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Katarzyna Kozyra is Poland’s one of the most well known female artist. In the 1990s her work Pyramid of Animals initiated the movement that became well known as critical art. From the very outset, Kozyra has broken social taboos, such as nudity, old age, and death, for which the conservative Polish society regards her as controversial.
Katarzyna Kozyra was born in Warsaw in 1963. Sculptor, photographer, author of performances, films, video installations and artistic actions. A graduate of the Faculty of Sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. In 1998, she completed post-graduate studies at the Hochschule für Graphik und Buchkunst in Leipzig, in the New Media studio under prof. Helmut Marek. Kozyra’s actions contributed to the creation of the so-called critical art, and had a significant impact on the shape of contemporary culture, often being the starting point for a wider discussion. Laureate of, among others awards of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage (Warsaw 2011) and the Passport of Polityka (Warsaw 1997). A DAAD scholarship holder (Berlin 2003) and the Kościuszko Foundation (New York 2000). In 1999, she received an honorary mention at the 48th Venice Biennale for the video installation “Men’s Bath” presented at the Polish Pavilion. In 2011, she obtained a doctoral degree at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. In 2013, the “Huffington Post” included Katarzyna Kozyra among the ten most important artists of the new millennium. In 2014, she won the fourth edition of the Film Award of the Polish Film Institute and the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw for the idea of the experimental film “Project X”. Katarzyna Kozyra’s art has been moving public opinion for many years, often provoking sharp polemics. The artist consistently challenges the prevailing stereotypes and critically revises socio-political discourses. In her works, she deals with the area of cultural taboos and clichés of behavior encoded in everyday life. Formally, Kozyra is the closest art of new media, however, the artist uses many techniques, which makes it difficult to classify her work. Kozyra’s diverse ouvre includes works as different as her diploma thesis from 1993 – “The Pyramid of Animals”, the video installation “The Rite of Spring”, or the wide-ranging project from 2003-2008 “In Art Dreams Come True”. Since 2012, the artist has been working on a project in Israel – “Looking for Jesus” – in which, assuming the position of a researcher, she asks important questions. It is a work about ways of realizing faith, its place and role in today’s world and the values around which we build our reality.
Over the past decades, Kozyra’s works have been exhibited in museums and institutions around the world, including: Venice Biennale, São Paulo Biennale, Sidney Biennale, Busan Biennale, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein Westfalen (Düsseldorf), Kulturhuset (Stockholm), Museum Voor Moderne Kunst (Arnhem), Carnegie International (Pittsburg), Barbican Art Center (London), Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig (Vienna), Brooklyn Museum (New York), Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art (Helsinki), CCA (Tel-Aviv), Three Shadows Photography Art Center (Beijing) and others.
In 2012, the artist opened the Katarzyna Kozyra Foundation, which stands out from other foundations dealing with contemporary art by focusing its activities on supporting women’s activity in the field of culture and art, undertaking projects with a significant social and artistic dimension.
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Katarzyna Kozyra cooperates with the galleries: Zak Branicka (Berlin), Postmasters (New York), Capsule (Shanghai) and Christophe Galliard Gallery (Paris).
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Selected solo exhibitions:
2021 Summertale, Bałtyk, Poznań, PL
2021 Katarzyna Kozyra. Modern World, Industrial Design Institute, Warsaw, PL
2019 Bipeds and Quadrupeds, Galeria Postmasters, New York, US.
2018/2019 A Dream of Linnaeus Daughter, Galeria ŻAK | BRANICKA, Berlin, DE.
2017 Looking for Jesus. Interviews from the Archive, Städtische Galerie Delmenhorst, DE.
2016 All that Beauty, Galerie Christophe Gaillard, Paris, FR.
2016 Katarzyna Kozyra Solo Exhibition, Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Beijing, CHN.
2014 Summertale, Turku Art Museum, Turku, FL.
2013 Looking for Jesus, ŻAK I BRANICKA, Berlin, DE.
2012 Katarzyna Kozyra, Kulturhuset, Stockholm, SE, curated by Timothy Persons und Estelle af Malmborg.
2012 Master of Puppets. Katarzyna Kozyra & The Midget Gallery, Schmela Haus, Kunstsammlung Nordhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, DE.
2012 Transgression. Katarzyna Kozyra. Contemporary Polish Art, MMK Arnhem, NL.
2011 Katarzyna Kozyra, National Museum in Cracow, PL.
2010 Casting!, Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, PL.
2009 Faces, Muzeum Sztuki, Lodz, PL.
2008 Summertale,ŻAK | BRANICKA Gallery, Berlin, DE.
2008 Punishment and Crime / Cheerleader, Neues Museum Weserburg, Bremen, DE.
2008 1st Midget Biennale, From the Caves to Art Basel and e-flux. The Third Way for Communism, Berlin, DE.
2008 In Art Dreams Come True, Art Berlin Contemporary, Berlin, DE.
2007 The Rite of Spring, Le Merlan Scene National, Marseille, FR.
2007 In Art Dreams Come True, BWA Wrocław; House of Art, Brno; Jan Koniarek Gallery, Trnava, SK.
2007 Faces, Centre National de la Danse, Paris, FR.
2006 The Midget Gallery, Frieze Art Fair, London, UK.
2006 In Art Dreams Come True, DAAD, Berlin, DE.
2005 Faces, Hebbel Theater, Berlin, DE.; Centre National de la Danse, Paris (2006), FR.; Muzeum Sztuki, Lodz, (2009), PL.
2005 Punishment and Crime, Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, PL.
2004 Non so piu cosa son, cosa faccio… (I Do Not Know Who I Am, What I Do…), Postmasters Gallery, New York, US.
2003 The Rite of Spring, Haus der Kunst, Spielart Festival, Munich, DE.
2003 Bathhouses, David Winton Bell Gallery, Providence, US.
2002 Lords of the Dance, Museo Nacional Centro del Arte Reina, Sofia, BG.
2002 The Rite of Spring, Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, PL.
2001 The Rite of Spring, The Renaissance Society, Chicago, US; Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, UK.
2001 Dance Lesson, Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna, AT.
1999 Men’s Bathhouse, Polish Pavilion, 48th International Biennal of Visual Art, Venice, IT.; Bunkier Sztuki, Krakow, (2003), PL.
1999 Bathhouse, Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, PL.; Centre of Contemporary Art, Vilnius, LT.; Womens’ Museum Arhus, DK.
1999 Works 1993-1999, Center for Contemporary Art “Laznia”, Gdansk, PL.
1998 Bathhouse, Polish Institute, Leipzig, DE.; Center of Contemporary Art, Vilnius, (1999) LT.; Womens’ Museum Aarhus (1999) DK.; CCA Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw (1999) PL.; David Winton Bell Gallery, Providence (2003), US.
1996 Olympia, Centre for Contemporary Art, Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, PL.
Selected group exhibitions:
2020 Anima, 7th Taiwan International Video Art Exhibition, C-Lab, Taipei, TW.
2020 Bodies on Stage ,Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Rijeka ,Rijeka, HR.
2020 Body. Gaze. Power. A Cultural History of the Bath, Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden ,Baden-baden, DE.
2019 Three plagues ,Galeria Labirynt ,Lublin, PL.
2019 Stories Of Old Age ,Galeria Arsenal ,Bialystok, PL.
2019 Who Isn’t Afraid of the Avant-garde! 2019 ,Profile Foundation, PL.
2019 States Of Focus ,Wrocław Contemporary Museum, Wroclaw, PL.
2019 11/944 ,Galeria Labirynt ,Lublin, PL.
2018 Salm Modern #1: Dimensions of Dialogue ,Salm Palace, National Gallery in Prague, Prague, CZ.
2017 Art in Art ,MOCAK, Museum of Contemporary Art in Krakow, Krakow, PL.
2017 J’ai 10 ans ,Galerie Christophe Gaillard, 3e, Paris, FR.
2016 It’s getting better and even better? ,Galeria Arsenal, Bialystok, PL.
2016 Our National Body ,Galeria Arsenal, Bialystok, PL.
2016 When we become us, Capsule Shanghai, Shanghai, CHN.
2016 Why the Performance?, Shanghai Ming Contemporary Art Museum, Shanghai, CHN.
2016 Frömmigkeit und Nachtgesichte · Naive Kunst aus Polen im Spiegel der Moderne, Museen der Stadt Recklinghausen, Recklinghausen, DE.
2015 BALAGAN!!! Contemporary Art from the Former Soviet Union and Other Mythical Places, MOMENTUM, Kunstquartier Bethanien, Berlin, DE.
2015 The Problem of God, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfallen, Düsseldorf, DE. War and Peace, Galeria Labirynt, Lublin, PL.
2015 Let’s Dance, Art Stations Foundation, Poznań, PL.
2015 Homosexualität_en, Deutsches Historisches Museum and Schwules Museum, Berlin, DE.
2015 Adam and Eve – The Loss of Innocence, Brandts Museum of Art & Visual Culture, Brandts, DK. Gender in Art, MOCAK, Cracow, PL.
2015 Truth Beauty Goodness, Zachęta – National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, PL.
2015 Fireflies in the night, Stavros Niarchos Foundation, Athens, GRC.
2015 Loop Barcelona Fair/Festival, Hotel Catalonia Ramblas I c. Pelai 28, Barcelona, ES.
2014 THE ORNAMENT OF FRATERNITY, Collegium Hungaricum, Berlin, DE. INSERT 2014, The Sharp Edge of the Global Contemporary, New Delhi, IN.
2014 Everybody is Nobody for Somebody, Santander Foundation, Madrid, ES.
2014 Miłość własna, Państwowa Galeria Sztuki, Sopot, PL.
2013 Loud! – Works by the Most Important Representatives of Video Art, BWA Katowice, PL.
2013 Looking for Jesus. Centre of Contemporary Art Zamek Ujazdowski, Warsaw, PL.
2013 Naked Man at Ludwig Museum, Budapest, HU.
2013 The Day is not enough. A few autobiographical stories, Wroclaw Contemporary Museum, PL
2013 BRITISH BRITISH POLISH POLISH: Art from Europe’s Edges in the Long ‘90s and Today, Centre for Contemporary Art, Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, PL.
2013 Subjects of Gender and Desire, BWA art gallery, Olsztyn, PL.
2012 Naked Man at Lentos Kunstmuseum, Linz, AT; Leopold Musem, Vienna, AT
2012 It isn’t important, it’s only art…, Galeria Sztuki Arsenał, Białystok, PL.
2012 Sport in Art, MOCAK, Krakow, PL.
2012 Thank you for the Music: How Music Moves, Museum of Contemporary Art KIASMA, Helsinki, FI.
2012 Kopenhagen Art Festival, Nikolaj Kunsthal, Copenhagen, DK.
2011 POLISH!, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, DE.
2011 Venice Biennale, Signum Foundation, Palazzo Donà, Venice, IT.
2011 Art Unlimited, Art Basel, Basel, CH.
2011 P A R T I CO L A R E. Paths of democracy, 54th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, Signum Foundation, Palazzo Donà, Venice, IT.
2010 Die kleine Improvisation: Polnische Kunst Heute (The Small Improvisation: Polish Art Today), Stadtgalerie Kiel, DE.
2010 17th Biennale of Sydney, AU.
2010 7th Busan Biennale, KR.
2009 Gender Check, Museum Moderner Kunst, Vienna, AT.; Zachęta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, PL.
2009 XVI. Rohkunstbau, Potsdam, DE.
2009 Inwazja dźwięku (Invasion Sound), Zachęta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, PL. Performing the East, Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg, AT.
2009 Invisible Borders, The Europe XXL event in the Tri Postal, Lille, FR.
2009 Neue Meister (New Masters), Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden, DE.
2009 Take a Look at Me Now, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Art, Norwich, GB.
2008 Art Comes Before Gold, Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, Warsaw, PL.
2008 Trunk, Färgfabriken – Center for Contemporary Art and Architecture, Stockholm, SE.
2008 Under The Skin: New Video From Poland, New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, US.
2008 All That Cinema, Ludwig Museum, Budapest, HU.
2007 The Rite Of Spring / Voci Dalla Luna: Omaggio A Federico Fellini
2007 E-Flux Video Rental, Centre Culturel Suisse, Paris, F.; Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, Cambridge, MA, US.
2007 2 Ou 3 Choses Que J’Ignore D’ Elles (Two or Three Things of Her that I Ignore), FRAC – Lorraine, Metz, FR.
2007 Global Feminism, Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York, US. 2006 Gender Bender, Festival Internazionale, Bologna, IT.
2007 Video Zone, Video Art Biennial, CCA, Tel Aviv, IL; Lubuski Film Festival, Lagow, PL.
2007 The Impossible Theatre, Barbican Art Center, London, UK.
2005 Egocentric, Immoral, Outmoded, Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, PL.
2005 About Beauty, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, DE.
2005 The Impossible Theatre, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, AT; Zachęta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw (2006) PL.; Barbican Art Gallery, London (2006) UK.
2004 Instant Europe, Villa Manin Centro d’Arte Contemporanea, Passariano, IT.
2004 54th Carnegie International, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, US.
2004 Channel Zero, Netherlands Media Art Institute / Montevideo TBA, Amsterdam, NL.
2004 Videodreams: Between The Cimenathic and The Theatrical, Kunsthaus Graz, AT.
2004 Anxiety of Influence: Bachelors, Brides & a Family Romance, Stadtgalerie Bern, CH. Under Red and White Flag. New Art from Poland, Eesti Museum, Tallin, EE; Center of Contemporary Art, Vilnius, LT; State Center of Contemporary Art, Moskow, RU.
2003 Nackt!, Frauenansichten: Aufbruch zur Moderne, (Nude! Female Views: Departure to Modernism), Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main, DE.
2003 Architectures of Gender, Sculpture Space, New York, US.
2003 Deviations, Galerie K&K, Berlin, DE.; Prove d’Ascolto, Galleria Civica d’Arte Contemporanea, Trento, IT.
2002 Yesterday Was Dramatic … But Today is OK! Spazio Consolo, Milan, IT. Media_city Seoul, KR.
2002 25th Bienal de São Paulo, BR.
2001 Collection, Museum of Modern Art, Vienna, AT.
2001 International Collection, Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, PL. The Body of Art, 1st Valencia Biennial, Valencia, ES.
2001 Masquerades, Center for Contemporary Art, Poznań; Art Basel, Basel, CH.
2001 Arteast 2000+, Orangerie Congress, Innsbruck, AT.
2000 L’Autre moitié de l’Europe (Europe’s Other Half), Galerie Jeu de Paume, Paris, FR. After the wall, Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin, DE.
2000 Zeitwenden (Turning Points), Museum Moderner Kunst, Vienna, AT.
2000 Body and the East, Exit Art, New York, US.
2000 Beware of Exiting your Dreams: You may Find Yourself in Somebody Else’s…, Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, PL.
1999 Zeitwenden – The Outlook, Kunstmuseum Bonn, DE.
1999 La Casa, il Corpo, il Cuore, (The House, the Body, the Heart), Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, Vienna, AT.
1999 After the Wall: Art and Culture in Post-Communist Europe, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, SE.
1997 Zones of Disturbance, Marieninstitut, Graz, AT.
1996 Displacement / This Placement, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, DE.