Marcin Maciejowski Poland, b. 1974

Marcin Maciejowski, whose practice touches upon contemporary issues is noted for paintings that reflects reality and present situations. He pays attention to the fact that people grasp the world through a specific window-mass media. Instead of merely responding to one particular event, he attempts not only to disclose a hidden truth but also to investigate the mechanism how the media reproduces actual events. Thus, Maciejowski’s perspective and approaches, which can be defined as ‘second-hand reality’ play a role in unveiling the hidden reality, rather than looking at it negatively or critically. His experience working as an illustrator in Poland allows him to gain inspiration from various resources, such as advertisements, posters, cartoons or illustrations. The intimate yet unfamiliar works, which combines existing imageries with sophisticated brush strokes, have iconic features that generate a distinctive tone.

Maciejowski studied at the architecture department of the Kraków University of Technology and continued his higher education at the Graphics Design Department at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków. He has held solo exhibitions at prestigious European museums including Baltic Center for Contemporary Art, UK (2013) and The National Museum, Poland (2013). He also has been a representative artist of prominent galleries such as Thaddaeus Ropac (Paris) and Meyer Kainer (Vienna) in Europe. ‘Grupa Ladnie,’ an artist group he established with his colleagues including Wilhelm Sasnal (b. 1972) in 1996, has stood out as a crucial association for Eastern European contemporary art and it has contributed to strengthening Maciejowski’s reputation and recognition in the global art world.