Artur Żmijewski (born 26 May 1966 in
Warsaw
Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
) is a Polish visual artist, filmmaker and photographer. During the years of 1990–1995 he studied at
Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts
Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw () is a public university of visual, visual arts and applied arts located in the Poland, Polish Warsaw, capital. The academy traces its history back to the Department of Arts founded at the Warsaw University in the ...
. He is an author of short video movies and photography exhibitions, which were shown all over the world. Since 2006 he is artistic editor of the "
Krytyka Polityczna
''Krytyka Polityczna'' (; "The Political Critique") is a network of Polish left-wing intellectuals. The network is based around a journal of the same name founded by Sławomir Sierakowski in 2002, but is open to voices from across the political s ...
".
His solo show ''If It Happened Only Once It's As If It Never Happened'' was at "
Kunsthalle Basel
Kunsthalle Basel is a contemporary art gallery in Basel, Switzerland.
As Switzerland's oldest and still most active institution for contemporary art established in the year of 1872, Kunsthalle Basel forms a vital part of Basel's cultural centre ...
" in 2005, the same year in which he represented Poland at the 51st Venice Biennale. He has shown in Documenta 12 (2007), and Manifesta 4 (2002); Wattis Institute for Contemporary Art, San Francisco (2012, 2005); National Gallery of Art Zacheta, Warsaw (2005); Kunstwerke, Berlin (2004); CAC, Vilnius (2004); "
Moderna Museet
Moderna Museet is a state museum for modern and contemporary art located on the island of Skeppsholmen in central Stockholm, opened in 1958. In 2009, the museum opened Moderna Museet Malmö in Malmö.
History
The museum opened in Stockh ...
", Stockholm (1999). Earlier this year he presented Democracies at "
Foksal Gallery Foundation", Warsaw; and is making new work for The Museum of Modern Art (Moma) in New York as part of their ''Projects’ Series'' in September 2009. "
Cornerhouse
Cornerhouse was a cinema and contemporary visual arts centre next to Oxford Road Station on Oxford Street, Manchester, England, from 1985 to 2015. It had three floors of art galleries, three cinemas, a bookshop, bar and café. Cornerhouse was ...
", Manchester, presented the first major UK survey of Zmijewski's work, spanning his practice from 2003 to the present day, from November 2009 – January 2010. He was the curator of the 7th Berlin Biennale in 2012 – of which he opened the curatorial process as a collaboration.
''Berek'' (''The Game of Tag''), 1999 has repeatedly brought controversy. The piece depicts nude adults playing tag in the gas chamber of the
Stutthof concentration camp
Stutthof was a Nazi concentration camp established by Nazi Germany in a secluded, marshy, and wooded area near the village of Stutthof (now Sztutowo) 34 km (21 mi) east of the city of Danzig (Gdańsk) in the territory of the German-an ...
.
Notable works
Movies
''Note: Titles in brackets are non-official English titles.''
* ''Ja i AIDS'' (''Me and AIDS''), 1996
* ''Ogród botaniczny ZOO'' (''ZOO, The Botanic Garden''), 1997
* ''Oko za Oko'' (''An Eye for an Eye''), 1998
* ''Berek'' (''The Game of Tag''), 1999
* ''KR WP'', 2000
* ''Sztuka kochania'' (''An Art of Love''), 2000
* ''Karolina'' (''Caroline''), 2001
* ''Na spacer'' (''Out for a Walk''), 2001
* ''Lekcja śpiewu 1'' (''Singing Lesson 1''), 2001
* ''Lekcja śpiewu 2'' (''Singing Lesson 2''), 2003
* ''Pielgrzymka'' (''Pilgrimage''), 2003
* ''Nasz śpiewnik'' (''Our Songbook''), 2003
* ''Itzik'', 2003
* ''Lisa'', 2003
* ''80064'', 2004
* ''Rendez-vous'', 2004
* ''Powtórzenie'' (''Repetition''), 2005
* ''Wybory.pl'', 2005
* ''Them'', 2007
* ''Democracies'', 2009
* ''Blindly'', 2013 (Biennale di Venezia)
* ''Realism'', 2017
* ''Compassion'', 2022
Photographies
* ''40 Szuflad'' (''40 Drawers''), 1995
* ''Gestures,'' 2019
* ''Refugees/Cardboards'', 2022
Solo exhibitions
* ''Tożsamość Dzidzi'', 1995, Galeria Przyjaciół A.R.,
Warsaw
Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
, Poland
* ''Śpiew sardynek'', 1996, Galeria a.r.t.,
Płock
Płock (pronounced ), officially the Ducal Capital City of Płock, is a city in central Poland, on the Vistula river, in the Masovian Voivodeship. According to the data provided by Central Statistical Office (Poland), GUS on 31 December 2021, the ...
, Poland
* ''Oko za oko'', 1998, Centrum Sztuki Współczesnej Zamek Ujazdowski, Warsaw, Poland
* ''Ausgewahlte Arbeiten'', 1999, Galeria Wyspa,
Gdańsk
Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...
, Poland
* ''Berek'', 2000, Galeria a.r.t., Płock, Poland
* ''Na Spacer'', 2001, Galeria Foksal, Warsaw, Poland
* ''Lekcja śpiewu 1'' / ''Lekcja śpiewu 2'', 2003, Fundacja Galerii Foksal, Warsaw, Poland
* ''Singing lesson 2'', 2003,
Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst Leipzig
The Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst Leipzig (GfZK) (English language, English: Gallery for Contemporary Art) is an exhibition center for contemporary art and a museum for art post 1945 in Leipzig, Germany, in a beautiful location opposite Joh ...
,
Leipzig
Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...
, Germany
* ''Singing lesson'', 2003, Wilkinson Gallery, London, Great Britain
* ''Artur Żmijewski. Selected Works 1998–2003'', 2004, MIT
List Visual Arts Center
Established in 1950, the List Visual Arts Center (LVAC) is the contemporary art museum of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It is known for temporary exhibitions in its galleries located in the MIT Media Lab building, as well as its admin ...
,
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, US
* ''Artur Żmijewski'', 2004, Centre d'art Contemporain de Bretigny,
Brétigny-sur-Orge
Brétigny-sur-Orge (, literally ''Brétigny on Orge'') is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France, from the city center.
Origin of the city name
The name of the settlement is attested as ''Britiniacum'' in 1146, as ''Bretigniacum' ...
, France
* ''Powtórzenie'', 2005, Polski Pawilon na LI Międzynarodowym Biennale w Wenecji,
Venezia
Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
, Italy
* ''Artur Żmijewski'', 2005,
Kunsthalle
A kunsthalle () is a facility that mounts temporary art exhibitions, similar to an art gallery. It is distinct from an art museum by not having a permanent collection.
In the German-speaking regions of Europe, ''Kunsthallen'' are often operated ...
,
Basel
Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...
, Switzerland
* ''Artur Żmijewski'', 2009,
Cornerhouse
Cornerhouse was a cinema and contemporary visual arts centre next to Oxford Road Station on Oxford Street, Manchester, England, from 1985 to 2015. It had three floors of art galleries, three cinemas, a bookshop, bar and café. Cornerhouse was ...
, Manchester, United Kingdom
* ''Artur Żmijewski'', 2010,
Trade (gallery),
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...
, United Kingdom
* ''Artur Żmijewski - When Fear Eats the Soul'', 2022
PAC - Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea Milan, Italy
Group exhibitions
* ''Documenta'' 2007,
Kassel
Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...
, Germany
* ''Double Agent'' 2008,
Institute of Contemporary Arts
The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an modernism, artistic and cultural centre on The Mall (London), The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps a ...
, London,
BALTIC
Baltic may refer to:
Peoples and languages
*Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian
*Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...
,
Gateshead
Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...
,
Warwick Arts Centre
Warwick Arts Centre is a multi-venue arts complex at the University of Warwick in Coventry, England. It attracts around 300,000 visitors a year to over 3,000 individual events embracing all types of theatre and performance, contemporary and ...
,
Warwick
Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined wit ...
* ''11th International Istanbul Biennial'' 2009,
Istanbul
Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
References
*
Further reading
* Anthony Downey, "The Lives of Others: Artur Zmijewski's "Repetition", The Stanford Prison Experiment, and the Ethics of Surveillance in Outi Remes and Pam Skelton (eds.)
''Conspiracy Dwellings: Surveillance in Contemporary Art'' Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2010.
External links
Artur Żmijewskiat culture.pl
Artur Żmijewski profile at Biografie Genealogia Polska
On Artur Żmijewski, spike art quarterly
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zmijewski, Artur
Polish contemporary artists
Polish film directors
Living people
1966 births
Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw alumni