Contents [showhide] 1  Life 2  Poetry 3  Visual arts 4  Footnotes 5  Bibliography 5.1  Poetry 5.2  Anthologies 6  Selected sources 7  External links

Tylman was the first of two children of Edward Tylman, professor of engineering from the Kraków University of Technology, and Danuta Krupa, college teacher of nursing.^[1] Tylman co-founded a student literary newspaper called Skarpa, in which he debuted his free verse poetry with an introduction by the Rector of Ludwik Solski Academy for the Dramatic Arts (PWST). Soon afterwards he won the Grand Owl Poetry Award sponsored by the Jagiellonian University of Kraków.^[1] Tylman graduated from the Faculty of Painting of the Academy of Fine Arts (ASP) and in 1980 was chosen to represent Kraków at the national juried exhibition of paintings by the most prominent young professional artists.^[2][3][4] Following graduation he worked as an arts instructor and theatre stage designer.^[1] Tylman left Poland in 1981 and settled in Vancouver, where he pursued a career in graphic arts. He became a Canadian citizen in 1985.

While in Canada, Tylman continued writing poetry, articles,^[5] and essays in Polish throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, publishing an acclaimed volume of poetry entitled Koty marcowe (The Felines of March) in Warsaw in 2002.^[6] The book features a long poem called An Attempt at Blowing Up the Statue of Lenin ("O próbie wysadzenia pomnika Lenina") – since popularized in photo anthology Nowa Huta. Okruchy życia i meandry historii by J.A. Karnasiewicz.^[7][8] Tylman began writing poetry in English nearly a decade after becoming a Canadian citizen,^[9] and has self-published several limited editions of verse in English and Polish, including Imaginary Lovers, Living Inside the Moving Landscape, Privilege / Przywilej, Wax Poetics, and Selections From an Old Shoebox. As featured poet, Tylman performed at the Gala of the 2005 Heart of the City Festival broadcasted in Vancouver by Shaw Cable TV.^[10]

In his early teens, Tylman became the youngest member of the Plastic Arts' Club for adults ^[5] at the DK HiL Community Centre in Nowa Huta neighbourhood, and exhibited his first oil paintings in gallery group show. Following high school he enrolled at the Kraków University of Technology Faculty of Architecture, encouraged by his father.^[5] However, within two years it was clear he didn't share his father's aspirations, and in 1974, under the tutorage of professional artists Ewa and Ryszard Mrozowski, Tylman passed the entrance exams to the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts Faculty of Painting.

In opposition to the then-leading trend toward post-expressionism in the Academy, Tylman maintained his artistic interest in hyperrealist painting.^[5][11] He defended his Master's Thesis at the atelier of Prof. Andrzej Strumiłło in 1979.^[5] A year later, Tylman was chosen by the regional curator of the Association of Polish Artists and Designers (ZPAP) to represent Kraków in Wrocław, at a national juried exhibition of "the most distinguishable individualities among painters of the new generation".^[5][12][13] He was a set-design assistant at People's Theatre of Kraków (Teatr Ludowy),^[5] as well as an arts instructor, before emigrating to Canada.

While in Canada, Tylman pursued a career in commercial arts as an airbrush illustrator. His illustrations were used on billboards, bus shelters, covers of corporate annual reports and brochures. His work has been featured in spreads published in newspapers and magazines such as Time,^[14][15][16] Macleans,^[17] and Chatelaine.^[18] Among the clients for whom he provided illustrations were Petro-Canada, BCTel,^[19] and the British Columbia Lottery Corporation, Canadian Pacific Airlines ^[16][20] with Wardair,^[20] Pacific Western Airlines ^[14] with American Express,^[21] Energy Mines and Resources Canada,^[22] Tourism British Columbia for Expo 86,^[23] West Edmonton Mall, Tetra Pak, Sun-Rype,^[18] and the Province.

Tylman was part of a team which received an Award of Excellence (pictured here) at the 1991 Graphex competition in the category of illustration series for a series of illustrations provided by Tylman and used in a promotional campaign.^[24]