(Born October 16, 1977, in Sieradz)
Polish comic book artist, painter, poster designer, and illustrator.
Jacek Frąś is a graduate of the Faculty of Graphics and Painting at the Władysław Strzemiński Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź, where he completed his diploma under Professor Marian Kępiński. He also studied at the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, in the studio of Professor Stanisław Rodziński. He has practiced his craft internationally, including in New York, Tokyo, and Dubrovnik.
His comic works have appeared in numerous publications, including Machina, Muza, Gazeta Wyborcza, Polityka, Nie, Laif, DosDedos, AQQ, Stripburger, Warburger, Madburger, Talizman, Czas Komiksu, Dziennik Łódzki, Dziennik Polski, and Świat Komiksu. He has collaborated with publishing houses such as Kultura Gniewu, Egmont, Zin-Zin Press, and Viking, and participated in many solo and group exhibitions. He also works with advertising agencies.
In 2001, Frąś received the Prix Alph-Art Jeunes Talents at the Angoulême International Comics Festival for his comic Kaczka (The Duck)—set during the Warsaw Uprising and based on the Warsaw legend of the golden duck. He remains the only Polish artist to receive this distinction. The year before, Kaczka had earned him second prize at the International Festival of Comics in Łódź.
In 2004, his comic book Glinno was published by Kultura Gniewu.
In 2006, his autobiographical comic Stan (The State)—set in Poland during martial law—was included in issue no. 49/3207 of the magazine Przekrój.
He frequently collaborates with writer and screenwriter Grzegorz Janusz. In 2009, they released Tragedyja Płocka (The Tragedy of Płock) via the Płock Art Gallery. A year earlier, their comic Ostra Biel (Sharp White) won the Grand Prix at the Łódź International Comic Festival.
On Facebook, Frąś publishes satirical comics featuring a recurring character—a melon. He avoids taboos, aside from commercial, promotional, or dull historical/educational comics, which he deliberately chooses not to engage with.
His comic Astronom was named Best Polish Comic Album at the 35th International Festival of Comics and Games in Łódź in 2024.
2011 – Czas na komiks, Wałbrzych Art Gallery BWA “Książ Castle”
2011 – Polish Comic Art Exhibition in Tokyo
2011 – Czas na komiks, MFKiG Łódź
2012 – Czas na komiks, MBWA Leszno
2012 – Czas na komiks, Jan Tarasin Art Gallery, Kalisz
2013 – Poles ApART: New Polish Comics & Graphic Novels, Comica Festival, Windows Gallery at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, London
2016 – Magma. Contemporary Polish Comics, Lieu d’Europe, Strasbulles – European Comics Festival, Strasbourg
2017 – Memory and Narrative: Polish Historical Comics, Napoli COMICON
2017 – Comics of Poland, Stockholm International Comics Festival
2019 – Polish Comics at SoBD in Paris, Salon de la BD à Paris
2020 – Word and Image: Contemporary Polish Comics, Polish Institute in Bratislava
2020/2021 – Polish Comics at the KomMissia Festival, Moscow
2022 – Polish Comics at the Angoulême Festival, Angoulême
