Performa 13 · Artists · Paweł Althamer

Paweł Althamer, Common Task, 2009. Photo by Adam Przywara, courtesy Open Art Projects.

Paweł Althamer

Paweł Althamer (b. 1967) is a Polish artist based in Warsaw. He holds a degree in sculpture from the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts and has been making work since the early 1990s. He works primarily in sculpture, video, performance actions, and installation. Althamer’s work is equal measures socially engaged, interactive and visually striking. He often works collaboratively, involving other artists, communities and indeed his audience in his work. For example, since 1994, Althamer has led the Nowolipie Group, a weekly sculpture workshop for sufferers of multiple sclerosis; he also turned over his exhibition, Frühling, at the Museum Fridericianum in Kassel to the schoolchildren in 2009. And for Bródno 2000, he orchestrated a large-scale group performance in which he asked the residents of a large tower block in Warsaw's Bródno district to turn their lights either on or off so they formed the pattern “2000.” This mix of art, community and transformation of everyday settings continues on an even grander scale with Althamer’s ongoing project, Common Task, which he began in 2008. For Common Task, Althamer travelled with family and friends to Belgium, Brazil, and Mali to create interventions in daily realities. Althamer has shown work in Europe, North and South America. Notable solo shows include Polyethylene at MUSEION Bolzano (2012), Almech at the Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin (2011), Common Task at Modern Art Oxford (2009), One of Many at Fondazione Nicola Trussardi, Milan (2007), and Pawel Althamer at Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw (1998). He has also been featured in recent group shows at institutions such as the Whitechapel Gallery, London (2013) and the Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw (2013). In New York City, he has displayed work at the New Museum (2010), White Box Gallery (2010), Marian Goodman Gallery (2009), and Lehmann Maupin Gallery (2008). Althamer’s installation Venetians, is currently on display at the Venice Biennial. In 2004, he received the Vincent Van Gogh Biannual Award.

Event Title

Date & Time

Description

Price

Paweł AlthamerBiba Performa: Documentary film about Tadeusz Kantor

Mon. Nov 18, 6:00 pm

Join the Biba Peforma team for a screening of a documentary about legendary Polish artist Tadeusz Kantor.

FREE

Paweł Althamer Ceremony in Honor of Queen Mother to Protect Mothers Against Eviction

Tue. Nov 19, 6:30 pm

Paweł Althamer and his collaborators will be dedicating their monumental sculpture Queen Mother of Reality to all mothers displaced from their homes. Join them for a ceremonial evening of feasting, dancing and performance.

$35