Jakub Julian Ziółkowski (1980) is one of the most important contemporary Polish artists. The exhibition at MOCAK is the first comprehensive presentation of his work – with 100 works on display, including large-format paintings, elaborate installations, precise drawings and monotypes, small sculptures and ceramic objects. The monumental painting A Dream about Life and the totemic sculpture The Spirit of Our People, exhibited outside, were created especially for the exhibition.
Jakub Julian Ziółkowski has developed his own painterly language with which he explores human nature. With no holds barred, he juxtaposes contemporary imagery with the archetypes and symbolism of tribal cultures. He confronts the physicality of organs and bodily fluids with spiritual meditation. The goal is to contemplate and deepen our insight into the universe; from the microcosm – the birth of a living cell – to the macrocosm with its starbursts. The inseparable relationship between body and mind, which has been the subject of Ziółkowski’s work from the beginning, gains another dimension in the exhibition at MOCAK – making it possible to experience it directly with one’s senses. The artist works with scale, colour and sound.
You Are Mine is a manifesto of life and the overarching processes that govern all that exists. It is a reflection on persistence, the principles of human functioning in the world and how this world is changing.
The exhibition is accompanied by a comprehensive Polish-English publication with texts by: Olga Tokarczuk, Cecilia Alemani, Bartłomiej Dobroczyński, Kajetan Młynarski, the artist himself and Delfina Jałowik, the curator of the exhibition. It is published jointly by MOCAK and the Hatje Cantz publishing house.
Jakub Julian Ziółkowski was born in Zamość in 1980. In 2005, he graduated from the Painting Studio under Prof. Leszek Misiak at the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. His works have been shown at numerous solo exhibitions, including: Holy Nothing, Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw (2018); Das Leben selbst, Neues Museum Nürnberg, Nuremberg (2017); Imagorea, BWA Gallery, Zielona Góra and Foksal Gallery Foundation, Warsaw (2014); Hokaina, Zachęta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw (2010) and at Hauser & Wirth galleries in London, Zurich and New York; Parasol unit in London and Centre d’Art Contemporain in Geneva.
He has participated in the most important collective art presentations of his generation, including: As You Can See: Polish Art Today, Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw (2014); Il Palazzo Enciclopedico, 55th Venice International Art Biennale (2013); The Generational: Younger Than Jesus, The New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York (2009). His works can be found, among others, in the collections of the DESTE Foundation for Contemporary Art, Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Zabludowicz Collection and in the collections of MOCAK, National Museums in Krakow, Warsaw and Wrocław.
