BIO/ Contact
Agata Wieczorek (1992, PL) is based in Lodz, where she is currently completing her Masters at the National Film School. She previously graduated with honors from Strzeminski Art Academy in Lodz, where she studied graphic arts and painting. Wieczorek’s practice combines film, photography, and animation. She incorporates both documentary and studio-based approaches. For her work, she often enters hermetic environments and works with socially marginalized groups in order to explore uncommon understandings of identity, self, and gender. Her work has been exhibited and awarded internationally, including at Obscura Festival of Photography, Penang; Warsaw Photo Days (Grand Prix); Organ Vida International Photography Festival, Zagreb, Finnish Musuem of Photography, Helsinki; Capa Center for Contemporary Photography, Budapest; among others. She is Parallel - European Photo-Based Platform 2nd Cycle New Artists Laureate. Alongside her artistic practice, she is also a writer and contributor for Lynx Contemporary art magazine.
STATEMENT
In my work, I research the construct of non-binaryness and the current shifts in the Western culture relating to non-binary perception of identity, especially in context of gender and queer. Although I am focused on individuals and their human experience of “otherness”, “strangeness” and – in the result – social marginalization, I research the subject in broader perspectives of politics, relation between neoliberalism and gay identity, consumption and queer capitalism.
While my work is rooted in both documentary and studio-based approaches, I treat photography and film as tools that enable me to enter and work with socially marginalized groups in order to explore and share their experiences and understanding of identity, self and gender that do not fit the common political and social structures.
Education
11.2017 – 11.2019. The National Film School in Lodz
Direction of Photography and TV Production Department
Master Degree programme
11.2011 – 09.2016 MFA with distinction
Strzemiński Academy of Art in Lodz
Graphics and Painting Department
Long Cycle Master Degree programme
03.2015 – 06.2015 École Nationale Supérieure d’art de Dijon
Erasmus+ Scholarship
Professional experience
06.2018 – present Lynx Contemporary art magazine, Writer
11.2017 – present Rynek i Sztuka (Art & Market) art magazine, Writer
09.2017 – 01.2018 Warsaw Museum, collection’s digitalisation sector, Photographer
07. – 08.2015 SFUMATO Studio of theatre and film scenic set design Valencia, Spain – Intern
08.2013 – present International Lodz Tango Salon Festival – Graphic designer
Solo shows
Balucka Gallery, Homo Absurdus, Lodz, PL, 2018
Obok Gallery, Making Of, Warsaw, PL, 2017
Group shows / publications:
Les Boutographies - Rencontres Photographiques de Montpellier, Montpellier FR, (upcoming, May 2020)
Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts, Kiyosato, JP, (upcoming, May 2020)
HELLERAU Photography Award, Technische Sammlungen, Dresden, DE, ( February 2020)
Lynx Contemporary Magazine, Young Lynxes Award: Portfolio, 2019
Parallel Review, Lisbon, PRT, 2019
The Wrong Biennale, Prosthesis, Belgrade, SRB, 2019
Forum 50: Der Greif, Public / Private, Münchner Stadtmuseum, Munich, DE, 2019
Robert Capa Contemporary Photography Center, Zeitgeist, Budapest, HU, 2019
Interphoto Festival, Against the grain, Białystok, PL, 2019
FK Magazine, Second Skin, publication, 2019
Kaunas Photo Festival, Digital, Virtual, Real, Kaunas, LT
TIFF Festival, Worlds, Wroclaw, PL
DER GREIF issue 12, Blame the Algorithm, publication
Robert Capa Contemporary Photography Center, PARALLEL Intersection, Budapest, HU, 2019
OBSCURA Festival, Subculture, George Town, MY, 2019
SURVIVAL Festival, Concealed, Wroclaw, PL, 2019
Finnish Museum of Photography, Out of sight: Picturing the unseen, Helsinki, FI, 2019
ZONA Sztuki Aktualnej, Masochistki, Szczecin, PL, 2019
Rathaus Reinickendorf, Function/Anomy, Berlin, DE, 2019
Warsaw Photo Days: Manipulation, Simfonia Varsovia, Warsaw, PL, 2018
GESTE Paris, Binary/Non-Binary, Paris, FR, 2018
Der Greif: Guest Room, online exhibition curated by Monica Allende, Der Greif, 2018
Organ Vida Festival, Parallel IInd Cycle Showcase, Zagreb, HR, 2018
Punkt Odbioru Sztuki, Picture Bride, Lodz, PL, 2018
Marek Edelman Centre of Dialogue, There are no children, there are people. Children's rights are human rights, Lodz, PL, 2017
Contemporary Art Center, Wystaw się w CSW!, Torun, PL, 2017
Hochschule für Bildende Künste, Art Schools Vol. 4, Dresden, DE, 2015
Museum Prahova, The Iosif Iser Xth International Contemporary Engraving Biennale, Prahova, RU, 2014
Awards
2019
Les Boutographies - Rencontres Photographiques de Montpellier, Official Selection
Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts - Young Portfolio competition, (Kiyosato, JP), Laureate
( & acquisition of works by the musuem)
HELLERAU Photography Award, Dresden, DE, Finalist
Kaunas Photo Star Award, (Kaunas, LT), Nominee
DER GREIF iss.12 Blame the Algorithm: curated by Bloomberg & Chanarin, Selected artist
Kaunas Photo Star Award, (Kaunas, LT), Finalist
TIFF Festival, (Wroclaw, PL), Finalist
Young Lynxes Prize, Lynx Contemporary Magazine, Award winner
Polish Culture Around the World, Adam Mickiewicz Institute, grant holder
DER GREIF issue 12, Blame the Algorithm, Selected artist, publication
Getxophoto Festival (Bilbao, ESP), Finalist
SURVIVAL Art Review (Wroclaw, PL), Selected artist
OBSCURA Festival of Photography (George Town, Penang, MY), Selected artist
Young Artist Award, stipend by the Province Marshal for young Polish artists, Scholarship holder
JEST Galeria: Hot Spot Open call (Wroclaw, PL), Selected Artist
Intermission: Function/Anomy (Berlin, DE), Selected Artist
2018
Warsaw Photo Days, Grand Prix
Der Greif: Guest Room: Monica Allende, Laureate/Selected Artist
Binary/Non-Binary open-call by GESTE Paris, Laureate/Selected Artist
PARALLEL European Photo-Based Platform, 2nd Cycle Selected Artists and Curators, Laureate/New Artist
Young Artist Award, stipend by the Province Marshal for young polish artists, Scholarship holder
