Mikołaj Sobczak

Mikołaj Sobczak (b. 1989) graduated the Academy of Fine Arts Warsaw (PL) in the Studio of Spatial Activities, followed by a scholarship at Universität der Künste Berlin (DE), and studied as well at Kunstakademie Münster (DE). He is also a resident artist at Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten in Amsterdam (NL). He works in video, paintings and ceramics, often including performative actions as well. He frequently collaborates with German artist Nicholas Grafia.

His most recent exhibitions include shows at MoMA (Warsaw), Museum Ludwig (Cologne), Capitain Petzel Gallery (Berlin).

In his work, Sobczak is focused on political issues and historical policy. Emphasizing the perspective and life of marginalized subjects, he builds narratives, and tracks down the reasons for current global and social issues.
  

Selected solo and group exhibitions:
 

2025

Let me tell you about myself / about us (part I), Gdańsk, (PL)
 LGBT+ Zones, Queer Art in Times of ‘Good Change’, Municipal Gallery Arsenał, (PL)
 Planetary Peasants, Halle (Salle), (DE)
 Moon, Sun, Mercury, Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg (AT)
  Familiar Strangers. The Eastern Europeans, Bozar, Brussels (BE)
 
 2024

The change will come, Lipsiusbau (DE)
Cutting the Puppeteer's Strings, Sammlung Philara, Dusseldorf (DE)
New generation and classics from Wojciech Fibak collection, CSW Toruń, (PL)
Boudoir de l'Amour, Capitain Petzel, Berlin
On the Volcano, Ludwig Forum Aachen
Impossible Songs, jester, Genk (BE)

2023

Lutzi Puppe Wutzi, 56th Steirischer Herbst, Graz (AT)
 Panoramas (w/Dominika Kowynia), Polana Institute at Nowy Teatr, Warsaw
 Rijks Open, Amsterdam (NL)
 Illiberal Lives, Ludwig Forum Aachen (DE)
 Heretics Forever, Galerie Max Mayer, Düsseldorf (DE)
 
 2022

Gutsherren, MOS, Gorzów Wlkp. (PL)
 Leibeigene, Kunsthalle Münster (DE)
 Blue Wheat, Galeria Bielska BWA, Bielsko-Biała (PL)
 Omelette Papier, Capitain Petzel, Berlin (DE)

2021

Illiberal Arts, HKW, Berlin (DE)
 Mudam Performance Season: The Illusion of the End, Mudam Luxembourg – Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean (LU)
 Steirischer herbst Festival, Graz Galerie, Graz (AU)
 Gisela Capitain, Cologne (DE)
 In the beginning was the deed, Galeria Arsenał, Białystok (PL)
 Żegnaj, Wołyniu! Прощай, Волинь!” (Goodbye, Volhynia!), performance, Zachęta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw (PL)
 Battlefield, Galeria Bielska BWA, Bielsko-Biała (PL)
 Metamorphoses, Polana Institute, Warsaw (PL)

2020

VII Moscow International Biennale for Young Art, Moscow (RU)
Biennale Zielona Góra, Lubuski Theatre, Zielona Góra (PL)
Warsaw Under Construction: Something Common, Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw (PL)
The Kitchen, Polana Institute, Warsaw (PL)
Crack Up - Crack Down, Ujazdowski CCA, Warsaw (PL)
On the Politics of Delicacy, Capitain Petzel, Berlin (DE)
i'm from nowhere good, Maison Populaire, Paris (FR) 

2019

Parasite Eve, performance in the frames of Transcorporealities, Ludwig Museum, Cologne (DE)
 New Kingdom, Polana Institute, Warsaw (PL) 
 The Last Place on Earth, Polana Institute at Museum of the Earth in Warsaw
 DISPLAY. Staging Identities, Dortmunder Kunstverein, Dortmund (DE)
 Elbow Room, Physical Education I, Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, Düsseldorf (DE) 
 Body Works, State Art Gallery, Sopot (PL)
 The Rose and the Ring, Polana Institute, Petrykozy (PL)
 Short Films Festival, Oberhausen (DE)

2018

The Doomed Ones, Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw (PL)
 Artists‘ Film International, Whitechapel Gallery, London (UK)
 Wonder Woman, Polana Institute, Warsaw (PL)
 Gentle Heterodoxy. Social Body and its Enchantments, fffriedrich, Frankfurt (DE) Bad Juju, Exo Exo at New Galerie, Paris (FR)
 Somewhere in Between: Contemporary Art Scenes in Europe., BOZAR, Brussels, (BE) 
 What Is Enlightenment, Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw (PL)
 Unbreakable Drag, Polana Institute, Warsaw (PL)

2017

Akademie [Arbeitstitel], Kunsthalle Düsseldorf (DE)
 Open Triennal, 8th Young Triennale in Orońsko, Centre of Polish Sculpture, Orońsko (PL)
 Love, Memory, Curiosity, Polana Institute at The Geological Museum, Warsaw (PL)
 GrandTour project, Skulptur Projekte Münster (DE)
 
 2016

Wie traurig war das Shooting, Kunstverein Gelsenkirchen (DE)
Studio for Students: Video Art Now, Studio Gallery, Warsaw (PL)
Video Folkwang, Museum Folkwang, Essen (DE)

2015
 
Squeez me, Satellite Space, Santa Monica (USA)
(Ungeschminkte), Galerie 52, Essen (DE)
ΜΎΘΟΙ. Myths. Students/Artists/Teachers. A process of exchange, Fondazione Pastificio Cerere, Rome (IT)
Videonews, Labirynt Gallery, Lublin (PL)
No pasarán, BWA Tarnów Gallery, Tarnów (PL)