Andrzej Jerzy Lech

Born January 22, 1955, Wroclaw, Poland.

Andrzej Jerzy Lech studied at the Faculty of Fine Art Photography at the School of Visual Arts in Ostrava, the Czech Republic, in the workshop of Borek Sousedik.

In 1983 Lech became known as the main creator of the elementary photography movement related to the minimalist stance. His exhibit from the same year titled 60 Gates was the official proclamation of this program. Until 1987 he exhibited at the Foto-Medium-Art Gallery in Wroclaw, Poland, inspiring this concept.

From 1979 to 1987 Lech ran the private photography gallery called Galeria w drodze (On the Way Gallery) in Opole, Poland.

Lech formulated several photographic cycles and series of small format photographs, close-ups of objects and fragments of landscapes which have metaphorical meaning. These works were included in the Warsaw, Amsterdam, New York and The 1912 Swiss Calendar exhibits.

In 1987 Lech participated in the exhibition Preis fuer junge europaeische Fotografen (Award for Young European Photographers) in Frankfurt, Germany.

In 1988 and 1989 he participated as one of ten artists in a show titled Polish Perceptions - Ten contemporary Photographers, 1977-1988 at the Collins Gallery, Glasgow, Scotland, the Aberdeen Art Gallery, Aberdeen, Scotland, and Kirkcaldy Museum and Art Gallery, Fife, Scotland.

In 1994 Lech collaborated in the AIDS benefit auction Sunday by the Bay in Bellport, Long Island, New York. In the same year he was part of Nurturing Spirit, a group show to benefit the Evelyn H. Lauder Breast Center at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.

In 1997 Lech won the competition for one-person show in the Bergen Museum of Art and Science in Paramus, New Jersey.

In 1998 he took part in the multi-image photographic exhibition Beyond Words, produced in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Hasselblad. The premiere showcased at the Photokona ‘98 in Cologne, Germany, and then at the PhotoPlus East Exhibition in New York City.

In the year 2000 his solo show The 1912 Swiss Calendar, was opened during the 8th International Month of Photography FotoFest in Houston, Texas.

In 2001 some of Lech’s Photographs were printed in the book Architectural Photography, published by RotoVision Visual Arts Books Publisher, Hoven, England.

In 2002 he was invited, along with several other photgraphers, to take part in the prestigious exhibition Around Decade - Polish Photography of the 90’s, at the Museum of Art in Lodz, Poland and the National Museum in Wroclaw, Poland.

In the same year Lech exhibited photographs from a work in progress entitled Travel Journal – America in several galleries in Poland.  

In May of 2002 he took part in a large exhibition The Photographic Landscapes of Jersey City, which was organized by Pro Arts in the Jersey City Public Library, Jersey City, New Jersey.

On September 11, 2002 his multi-media show dedicated to the WTC was shown simultaneously in 14 galleries in Poland, in Ostrava, the Czech Republic, and in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was comprised of 46 photographs taken before the tragic event, on 09.11.2001, and in its aftermath. The show was accompanied by a published booklet.  

In the Fall of 2002 Lech took part in several exhibitions. They are The End of Life Show (The Irving Goldman Community Art Gallery, Jersey City, New Jersey), Forms of Matter: Artists’ Views of Nature (Victory Hall, Jersey City, New Jersey), Central New Jersey Railroad Festival (by invitation, CNJ Railroad Terminal in Liberty State Park, Jersey City, New Jersey).

In March 2003 he showed in Poland the exhibition titled 60 Gates, exactly 20 years after the original exhibition date.

In December 2003 he took part in the IV Biennale Internazionale Dell Arte Contemporanea in Florence, Italy. He has shown photographs from his project titled Travel Journal – America, Poland for which he received the Medal Medici and the Fourth Prize.

In March 2004 he opened in Frozen Monkey Café in Hoboken, New Jersey, solo exhibition titled Travel Journals.

In December 2004 Lech opened his solo exhibition of 111 photographs in the Rotunda Gallery in the City Hall of Jersey City, New Jersey. The title of this show is Travel Journal – America, Canada, Poland, Italy.

In February 2005 Andrzej Jerzy Lech opened his solo exhibition titled Travel Journal in Galeria 2pir in Poznan, Poland.

In May 2005 Lech received from the Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy the prestigious J. Owen Grundy Award for his outstanding photography of Jersey City and its landmarks.

Lech is currently working on a few photographic projects: Travel Journal - America, Travel Journal - Poland, and The New York Bay Photography Project.

Lech is represented in the United States by the Graphistock Alternative Photography, New York, Paris, Rome, Frankfurt, London.

Andrzej Jerzy Lech’s photographs are in the permanent public collections of the Jersey City Museum in Jersey City, New Jersey, the Museum of Modern Art in Lodz, Poland, the National Museum in Wroclaw, Poland, Mala Galeria in Warsaw, Poland, Exchange Gallery in Lodz, Poland, BWA in Legnica, Poland, BWA in Jelenia Gora, Poland, Icon Pictures in New York, New York, and in many private collections.