Alicja Bielawska (born 1980) is a visual artist based in Warsaw. She creates drawings, sculptures, installations and writes poetry. Her work focuses on the material sphere of everyday life and the relationships between objects, interiors and memories, touching on the relativity of human perception and the role of memory. Her art incorporates elements of choreography and performance. She also collaborates on dance performances with internationally renowned choreographers, creating sculptural installations and objects.
She is a graduate in Art History (University of Warsaw 2005) and Fine Arts (Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam 2009); she holds PhD in Fine Arts (Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk 2022).
In 2015, she was nominated for Views 2015, the Deutsche Bank Award co-organized by Zachęta National Gallery of Art in Warsaw, and in 2016, for Polityka Passport (annual Polish cultural award presented by the weekly magazine Polityka since 1993) in the visual arts category. She was commissioned by the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw to create site-specific pieces (in 2013 and 2018). Her works are in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, Muzeum Sztuki in Lodz and Zacheta National Gallery, among others. Together with CENTRALA, and Aleksandra Kędziorek she represented Poland at the 2021 London Design Biennale with an exhibition The Clothed Home: Tuning In To The Seasonal Imagination. The exhibition was also presented in 2022 at Lisbon Architecture Triennale 2022, Design Biennale BIO 27 in Ljubljana.
She is a lecturer at School of Form SWPS University in Warsaw and at Atelier Foundation in Warsaw.
2024
Solo exhibition, Foksal Gallery, Warsaw
Duo exhibition with Teresa Starzec, City Art Gallery in Kalisz
Group exhibition, Rondo Sztuki, Katowice
EDUCATION
2018 – 2022 Inter-faculty Doctoral Studies, Academy of Fine Arts, Gdańsk, Poland
2005-2009 BA Fine Art, Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
2008 Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design, Fine Arts, London, United Kingdom
1999-2005 MA History of Art, Warsaw University, Poland
SCHOLARSHIPS
2020 Scholarship, Fundusz Popierania Twórczości Stowarzyszenia Autorów ZAIKS im. Andrzeja Szczypiorskiego
2017 Scholarship, Fundusz Popierania Twórczości Stowarzyszenia Autorów ZAIKS im. Andrzeja Szczypiorskiego
2014 Scholarship Młoda Polska, Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland
2012-2013 Startstipendium, Mondriaan Fonds, the Netherlands
2012 Scholarship, Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland
2016 Nida Art Colony, Nida, Lithuania
2014-2015 Akademie Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart, Germany
2008 European Exchange Academy, Beelitz, Germany
AWARDS
2017 Honorable mention CARIOCA KIDS Prize, Artissima, Turin, Italy
2016 Nomination Paszporty Polityki, Poland
2015 Nomination Views 2015 – Deutsche Bank Award, Poland
ART COLLECTIONS
Arsenał Gallery, Białystok
Central Museum of Textiles in Łódź
European Parliament Art Collection, Brussels
Hotel Europejski Art Collection, Warsaw
Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź https://zasoby.msl.org.pl/arts/view/9605
Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw https://artmuseum.pl/en/kolekcja/artysci/alicja-bielawska
STUDIO Gallery, Warsaw
The ING Polish Art Foundation Collection, Warsaw
Zachęta – National Gallery of Art, Warsaw https://zacheta.art.pl/pl/kolekcja/artysci/alicja-bielawska
SELECTED SOLO & TWO ARTISTS EXHIBITIONS
2023
The Clothed Home: Tuning In To The Seasonal Imagination, Vilnius Gallery Weekend, Galerija Arka, Vilnius
2022
The Clothed Home: Tuning In To The Seasonal Imagination, Lisbon Architecture Triennale 2022, Portugal (in collaboration with CENTRALA and Aleksandra Kędziorek)
The Clothed Home: Tuning In To The Seasonal Imagination, National Museum, Cracow, Poland (in collaboration with CENTRALA and Aleksandra Kędziorek)
Expanding the Space of Everyday, Goyki 3 Art Inkubator, Sopot, Poland
Prototypes 06: Alicja Bielawska. At the Intersection of Lines, Muzeum Sztuki, Łódź, Poland
(IM)MATERIAL, with Barbara Falender, Galeria Studio, Warsaw, Poland
2021
Exercises in interweaving times and places, Galeria Miejska BWA, Bydgoszcz, Poland
2020
Dormant Trajectories, Galeria Sztuki Współczesnej BWA, Katowice, Poland
Figures Full of Light, with Teresa Starzec, Nowe Miejsce, Warsaw
2019
Cutouts, with Halina Bielawska, Wolskie Centrum Kultury, Warsaw
Let the Room Swing, with Katarzyna Józefowicz, BWA Tarnów, Poland
2017
Hidden Doubts, Kasia Michalski Gallery, Warsaw
If not here, where?, Galeria Labirynt, Lublin, Poland
2016
There are no fixed points in space, Starter Gallery, Warsaw (Warsaw Gallery Weekend)
Soft Ground, Sodu 4, Vilnius, Lithuania
Beyond the Expected, with Kathi Hofer, Austrian Culture Forum, Warsaw
2015
Reference Points for Potential Constellations, Cydonia Gallery, Dallas, USA
Line on a Walk, Akademie Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart, Germany
2014
Mufka na trapezie, Starter Gallery, Warsaw
before the transit after the shift, with Maria Gondek, Hotel Maria Kapel, Hoorn, the Netherlands
Fuzzy Sets, Weekender #17, Jeanine Hofland, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
2013
When Things Find Their Place, BWA Gallery, Zielona Góra, Poland
2012
Adopted Shapes, Arsenał Gallery, Białystok, Poland
2010
The Revolutions of Things, CCA Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw
We Don’t Think Enough About Staircases, Kunstenaarsinitiatief Paraplufabriek, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
– I feel that I’ve forgotten something. – I think you remember too much. Czarna Gallery, Warsaw
The Mountains – grow unnoticed, Teto Projects, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
PERFORMANCES
2020
Dormant Trejectories, (perfomed by Kama Królikowska and Magda Wolnicka), Komuna Warszawa, Warsaw
Dormant Trejectories, (perfomed by Kama Królikowska and Magda Wolnicka), Galeria Sztuki Współczesnej BWA, Katowice, Poland
2017
Action with Shapes. Performance for three dancers and a sculpture (perfomed by Diana Kubicz and Magda Wolnicka),
Labirynt Gallery, Lublin, Poland
2016
Soft Ground (perfomed by Kristina Aglaja Skaldina), Nida Art Colony, Nida, Lithuania
COMMISSIONS
2022
Primary Forms, Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, Poland
Set design and costumes for performance piece Publika, choreographed by Aleks Borys and Maria Stokłosa, Nowy Teatr, Warsaw, Poland
2019
Sculptural installation for performance piece Where Shapes Have Necks by Holobiont Collective, 22. Biennale Sztuki dla Dziecka, Centrum Sztuki Dziecka, Art Stations Foundation in Poznań, Poland
2018
Sculptural installation Dreamed at Night by the Light of Day, Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw
2017
Objects for series of dance performances Wychodząc od działania by Maria Stokłosa
2016
Visual score for Dry Mountain by Keith Rowe / Gerard Lebik, Sanatorium Dźwięku, Sokołowsko, Poland
2013
Four curtains for the Auditorium, Four Colors on a Gray Background, Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024
Seeing with the Body. Galeria Studio Collection, Galeria Studio, Warsaw
2023
Cold was already there, 15th edition of the WARSAW IN CONSTRUCTION, The Wola Museum of Warsaw
Blue for Distinction, Red for Correction, Christine König Galerie, Vienna
Dig Deep, Campus Hybernská, Slovak Institut in Prague, Czech Republic
+/- 1 °C: In Search of Well-Tempered Architecture, Slovenian Pavilion, The Biennale Architettura 2023, Venice, Italy
Second Skin, Central Museum of Textiles in Łódź, Poland
Looking Through Objects. Women in Contemporary Polish Design, NOMUS – New Art Museum, The National Museum in Gdańsk, Poland
Seeing with the Body. Galeria Studio Collection, OP ENHEIM, Wrocław, Poland
2022
Art Herstory- Female Perspectives in the European Parliament’s Contemporary Art Collection, Parlamentarium, Brussels
Looking Through Objects, Estonian Museum of Applied Art & Design, Tallinn, Estonia
The Clothed Home: Tuning In To The Seasonal Imagination, Design Biennale BIO 27 Super Vernaculars, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Circus, Królikarnia, Xawery Dunikowski Museum of Sculpture, National Museum, Warsaw, Poland
Wątki wspólne, Miejski Ośrodek Sztuki, Gorzów Wielkopolski, Poland
2021
My Mother is My Daughter, BWA, Krosno, Poland
Polish Pavilion The Clothed Home: Tuning In To The Seasonal Imagination, with CENTRALA (Simone De Iacobis, Małgorzata Kuciewicz) and Aleksandra Kędziorek, London Design Biennale https://www.londondesignbiennale.com/participant/poland-1
2019
In Memory, Cydonia Gallery, Dallas, USA
City Squares. An Instruction Manual, ZODIAK Warsaw Pavilion of Architecture, Warsaw
Touch the Art, Center of Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw
Ku pamięci, WL4 Mleczny Piotr, Gdańsk, Poland
FOGHORN, Galeria Arsenał, Białystok, Poland
2018
Summer Works on View, Cydonia Gallery, Dallas, USA
Art Ingredients, Labirynt Gallery, Lublin, Poland
Pretty soon if this keeps up I’m going to envelop the entire universe, Gdańska Galeria Miejska, Gdańsk, Poland
2017
It Is As You Think It Is, The Brno House of Arts, Brno, Czech Republic
Un tale che osservo da un po’ di tempo / Someone I Have Been Observing for Some Time, Fondazione Pastificio Cerere, Rome
Love, Memory, Curiosity, Polana Institute, Geological Museum, Warsaw
Uważaj! W oczku wodnym pływają rekiny, CCA Kronika, Bytom, Poland
Solstices, Galeria Sztuki Współczesnej BWA, Katowice, Poland
The Art of the Treasure Hunt – The Grand Tour, Villa di Geggiano, Italy
It Is As You Think It Is, Arsenał Gallery, Białystok, Poland
2016
Nic o was bez nas, Festiwal Zgromadzenia, Palace of Culture and Science, Warsaw
When Textiles Become Form, Hunt Kastner Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic
Phantom, Galeria Sztuki Współczesnej BWA, Katowice, Poland
A Rebours, Labirynt Gallery, Lublin, Poland
2015
Views 2015 – Deutsche Bank Award, Zachęta National Gallery, Warsaw
Beyond the Obvious – Contemporary women artist from CCE, Erika Deak Gallery, Budapest
De arrogantie van de jeugd, Gabriel Rolt Gallery, Amsterdam
4 Acres, Starter Gallery, Petrykozy, Poland
La Scrittura Degli Echi, MAXXI, Rome
My respects to Madame Bernard, MoMart, Amsterdam
For me, abstraction is real!, Boccanera Gallery, Trento, Italy
Around Analogies, Akademie Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart, Germany
2014
Sunrise, Starter Gallery, Warsaw, (Warsaw Gallery Weekend)
Around Bauhaus, Arsenał Gallery, Białystok, Poland
ABBA.art books by artists, Vondelbunker, Amsterdam
Prospects & Concepts, Mondriaan Fonds toont talent, Van Nellefabriek, Art Rotterdam, the Netherlands
2013
homeMADE, CCA Łaźnia, Gdańsk, Poland
A Cock in a Frock on a Rock, Juliette Jongma Gallery, Amsterdam
Unfair Amsterdam, Loods 6, Amsterdam
The Splendour of Textiles, Zachęta National Gallery, Warsaw
2012
Confetti Generation. Polly’s Picture Show, Vondelparkpaviljoen, Amsterdam
Make Shift, Arsenał Municipal Gallery, Poznań; BWA Gallery, Katowice, Poland
2011
Young Polish Artists onTour, espacio trapézio, Madrid
The Journey to the East, Arsenał Gallery, Białystok; Mystetskyi Arsenal, Art_Kyiv Contemporary, Kyiv; MOCAK, Kraków, Poland
Selected Projects, BWA Gallery, Zielona Góra, Poland
Sample, Galerienhaus Lindenstrasse, Berlin, Germany
2010
Line Y, appendix2 Gallery, Warsaw
13, Outpost, Amsterdam
2009
Construction Work (with Ulla Eriksen and Barbara Skovmand Thomsen), Art’NPublic, Amsterdam
COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS
2018
Set design consultant for dance performance Uncannings by Magda Ptaszniki, CCA Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw
Set design consultant for dance performance Księżycowo by Holobiont Collective (Aleksandra Bożek-Muszyńska and Hanna Bylka-Kanecka),
Teatr Ochoty, Warsaw
2017
Situation no. 4 (7 + 5 days), (with Ulla Eriksen and Morten Ernlund), as part of the exhibition LAND, Udstillingsstedet Sydhavn Station, Copenhagen
2016
Situation no. 3 (7 days), (with Ulla Eriksen and Morten Ernlund), Böllingetorp, Sweden
2015
Eerste flugversuch, Vanessa Cardui (with R.Armstrong), Akademie Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart, Germany
Situation no. 2 (8 + 2 days), (with Ulla Eriksen and Morten Ernlund), Starter Gallery, Warsaw
2014
Situation no.1 (8 days), (with Ulla Eriksen and Morten Ernlund) Hcø Hus, Copenhagen
2007
Sound Carpet (with Ulla Eriksen and Kunji Baerwald), Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
2021
The Clothed Home: Tuning In to the Seasonal Imagination, Adam Mickiewicz Institute (catalogue)
Alicja Bielawska. Uśpione trajektorie, bwa Contemporary Art Gallery , Katowice (catalogue)
Alicja Bielawska. Exercises in interweaving times and places, Municipal Gallery bwa, Bydgoszcz (catalogue)
2020
Figures Full of Light, Alicja Bielawska, Teresa Starzec (catalogue)
2017
Alicja Bielawska, Hidden Doubts, Kasia Michalski Gallery (catalogue)
Alicja Bielawska, Labirynt Gallery, Lublin (catalogue)
2014
Alicja Bielawska, Disordered Structures, NERO (artist book)
2013
Alicja Bielawska. When Things Find Their Place, BWA Gallery, Zielona Góra (catalogue)
2012
Adopted Shapes, Arsenał Gallery, Białystok (catalogue)
2010
The Revolutions of Things, Warsaw (in collaboration with Sarai de Haan)
Alicja Bielawska. The Mountains – grow unnoticed, Amsterdam (artist book, in collaboration with Sarai de Haan)
Can’t wait to see you here, Amsterdam (artist book, in collaboration with Rikke Vagner Petersen, Ulla Eriksen and Barbara Skovmand Thomsen)
– I feel that I’ve forgotten something. – I think you remember too much, Czarna Gallery, Warsaw (catalogue)
2009
Eighty drawings between each other, Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam (artist book)
Places, Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam (artist book)
Memory of Spaces, Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam (artist book)