Biography
Marta Zgierska is a visual artist who uses performative photography to explore themes of trauma, liminal experiences and pain. Following a serious car accident, her physically affected body became a tool for exploring reality, questioning the canons of feminine beauty and criticising societal pressure on women's image. She is currently a doctoral student at the School of Humanities and the Institute of Fine Arts at Marie Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin, Poland. She holds a master's degree in photography from the Polish National Film School in Lodz, as well as a master's degree in theatrology and a master's degree in journalism. Her work has been shown in numerous museums, galleries and festivals. She won the HSBC Prize for Photography in 2016 and has received various other awards and grants. In 2018, she was nominated for the Foam Paul Huf Award and the DZ BANK Art Collection Fellowship. In 2019, she was named Artist of the Year at the DongGang International Photography Festival in South Korea.
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Selection of upcoming and current exhibitions
2025 solo exhibition, Labirynt Gallery, (Lublin, Poland)
2024 solo exhibition, Centrala Gallery, (Poznan, Poland)
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)
Selection of solo exhibitions
2024 Tomorrow crumbles in hands, Gowen Contemporary, (Geneva, Switzerland)
2024 Lico, BWA Municipal Gallery, (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 Przedmie?cie 6 (Lublin, Poland)
2020 Blush, Galerie Sintitulo (Mougins, France)
2019 Blush, Gowen Contemporary (Geneva, Switzerland)
2019 Artist of the Year, Museum of Photography (DongGang, 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, United States)
2017 Post, Reminders Photography Stronghold Gallery (Tokyo, Japan)
Selection of group exhibitions
2023 Prix Bob Calle 2023 du livre d'artiste, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
2023 The Ongoing Power of Photography, curated by Michel Frizot, Daegu Photo Biennale, 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, Biel/Bienne Photography Festival, Switzerland
2023 EXP(L)O, curated by Robert Ku?mirowski, Leon Wyczó?kowski District Museum, The eye never sleeps festival, Bydgoszcz, Poland.
2022 Verwachsungen, Gallery of the Polish Institute, Düsseldorf, Germany.
2022 I AM, Adam Mickiewicz Museum in Smielow, Department of the National Museum in Poznan, Poland
2022 L'Œil qui voyage, Galerie Intervalle, Paris, France
2022 ?? ? ???? ! / We with you !, Labirynt Gallery, Lublin, Poland
2022 Personal Portrait, Pop-Up Ogrodowa Gallery, Lodz, Poland
2022 Garden, Festival Les Photographiques, Le Mans, France
2022 Women Photographers, Pawilon Francuski, Dubai World Expo, United Arab Emirates
2021 Takeover, Noorderlicht International Photo Festival: The Makeable Mind, Groningen, Netherlands
2021 Garden, Who Is Next To You, Odesa Museum of Modern Art, Odesa Photographic Days, Odesa, Ukraine
2021 Midnight to Noon. Exhibition-performance, Lubomirski Palace, Lublin National Museum, Poland
2021 Collection - Sammlung. Works from the collection of the Ma?opolska 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, Ukrainian National House 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 Polyptych / Galerie Intervalle, Marseille, France
2019 artgenève / Gowen Contemporary, Geneva, Switzerland
2018 Galeristes Art Fair / Galerie Intervalle, Paris, France
2018 Identity Issues, Riga Biennial of Photography, Latvia
2018 Angst, Dr. Guislain Museum, Ghent, 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, United States
2015 Post, Malmo Fotobiennal, Sweden
2015 Post, Poznan Photo Diploma Award, Maison de la Photographie, Lille, France
2015 Post, Poznan Photo Diploma Award, Poznan Biennial of Photography, Poland
Selected awards
2023 Bob Calle Artist's Book Prize, Paris, France (special prize)
2023 Polish Photographic Publication of the Year (Honourable Mention)
2021 Foam Paul Huf Prize, Amsterdam, Netherlands (nominated)
2020 International Women In Photo Association Award, Paris, France (finalist)
2019 DZ BANK Art Collection Fellowship, Frankfurt am Main, Germany (nominee)
2019 Artist of the Year, DongGang International Photo Festival, South Korea (winner)
2018 PhotoVisa International Photography Festival, The Silence Award, Krasnodar, Russia (2nd place)
2017 PDN Photo Annual, Photo Books, New York, USA (winner)
2016 HSBC Prize for Photography, Paris, France (winner)
2016 Daylight Photo Awards, United States (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 (Honourable Mention)
2016 Prix Nera di Verzasca, Verzasca Foto Festival, Sonogno, Switzerland (finalist)
2015 LensCulture Emerging Talent Awards, Amsterdam, Netherlands (winner)
2015 Poznan Photo Diploma Award, Poland (finalist)
Fellowships
2023 IDSA x Ars Electronica Founding Lab, Linz, Austria
2022 NAWA Ster Scholarship
2022 Santander Universidades Scholarship
2022 Grant in the field of culture from the Marshal of the Province of Lublin
2021 Grant from the National Centre for Culture as part of the ‘Young Poland’ programme in the field of visual arts
2021 Grant from the Mayor of the City of Lublin, Poland
2019 Mazovia Creative Award, Warsaw, Poland (winner)
2018 Grant from the Mayor of the City of Lublin, Poland
2016 Reminders Photography Stronghold Grant, Tokyo, Japan
Residencies
2024 Sculpture everywhere, The Centre of Polish Sculpture, Oro?sko, Poland
2023 Artistic residency, Studio VVV, Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Bratislava, Slovakia
2022 Artistic residency as part of the NAWA Ster grant, University of Ostrava, Czech Republic
2021 Artistic residency, BWA Krosno, Poland
2019 CreArt residency, Kaunas, Lithuania
2019 As part of the Sopot residency, Sopot, Poland