Karolina Grzywnowicz is a visual artist whose work bridges contemporary art, research, and activism. Her works deal with plants in social and political context, often of a violent nature. She perceives landscape as a living archive in which traces of past events are recorded. Her methodology involves working with specialists across various disciplines e.g. botanists, soil researchers, hydrologists and local people to allow for a space of interaction and exchange of knowledge. She is currently working on a project about the politics of planting, plants used to camouflage violence and exploring scent as a tool of micro resistance and healing. She is interested in the practices of weak resistance, everyday activities, seemingly unnoticed gestures that have the power to resist oppression. She works in various media: installation, sculpture, sound installation; she creates situations and art interventions. She lives in Berlin and works internationally.

 

Exhibitions:

29.09 – 22.10.2022
“Distillates” – show “Grounding
Warsaw Gallery Weekend, Jednostka Gallery, Warsaw

23.17  – 21.11.2021
“Bedtime” – show “Everyday Forms of Resistance
Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw

12.11.2020 – 14.05.2021
“Weeds”, “Still Life” – show “Love Letter to the Earth
Tbilisi Online Biennale, Tbilisi

02.10.2020 – 17.01.2021
“Something in common”
Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw

01.10 – 07.11.2020
“The Camel Never Forgets”
Warsaw Gallery Weekend, lokal_30, Warsaw

19.09.2020 – 30.04.2021
“Flags of Weak Resistance” – show “Eureka”
National Museum of Ethnography, Warsaw

27.07 – 01.09.2019
“Every song knows its home” – show “Deep Listening”
BWA Contemporary Art Gallery, Katowice

26.04 – 05.05.2019
“Second nature” – festival “Erbstücke”
Hellerau – Europäisches Zentrum der Künste, Dresden

15.09 – 18.11.2018
“Weeds” – show “Floraphilia. Plants as archive”
Akademie der Künste der Welt, Köln

21.06 – 01.07.2018
“Still Life” – show “Inter-species Conservation”
Fotofestiwal, Fabryka Sztuki, Łódź

21.04 – 27.07.2018
“Still Life” – show “Trouble with Value”
Onomatopee, Eindhoven

08.10 – 15.10.2017
“Still Life” – installation in public space
Unsound Festival, Kraków

28.07 – 10.09.2017
“Song for displacement” – show “Solstices”
BWA Contemporary Art Gallery, Katowice

10.02 – 12.03.2017
“Weeds” – show “Antagonistic Gestures”
Dzialdov Gallery, Berlin

24.11.2016 – teraz
“Grün | Zielony” – participatory project
WRO Art Center, Wrocław

07.05.2016 – teraz
“Weeds” – installation in public space
Bęc Zmiana Foundation, Powiśle, Warszawa

18.03 – 09.04.2016
“Weeds” – show “Resilience. Secret Life of Plants, Animals and Other Species”
Büro für kulturelle Übersetzungen, Leipzig

04.09 – 01.11.2015
“Weeds” – solo show
Zachęta National Gallery of Art, Warszawa

04.07 – 20.09.2015
“Weeds” – show “Magic Mountain”
BWA “Sokół” Gallery of Contemporary Art, Nowy Sącz

 

Awards and Art Residencies:

2022 – Special Prize – Warsaw Gallery Weekend (PL)
2019-21 – Ujazdowski Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw (PL)
2019 – Biopolis, Botanical Garden, Kraków (PL)
2019 – Mamarat, Ramallah (PS)
2019 – Hellerau, Dresden (DE)
2018 – Akademie Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart (DE)

 

Talks and Performaces:

13.12.2021
“Feminist Surveillance Art”
Yale University, New Haven, CT

09.12.2021
“Bedtime” – “Horizons”
Akademie Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart

17.11.2021
“Singing about the dark times”
Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw

24.10.2020
“Every song knows its home” – “The Route to Safety”
Insomnia Festival, Tromsø

28.07.2019
“Second nature” – festival “Temporary Autonomous Zones”
STUDIO The­atre, Warsaw

20.07.2019
“Second nature” – festival “Zero Point”
Kampus Hybernska, Prague

07.12.2018
open studio – festival “Winterfest”
Akademie Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart

28.10.2017
“Slag heap hiking trail” – site specific intervention
BWA Contemporary Art Gallery, Katowice

21.10.2017
arist talk, DOFA –  Lower Silesian Festival of Architecture
Museum of Architecture, Wrocław

09.10.2017
discussion: “Europe’s Last Primeval Forest”
Unsound Festival, Kraków

25.11.2016
artist talk “Grün | Zielony”
WRO Art Center, Wrocław

29.10.2015
artist talk “Weeds”
Zachęta National Gallery of Art, Warszawa

25.03.2014
“Voids. A walk” – site specific intervention
Terka, Studenne

22.05.2014
“Weeds” – presentation
artistic and scientific conference “Disappearing”
Galeria Bunkier Sztuki, Kraków

25.03.2014
“Weeds” – artist talk
Bunkier Sztuki Gallery, Kraków

 

Grants and Scholarships:

2023 – Stiftung Kunstfonds (DE)
2021 – The Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation (DE)
2020 – Art Station Foundation (CH)
2019 – Akademie Schloss Solitude (DE)
2019 – Adam Mickiewicz Institute (PL)
2013 – Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (PL)
2013 – Lotto Foundation (PL)
2012 – European Cultural Foundation (NL)