly making headway when Nietupski appeared on the scene with his dark metal band NORTHLAND, having released his first CD at the age of 18. Many people in Poland, as well as elsewhere in the world, immediately hailed the group. Later he performed with NOCTURN and, after sharing the stage with legendary Swedish act Necrophobic and Yattering, Nietupski began to evolve beyond the extent seen for bandmates. In 2000, he spontaneously left this project. By teaming up with Norwegian Emperor drummer Bård G. Eithun and Australian actor Sasha Janowicz, the door to mainstream metal music was open and thus was born Hesperus Dimension. Unlike previous endeavours, Hesperus Dimension went beyond black metal to give fans a cinematic experience, the highlight of which was captured in The Cyclothymic Panopticon MCD, a 'movie trailer' created as a promotional tool for the band's 2008 release.

The following years saw the artist combine his life's musical experience with his cinematic designs in a masterpiece titled Blackastrial, an in-depth magazine for metal fans. In 2009, Blackastrial was distributed nationally in Poland, selling thousands of copies via all major media retailers. The project represented the culmination of Nietupski's ambition, having gained exclusive content through years of building a strong reputation in the black metal circuit. Before long, record labels from all over the world fell in love with this publication. Nuclear Blast Records (Germany) stated that Blackastrial is “without a doubt, the most important black metal magazine in Poland”. Moribund Records (USA) said the publication “is a credit to both the world of heavy metal and the art form of the print magazine”, and My Kingdom Music (Italy) called Nietupski's work “absolutely killer”.

Having accomplished such esteemed endeavours, this artist is currently looking towards the future and planning an exhibition tour, which should start in May of 2013. His new body of work, The Hebephrenic Flashback, will introduce viewers to a series of controversial images, highlighted by self-composed and played soundtrack. In a visual sense, the exhibition might best be described as Damien Hirst meets Pink Floyd in the future year 3,000 AD. Regardless, as Nietupski has so brilliantly done in the past, the images should invoke a powerful reaction amongst the public and will carry on his legacy.