Martin Bydalek’s art is as dynamic as the photographer himself.

Work by the energetic artist, now on display at Winslow Way Cafe, ranges from commercial posters to fine sculpture – and everything in between.

In one series, Bydalek manipulated polaroid film after exposing it, turning image into abstraction, then enlarged the results with an 11 mega-pixel digital camera.

“For one piece, I photographed a neon sign, and then over dinner I took a butter knife to it – taking the emulsion that was exposed by the red neon and spreading it around,” he said.

The result, commercial ink jet prints on canvas, resembles an abstract expressionist painting.

The common denominator in Bydalek’s oeuvre is a wacky sense of humor and an off-the-wall sensibility that recalls Dada, a European art movement that arose between the world wars and was dedicated to undermining bourgeois values.

A porcelain pan nailed to the wall and ringed with wiry rheostats is titled “Bad Hair Day.”

A work Bydalek hung in the Winslow Way Cafe men’s room features a straight-down-over-stomach shot to the tidal flats titled “High Tide at the Fat Farm.”

There is a close-up Cibachrome of a lava lamp, and a free-standing sculpture made from 1950s German scientific equipment merged with an aquarium in which fish swim, illuminated by a blacklight.

A self-proclaimed “gadget freak,” Bydalek buys outmoded equipment from Boeing surplus, auctions at UW and from a Seattle outfit, the Old Technology Shop.

“Look,” he says, pointing to German instruction on the machinery, “it says ‘achtung.’”

Armageddon

Bydalek’s original art impulse was a photographic one.

The “forty-something” artist grew up in Port Orchard and attended University of Washington.

Then, in 1979, the apocalyptic vision of Hal Lindsey’s book “Late Great Planet Earth” prompted him to make a change.

“Lindsey foretold Armageddon,” he said. “I took it, hook, line and sinker. I decided to get out of Dodge. I quit school and moved to Hawaii.”

There, he photographed water skiers, and within three months had published a magazine article.

That set his feet on the commercial course; Bydalek began building a reputation as a high-quality action photographer.

In 1980, he founded Image Creative Publishing and began producing water ski posters. That work culminated in a water ski calendar in 1982.

“My claim to fame,” he said, “is that I produced the world’s first water ski calendar.”

From 1980-90, Bydalek did editorial magazine work, and published 14 more calendars, winning acclaim as the world’s outstanding water ski photographer from Spray, a magazine dedicated to the sport.

But the pressures of having to market his work took a toll, and Bydalek closed down his publishing business in 1990.

A personal crisis followed, and it wasn’t until 1995 that Bydalek produced his famous “Moon Over Seattle” poster, the first in a 10-poster series featured in Safeway stores around Puget Sound.

Bydalek says it was the downturn in the stock market that got him back in full gear.

“Before that, I wasn’t motivated,” he said, “but when I lost all my money in the stock market – I was invested heavily in tech – I got a computer and started getting creative.”

As his commercial career gets back on track, he is determined to pursue the fine arts, as well.

“I want to evolve as an artist,” he said, “and my wife’s (Maureen Bydalek) paintings inspire my work.”

The show at Winslow Way Cafe offered the opportunity to display his diverse pieces together.

“Everything’s on sale,” he said. “I want someone I don’t know to buy something. Then I’m vindicated. Then I’m an artist.”

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Bydalek’s artworks are on view at Winslow Way Cafe through October.

For more information, call 842-2941 or see www.postersandcards.com.