Marta Zgierska. Visual artist. Currently a PhD student in the Doctoral School of Humanities / Institute of Fine Arts, Marie Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin. She holds MFA in Photography (Polish National Film School in Lodz), MA in Theatrology and MA in Journalism. In her artwork she deals with the subject of trauma, liminal experiences and associated tensions. Since the serious car accident, her physically affected body has naturally become a tool for exploring reality. She explores the canons of feminine beauty and undermines the pressure that the contemporary society exerts on the woman’s image. Her works have exhibited in numerous museums, galleries and festivals. Winner of Prix HSBC pour la Photographie 2016 and many other awards and grants. In 2018 she was nominated for the Foam Paul Huf Award 2018 and the DZ BANK Art Collection Fellowship 2019. In 2019 she was named Artist of the Year at the DongGang International Photo Festival in South Korea.
UPCOMING / CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
2025 Labirynt Gallery, Lublin, Poland (solo show)
2024 Centrala Gallery, Poznan, Poland (solo show)
2024 Secondary Archive. Women Artists in War, Labirynt Gallery, Lublin, Poland
2024 Tomorrow crumbles in hands, Fotofestival Lenzburg, Switzerland
2024 Sunspots, Baltic Gallery of Contemporary Art, Slupsk / Ustka, Poland
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 Tomorrow crumbles in hands, Gowen Contemporary, Geneva, Switzerland
2024 Lico, Muncipal Gallery BWA, Bydgoszcz, Poland
2024 Internal Landscapes, Eastern Photography Festival, Lublin, Poland
2023 From all angles, Project Room Zacheta National Museum, Warsaw, Poland
2023 Short Circuit, FaVU Gallery, Brno, Czech Republic
2023 Crust, UHAUS, Ostrava, Czech Republic
2021 Edema, BWA Krosno, Poland
2021 Internal Landscapes, Krakowskie Przedmieście 6, Lublin, Poland
2020 Blush, Galerie Sintitulo, Mougins, France
2019 Blush, Gowen Contemporary, Geneva, Switzerland
2019 Artist of the Year, DongGang Museum of Photography, South Korea
2019 Afterbeauty & Votive Figure, Galerie Intervalle, Paris, France
2019 Blush, Biala Gallery, Lublin, Poland
2018 Post, The Fort Institute of Photography, Warsaw, Poland
2017 Post, Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki, Finland
2017 Post, Galerie Intervalle, Paris, France
2017 Post, Filter Space Gallery, Chicago, USA
2017 Post, Reminders Photography Stronghold Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
TWO MEN SHOWS
2016 Post, Prix HSBC pour la Photographie, Galerie Esther Woerdehoff, Paris, France
2016 Post, Prix HSBC pour la Photographie, Gowen Contemporary, Geneva, Switzerland
2016 Post, Prix HSBC pour la Photographie, Musee de la Photographie Andre Villers & Galerie Sintitulo, Mougins, France
2016 Post, Prix HSBC pour la Photographie, L’Arsenal, Metz, France
2016 Post, Prix HSBC pour la Photographie, Arret sur l’Image Galerie, Bordeaux, France
PERFORMANCES
2024 I would prefer to subtract, Tychy Performance Festival, Tychy, Poland
2022 Ablution I, Mariya Hoyin, Diary during the war, Labirynt Gallery, Lublin, Poland (performance)
2022 Gas Pepper, Malamut Performance Meeting, GAFU Gallery, Ostrava, Czech Republic
(videoperformance)
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023 Prix Bob Calle 2023 du livre d’artiste, The Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
2023 The Ongoing Power of Photography, curator Michel Frizot, Daegu Biennale Photo, Daegu, South Korea
2023 Cafe_Full, with Dimitris Mertzos, Julie-Michèle Morin, Jul Schadauer, Letta Shtohryn, Postcity, Ars Electronica, Linz, Austria
2023 Photoforum, Kunsthaus Pasquart, The Biel/Bienne Festival of Photography, Switzerland
2023 EXP(L)O, curator: Robert Kuśmirowski, the Leon Wyczółkowski District Museum, The eye never sleeps Festival, Bydgoszcz, Poland
2022 Verwachsungen, Polish Institute Gallery, Düsseldorf, Germany
2022 I AM, Museum of Adam Mickiewicz in Smielow, Department of the National Museum in Poznan, Poland
2022 L’Œil qui voyage, Galerie Intervalle, Paris, France
2022 Ми з Вами! / We with you!, Labirynt Gallery, Lublin, Poland
2022 Personal Portrait, Pop-Up Ogrodowa Gallery, Lodz, Poland
2022 Garden, Les Photographiques Festival, Le Mans, France
2022 Women Photographers, Pawilon Francuski, World Expo Dubai, Emiraty Arabskie
2021 Takeover, Noorderlicht International Photo Festival: The Makeable Mind, Groningen, Netherlands
2021 Garden, Who Is Next To You, Museum of Odesa Modern Art, Odesa Photo Days, Odesa, Ukraine
2021 Midnight at Noon. Performance exhibition, Lubomirski Palace, National Museum in Lublin, Poland
2021 Collection – Sammlung. Works from the collection of the Małopolska Foundation of the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Sammlung Pastula, BWA Tarnów, Poland
2021 Photo Basel / Gowen Contemporary, Basel, Switzerland
2021 Unseen Amsterdam / Galerie Intervalle, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2021 Asylum, The Center of the Worlds is Here, The Ukrainian National House in Przemysl, Poland
2021 Personal Portrait, We are All Photographers, Promotional Gallery, Warsaw, Poland
2021 IWPA 2020, KYOTOGRAPHIE International Photography Festival, Kyoto, Japan
2020 Photo Basel Berlin / Gowen Contemporary, Berlin, Germany
2020 Votive Figure, Athens Photo Festival, Benaki Museum, Greece
2020 Votive Figure, Photo Israel, Tel-Aviv, Israel
2019 Rituals I: Correlations, Fotogalerie Wien, Vienna, Austria
2019 Takeover, PGS National Gallery, Sopot, Poland
2019 Polyptyque / Galerie Intervalle, Marseille, France
2019 artgenève / Gowen Contemporary, Geneva, Switzerland
2018 Galeristes Art Fair / Galerie Intervalle, Paris, France
2018 Identity Issues, Riga Photography Biennial, Latvia
2018 Angst, Museum Dr. Guislain, Gent, Belgium
2018 5×2=10, Gowen Contemporary, Switzerland
2017 Unseen Amsterdam / Galerie Intervalle, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2017 Beirut Art Fair / Gowen Contemporary, Beirut, Lebanon
2017 Post, Backlight Photo Festival, Tampere Art Museum, Finland
2016 Post, Festival Circulation(s), Paris, France
2016 Post, Athens Photo Festival, Benaki Museum, Greece
2016 Post, FotoLeggendo Festival, Rome, Italy
2016 Post, Encontros da Imagem International Photography Festival, Braga, Portugal
2016 Post, Bitume Photofest, Lecce, Italy
2016 Salon of New Photography, Raster Gallery, Warsaw, Poland
2015 LensCulture Emerging Talents, SF Camerawork, San Francisco, USA
2015 Post, Malmo Fotobiennal, Sweden
2015 Post, Poznan Photo Diploma Award, Maison de la Photographie, Lille, France
2015 Post, Poznan Photo Diploma Award, Biennale of Photography in Poznan, Poland
SELECTED AWARDS
2023 Prix Bob Calle du livre d’artiste, Paris, France (special award)
2023 Polish Photographic Publication of the Year (honorable mention)
2021 Foam Paul Huf Award, Amsterdam, Netherlands (nominated)
2020 International Women In Photo Association Award, Paris, France (finalist)
2019 DZ BANK Art Collection Fellowship, Frankfurt am Main, Germany (nominated)
2019 Artist of the Year, DongGang International Photo Festival, South Korea (winner)
2018 International Festival of Photography PhotoVisa, The Silence Award, Krasnodar, Russia (2nd place winner)
2017 PDN Photo Annual, Photo Books, New York, USA (winner)
2016 Prix HSBC pour la Photographie, Paris, France (winner)
2016 Daylight Photo Awards, USA (winner)
2016 ING Unseen Talent Award, Amsterdam, Netherlands (nominated)
2016 FotoLeggendo Giovanni Tabo Prize, Rome, Italy (winner)
2016 Kolga Tbilisi Photo Award, Best Conceptual Photo Project, Georgia (winner)
2016 Best Photography Book from Central and Eastern Europe 2015 – 2016, European Month of Photography, Bratislava, Slovakia (honorable mention)
2016 Nera di Verzasca Award, Verzasca Foto Festival, Sonogno, Switzerland (finalist)
2015 LensCulture Emerging Talent Awards, Amsterdam, Netherlands (winner)
2015 Poznan Photo Diploma Award, Poland (finalist)
GRANTS / FELLOWSHIPS
2023 IDSA x Ars Electronica Founding Lab, Linz, Austria
2022 NAWA Ster Fellowship
2022 Santander Universidades grant
2022 Grant in the field of culture of the Marshal of the Lublin Province
2021 Grant of the National Center for Culture as part of the Young Poland program in the field of visual arts
2021 Grant of the Mayor of the City of Lublin, Poland
2019 Mazovia Creative Award, Warsaw, Poland (winner)
2018 Grant of the Mayor of the City of Lublin, Poland
2016 Reminders Photography Stronghold Grant, Tokyo, Japan
RESIDENCES
2024 Sculpture everywhere, The Centre of Polish Sculpture, Orońsko, Poland (upcoming)
2023 Artistic Residency, Studio VVV, Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Bratislava, Slovakia
2022 Artistic Residency in frame of NAWA Ster Fellowship, University of Ostrava, Czech Republic
2021 Artistic Residency, BWA Krosno, Poland
2019 CreArt Residency, Kaunas, Lithuania
2019 Within the Frame of Sopot Residency, Sopot, Poland
BOOKS
2023 Internal Landscapes, self-published, Warsaw
2022 Garden, Blow Up Press, Warsaw, Poland
2019 Afterbeauty, Biala Gallery, Lublin, Poland
2016 Post, Actes Sud, Arles, France
PUBLICATIONS
Contemporary Lynx, GUP Magazine, Unseen Magazine, LensCulture, The Eyes, L’Oeil de la Photographie, Fotoroom, Fotografia Magazine, Photoworks, Paper Journal, Fisheye Magazine, Gente di Fotografia, De l’air Magazine, Magazyn SZUM, Aspiracje, Arteon, Hunger Magazine, Life Framer, Jungle Magazine, Der Greif, Blow Magazine, Musee Magazine, dienacht, Aint-Bad Magazine, iGNANT, Vostok, This Orient, Thisispaper, Sajinyesul, SMBHmag, F-Stop Magazine, Unless you will
SELECTED TEXTS / INTERVIEWS / REVIEWS / ESSAYS
Essay by Christian Caujolle, Post, in: Marta Zgierska, Post, Monograph, Actes Sud, Arles, France, July 2016
Text by François Cheval, Votive Figure, Paris, France, December 2019
Essay by Iwona Kurz, Post pictura. Photo-bio-graphy, in: Marta Zgierska, Afterbeauty, Monograph, Biala Gallery, Lublin, Poland, February 2019
Text by Erik Vroons, Steamy Windows and Distorted Rearviews – How Photographic Images Can Function in Artist Books, “GUP Magazine”, Amsterdam, Netherlands, February 2017
Interview by Joanna L. Cresswell, Marta Zgierska, “Unseen Magazine”, Amsterdam, Netherlands, September 2017
Interview by Ericka Weidmann, Prix HSBC pour la Photographie 2016: Interview de Marta Zgierska, “L’Oeil de la Photographie”, Paris, France, February 2016
Interview by Alexandra Lethbridge, Ideas on Talent: Marta Zgierska, “Photoworks”, Brighton, UK, November 2016
Review by Bruno Dubreuil, Marta Zgierska, la photographie comme masque du réel, “Viens Voir”, Paris, France, May 2019