Stefan Ficner

Born in 1952, he studied at the State Higher School of Fine Arts in Poznań (now the Magdalena Abakanowicz University of the Arts Poznań), graduating in 1981 from the Lithography Studio under Professor Lucjan Mianowski and the Poster Studio under Professor Waldemar Świerzy.

He is a professor at his alma mater, where he leads the Lithography Studio. His artistic practice centres on lithography based on traditional techniques using lithographic stones as matrices. Between 1983 and 1990, he ran the independent, non-commercial Wielka 19 Gallery in Poznań, organising approximately 200 exhibitions featuring artists from Poland and abroad. From 1991 to 2005, he directed the Lithography Studio at the Institute of Art Education of the Higher School of Pedagogy (now the University of Zielona Góra). Since 1997, he has been co-organising the Student Graphics Biennale. He is the initiator and editor of the publication Podręcznik Warsztatowy. Grafika Artystyczna [Workshop Handbook: Graphic Arts] and the author of the chapter on lithography included in the volume (Academy of Fine Arts in Poznań, 2007).

He was awarded a scholarship from the Fondation pour une entraide intellectuelle européenne (1988), received the First Prize of the Minister of Culture and Art (1990), and was awarded the Medal of the City of Poznań for Artistic Achievement (1991). His works are held in public and private collections in Poland and internationally.

Throughout his artistic career, he has been devoted to graphic arts.