NEWS

EXHIBITIONS

Janek Simon (born 1977) gets inspired by scientific theories and models as well as such disciplines like geography or economics whose functions and specifics are subject to constant civilization changes. Simon's objects often take a form of visualizations based on mathematical formulas and statistical data. At the same time, experimental and anarchical dimension of his works articulates clash between scientific theories and reality of everyday life, sociological phenomena and politics. Many of his art pieces contain complex electronic systems created according to the Do it Yourself philosophy - made from scratch by the artist. Artist, who consciously keeps on searching for practices and strategies alternative to the contemporary culture of mass production and prevailing system of artistic production. 

 

WORKS IN COLLECTIONS

The ING Polish Art Foundation, PL

Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, PL

The National Museum, Kraków, PL

Muzeum Sztuki, Łódź, PL

Bunkier Sztuki, Kraków, PL

Śląskie Towarzystwo Zachęty Sztuk Pięknych, Katowice, PL 

Milena Bujnowska Collection, PL

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2024

- A Man with Three Hands and Other Works, Raster x Watowa Gallery, Courtyard Hiroo, Tokyo, JP

- One Man Does Not Rule a Nation (& Max Cegielski), TRAFO Center for Contemporary Art , PL

 

2023

- Sixteenth World, Raster, Warsaw, PL

 

2020

- Machine Learning Folklore, Raster, Warsaw, PL

 

2019

- Synthetic Folklore, Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, PL

 

2018

- 1985, Art Initiatives Cologne, Cologne, DE

- Prince Polonia, Trafo, Szczecin, PL

 

2017

- Polish-Indian shop, Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw, PL (with Max Cegielski)

 

2016

- Galerie města Třince, Třinec, CZ

 

2015

- Brussels Research Yoga, SUPERDEALS, Brussels, BE

- People with the Heads of Dogs, Raster, Warsaw, PL

 

2014

- Podróże na Wschód i Południe (Journeys to the East and to the South), BWA Wroclaw, Wroclaw, PL

- Janek Was Not Here, Clark House, Mumbai, IN

 

2011

- Budżet państwa na rok 2010 (State Budget for 2010), Państwowa Galeria Sztuki w Sopocie, Sopot, PL

- Produkcja Rzeczy w Domu (Fabrication of Things at Home), Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, PL

- ARD + ZDF + RTL, Sox Berlin, Berlin, DE

 

2010

- Morze (The Sea), Raster, Warsaw, PL

- Arnolfini, Bristol, UK

- Four pata-economic undertakings (The Second Congress of the Free University of Warsaw), Bec Zmiana, Warsaw, PL

- Polska misja w Auroville. W ramach Scenariusze dla Europy: Scenariusz 1 ( Polish mission in Auroville. Janek Simon feat. Daniel Rumiancew within the frames of Screenplays for Europe: Screenplay 1), Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Leipzig, DE (with Daniel Rumiancew)

 

2009

- Tristes Tropiques, Platan Gallery, Budapest, H

- A short survey of Lotto systems, Fundacja Bec Zmiana, Warsaw, PL

 

2008

- Remix, Raster, Warszawa, PL (with Vlad Nanca)

- Fuga, Arsenal Gallery, Bialystok, PL

- The Dock, Carrick-On-Shannon, IR

 

2007

- Vortex, Witryna Gallery, Warsaw, PL

- Gradient, Bunkier Sztuki Gallery, Cracow, PL

 

2006

- Polski rok na Madagaskarze (Polish year in Madagascar), Atlas Gallery, Lodz, PL

- Fire in a Firebrigade Headquaters, Center for Contemporary Art, Warsaw, PL

 

2005

- No football, ON Gallery, Poznan, PL

- Oldest Fire In Poland + Home Made Electronic Watch, Hit Gallery, Bratislava, SK

- Cracovians like it clean, Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, PL

 

2004

- 2020 home gallery, Bucarest, ROM

- A Walk in Army Training Grounds, Goethe Institut, Cracow, PL

 

2003

- Departure, Potocka Gallery, Cracow, PL

- Games and Plays, Arsenal Gallery, Bialystok, PL

 

 

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2025

- Open Collection!, National Museum in Wrocław, Wrocław, PL

 

2024

- 35th Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana, Sl

- This Is Just an Exhibition, Galeria Labirynt, Lublin, PL

 

2023

- The Work That Textile Does, Central Museum of Textiles in Łódź, Łódź, PL

- Close to the Body. Exhibition of Works from the Bunkier Sztuki Collection, Bunkier Sztuki, Kraków, PL

 

2021

- Pazur / Claw / Kіготь / Móng vuốt / 爪 / Klou/ճանկ, Asian Town Bakalarska, Warsaw, PL

- Baltic Triennial 14th, Contemporary Art Centre (CAC), Vilnius, LT

 

2020

- Folklore, Centre Pompidou-Metz, FR

- Sculpture in Search of a Place, Zachęta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, PL

- Riga Notebook. Following the Lines of Wacław Szpakowski, Museum of Art, Lodz, PL

- Sen tropikalnego słońca. Witkacy i Zakopane, The Tatra Museum in Zakopane, PL

 

2019

- Opaque à elle-même. La Pologne et le postcolonialisme, La Colonie, Paris, FR

- The Spirit of Nature and Other Fairy Tales, The Silesian Museum in Katowice, PL

 

2017

 - Otwarte miasto. IX Festiwal Sztuki w Przestrzeni Publicznej (Open City. Festival of Art in Public Space), Lublin, PL

- A New Region of The World, Bunkier Sztuki Gallery of Contemporary Art, Krakow, PL

- The Travellers. Voyage and Migration in New Art from Central and Eastern Europe, Kumu Art Museum, Tallinn, EE

- Jest tak jak się Państwu wydaje, Arsenal Gallery, Białystok, PL

- Everything is Getting Better. Unknown Knowns of Polish (Post)Colonialism, SAVVY Contemporary, Berlin, DE

- Późna polskość. Formy narodowej tożsamości po 1989 roku (Late Polishness Forms of national identity after 1989), Center for Contemporary Art Zamek Ujazdowski, Warsaw, PL

 

2016

- Bogactwo (Money to Burn), Zachęta—National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, PL

- 140 uderzeń na minutę (140 beats per minute), Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw (Muzeum na Open’erze), Gdynia, PL

- Małe formy rzeźbiarskie (Small sculptural forms), BWA Warszawa, Warsaw, PL

- DE-MO-CRA-CY, Galeria Labirynt, Lublin, PL

- India's Search for Power 1966 - 1982 (Indhira Gandhi's Foreign Policy), Dak'Art - Biennale de l'Art Africain Contemporain, Dakar, SN

- Slavic Colonialism, SAVVY Contemporary, Berlin, DE

- Podróżnicy (The Travellers), Zachęta – National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, PL

- Bogactwo, Zachęta – National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, PL

- COMMON AFFAIRS, The Deutsche Bank KunstHalle, Berlin, DE

- Wyświetlanie widzenia (Entoptic Screening), Salon Akademii, Warsaw, PL

 

2015

- [A]symetrie. Sztuka współczesna w kontekście muzeum, Muzeum Lubelskie, Lublin, PL

- The 1st Asia Biennial / 5th Guangzhou Triennial, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, CN

- We are not your Native Informers - Series II, 1x1 Gallery, Dubai, AE

- We are not your Native Informants!, Clark House, Mumbai, IN

- Bunting, Clark House, Mumbai, IN

- Ruchome obrazy (Moving Images), BWA Wroclaw, Wroclaw, PL

- Stan życia. Polska sztuka współczesna w kontekście globalnym (State of Life. Polish Contemporary Art within a Global Circumstance), National Art Museum of China, Beijing, CN

- Society Acts – Version 2. After Moderna Exhibition 2014, kim? Contemporary Art Centre, Riga, LV

- Umenie na hlavie (Procedures of the Head), Kunsthalle Bratislava, Bratislava, SK

- We rather look back to futures past, Lajevardi Collection, Tehran, IR

- An Earthquake at the Racetracks, Museo de la Ciudad, Santiago de Querétaro, MX

- Wilno w Gdańsku. Wzór, osnowa, wątek. Art vs. Design? vol. 2 (Wilno in Gdańsk. Pattern, fabric, thread. Art vs. Design? vol. 2), Titanikas Galleries of the Vilnius Academy of Fine Arts, Vilnius, LT

 

2014

- Pieśń z Aluminium (Aluminum Song), Raster, Warsaw

- Co widać. Polska sztuka dzisiaj (As You Can See. Polish Art Today), Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, Warsaw, PL

- Architektura cienia. Szalety i bazary (Shadow Architecture. Lavatories and Bazaars), Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, PL

 

- The Moderna Exhibition 2014 - Society Acts, Moderna Museet, Malmö, SE

- We rather look back to futures past, Mumbai Art Room, Mumbai, IN

- Dzień jest za krótki (Kilka opowieści autobiograficznych), BWA SOKÓŁ Gallery, Nowy Sacz, PL

- Prolegomena do nauk ekonomicznych prowadzonych od kuchni. 30 lat Galerii Wschodniej (Deliberations on Economics Cooked Up In the Back Room. 30 Years of Wschodnia Gallery), Muzeum Sztuki, Lodz, PL

 

2013

- Na zachętę do muzeum, Muzeum Sztuki MS1, Lodz, PL

- Dzień jest za krótki. Kilka opowieści autobiograficznych (The Day Is Too Short), Contemporary Museum, Wroclaw, PL
- Rada Wzajemnej Pomocy Gospodarczej, KC PZPR, Warsaw, PL

- Wielki Kraków, festiwal Grolsch ArtBoom, Podgórze, Cracow, PL (with Jukub de Barbaro)

- Powrót do domu, Angel Wawel, Cracow, PL

- Splendor tkaniny, Zachęta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, PL

- Kilka praktycznych sposobów na przedłużenie sobie życia (A few practical ways to prolong one’s life), Zachęta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, PL

- Narzędzia do łapania równowagi, Galeria Miejska Arsenał, Poznan, PL

 

2012

- Ciemna strona księżyca (Dark side of the moon), 9. Bałtyckie Biennale Sztuki Współczesnej, 9. Baltic Conyrmporary Art Biennial, Museum of Contemporary Art department od National Museum in Szczecin, Szczecin, PL

- Niewczesne Historie (Untimely Stories), Art Museum, Lodz, PL

- Nepřetržité Rozhovory (Continuous Conversations), FUTURA : KARLIN STUDIOS, Prague, CZ

- Air de Pologne- bkSM#13 Garage, Culutuurcentrum, Mechelen, BE

- Air de Pologne- bkSM#13 Stombeek, Cultuurcentrum Strombeek Grinbergen, Strombeek- Bever, BE

- Dla Was (For You), Art Museum, Lodz, PL

- Korespondecje. Sztuka nowoczesna i uniwersalizm (Correspondences. Modern Art and Universalism), Muzeum Sztuki ms², Lodz, PL

 

2011

- Revolving Dysfunction, Artisterium 2011, Europe House, Tibilisi, GE

- Alias. Przegląd, Miesiąc Fotografii w Krakowie (Alias. Survey, Photomonth in Cracow), Cracow, PL

- The Power of Fantasy. Modern and Contemporary Art from Poland, BOZAR, Brussels, BE

- Furtka do szczęścia (Loophole to happiness), Muzeum Sztuki, Lodz, PL

- For Kids And Adults, Awangarda Gallery, Wroclaw, PL

- Nie Na Miejscu (Wrong Place), CCA Zamek Ujazdowski, Warsaw, PL

- Generation in Transition, Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius, LT

 

2010

 

- Porażka w sztuce (Failure in Art), EMDES Gallery, Wroclaw, PL

- Poszliśmy do Croatan - Strategie Znikania (Gone to Croatan - Strategies of Disappearance), Hartware MedienKunstVerein, Dortmund, DE

- Ostatni Film (The Last Film), Raster, Warsaw, PL

- Przemieszczenia. Kolekcja sztuki XX i XXI wieku (Shifts. Collection of 20th and 21st Century Art), Muzeum Sztuki ms2, Łódź, PL

- Obraz kolekcji (Image of the Collection), Arsenal Gallery, Bialystok, PL

- Rzeczy budzą uczucia (Things Evoke Feelings), Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw, PL

- Fate Away, Raster, Reykjavik, IS

- Robotnicy opuszczają miejsca pracy (Workers Leaving the Workplace), Muzeum Sztuki, Lodz, PL

 

2009

- Craftivism, Arnolfini, Bristol, UK

- Kolekcja Bunkra Sztuki (Bunkier Sztuki Collection), Miejski Ośrodek Sztuki, Gorzów Wielkopolski, PL

- Counter Logic, Cooper Gallery, Dundee, UK

- Niezwykle Rzadkie Zdarzenia. Dystrybucja Nooawangardy (Unusually Rare Events. Distribution of Nooavantgarde), Centre for Contemporary Art Zamek Ujazdowski, Warsaw, PL

- Sygnatury wojny (Signatures of War), Sektor I Gallery, Katowice, PL

- Wolność od-zysku (Freedom from Profit), Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, PL

- Agent Absurd, Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast, UK

- Take a Look at Me Now, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, UK

- International Collection of Contemporary Art. 5th Edition, Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw, PL

- Power Games - Contemporary Art from Poland, Haifa Museum of Art, Haifa, IL

- Photography/Ideology/Politics. 6th Photo Biennial, Poznan, PL

- Poland Street Underground: KONTROL 2009, Vinyl Factory Gallery, London, UK

 

2008

- Manifesta 7. The European Biennal of Contemporary Art, Trentini - South Tyrol, IT

- Der Nutzen jedes Sonnenstrahls, Künslerhaus Stuttgart, Stuttgart, DE

- The Desiring Machines, The Arts Factory, Zona, Lodz, PL

- L'Art en Contemporain Europe. Experience Pommery #5, Domaine Pommery, Reims, FR

- Ok! Wyspianski. The Bunkier Sztuki Contemporary Art Gallery / Stanisław Wyspianski Museum, Cracow, PL

- Kolekcja Bunkra Sztuki, Kulczyk Fundation, Stary Browar Gallery, Poznan, PL

- Efekt czerwonych oczu. Fotografia polska XXI wieku (Red Eye effect. Polish photography of the 21st century), Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw, PL

- 5 wystawa kolekcji Małopolskiej Fundacji Muzeum Sztuki Współczesnej, Budynek dawnej elektrowni podgórskiej, Cracow, PL

- Far West, Arnolfini, Bristol, UK

- Aurora. Beetween Night And Day, Awangarda Gallery, Wroclaw, PL

- Blankly, Perfect Summer, VertexList, New York, US

- The Impossible Collection, Art Institute Wyspa, Gdansk, PL

 

2007

- Views 2007. Deutsche Bank Cultural Foundation Award, Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, PL

- Druga odsłona. Kolekcja Galerii Arsenał w Białymstoku i Podlaskiego Tow. Zachęty Sztuk Pięnych, GCK, Sektor I Gallery, Katowice, PL

- At Last, Something New, The National Museum, Krakow, PL

- Last News, Laznia Centre for Contemporary Art, Gdansk, PL

- Manipulations: On Economies of Deceit, Center for Contemporary Art, Warsaw, PL 

- Eccentric Paths, Museu Colecção Berardo, Lisbon, PO

- Slash Fiction, Gasworks, London, UK

- Poisoned Source, The Exhibition Hall Arsenals, Riga, LV

2006

- Forbidden Games, Center for Digital Arts, Holon, IL

- Image/Text, Tate Modern, London, GB; Barbara Wien Gallery, Berlin, DE

- Manipulations: On Economies of Deceit, Laznia Center for Contemporary Art, Gdansk, PL

- Re:Wizje Uwolnic Emocje, NCK Baltic Cultural Centre, Gdansk, PL

- ViennaBiennale, Vienna, AT

- Please Love Me, Walker’s Point Center for the Arts, Milwaukee, US

- Villa Warszawa, Raster Gallery, Warsaw, PL

- Alien Sky, Zak Gallery, Berlin, DE

- Art in the service of lefties, Kronika, Bytom, PL

- Home Terror, Lokal 30, Warsaw; Sektor 1 Gallery, Katowice, PL

- Bad News, Galeria Kronika, Bytom, PL

- Collection, Bunkier Sztuki Gallery, Cracow, PL

- Bucarest Biennale 2, Bucarest, RO

- Donaumonarchie, Bilboart, Bratislava, SK 

- Bridge:ing. Symbols of Art, Bunkier Sztuki Gallery, Cracow, PL

 

2005

- Beauty Free Shop, Umelec, Prague, CZ

- In this (our) country, Vienna International Apartment, Turku, FI

- Industrial Stadt Futurism, Kunstverein Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg, DE

- Uwaga! Polen Komen, E-werk, Weimar, DE

- Return to Space, Kunsthale Hamburg, Hamburg, DE

- 2th International Biennale of Contemporary Art, Prague, CZ

- Prague Biennale 2, Karlin Hall, Prague, CZ

- Boys, Bunkier Sztuki Gallery, Cracow, PL

- Untitled, Potocka Gallery, Cracow, PL

- Animartion, Galeria Sogospatty, Rome, IT

- Request Line, CCA Zamek Ujazdowski, Warsaw, PL

- Un/Real, ON Gallery, Poznan, PL

- Beauty or painterly effects, BWA Awangarda Gallery, Wroclaw; BWA Gallery, Zielona Gora, PL

- I Click Therefore I am, M'Ars Gallery, Moscow, RU

- Wishful Thinking, Okna Gallery, Warsaw, PL

 

2004

- Polonium 205, Galerie Provisoire, Touluse, FR

- Near East Far West, Forum fur Kunst und Architektur, Essen, DE

- Beauty or painterly effects, Bielska BWA Gallery, Bielsko-Biala, PL

- Test Card. Latest Polish Video, Bunkier Sztuki Gallery, Cracow, PL

- 1st Lodz Biennale - Palimpsest Museum, Poznanski Palace, Lodz, PL

- IV Triennale of Young Polish Art, Center of Polish Sculpture, Oronsko, PL

- Health and Safety, Wyspa Art Institute, Gdansk, PL

- Meeting Point Festival, Bytom, PL

- Shake Society, Casino Luxembourg, LUX

- Dialog Loci, Kostrzyn, PL

- Clone, Polish Institute, Rome, IT

- Nova Polska 70-80, Maisson Folie Wazzemes, Lille, FR

- Art Jeune - Concerne, Maisson Folie Tres Moullins, Lille, F; Bunkier Sztuki Gallery, Cracow, PL

- Audio Video, Galeria Klima Bochenska Gallery, Warsaw, PL

- Game Scenes, Yerba Buena Centre for Arts, San Francisco, US

 

2003

- Media Art Biennale WRO - Internet Works Show, Wroclaw, PL

- Anatomy of Moments, Grafikens Hus, Marienfred, S

 

2002

- Novart.pl, Cracow, PL

 

REVIEWS, ARTICLES

- Pablo Larios, Art Criticism: Polish Artist Janek Simon’s Deft Probing of Cultural Imperialism, "Frieze", 13.08.2019 (EN)

- Dorian Batycka, Opinion: How Janek Simon Is Changing the Way We Think about Art, Computational Animism, and “Synthetic Folklore”, "Mousse Magazine", 19.05.2019 (EN)

- Stach Szabłowski, Artysta globalnego ludu, "Magazyn Szum", 22.03.2019 (PL)

Agnieszka Kurant, Dispatch: Art in Warsaw, "Artforum", 05/2017 (EN)

- Krzysztof Kościuczuk, Janek Simon, "Frieze", 19.08.2015 (EN)

Sylwia Serafinowicz, Janek Simon at Raster, “Artforum”, 08.07.2015 (EN)

- “We rather look back to futures past” w Lajevardi Collection w Teheranie, “Szum”, 20.03.2015 (PL)

- Michał Pospiszyl, A Historical Materialist in Nollywood, “Widok”, #7, 2014 (EN)

Anka Herbut, Wytnij Wklej, "dwutygodnik.com", nr 130, 042014, (PL)

Cóż po artyście w czasie marnym? Zapis dyskusji podczas premiery “Szumu” nr 5, "Szum", 22.10.2014 (PL)

Ranking “Obiegu” 2014, “Obieg”, 19.12.2014 (PL)

Marta Skłodowska, Podwójne widzenie. Rozmowa z twórcami Galerii Wschodniej, “Szum”, 09.07.2014 (PL)

- Marcin Ludwin, Janek Simon, Podróże na wschód i na południe, "Szum", #5, 2014, p. 100-101 (PL)

Jakub Bąk, Janek Simon i Iza Tarasewicz w Arsenale, "dwutygodnik.com",  #106, 02/2013 (PL)

Marcin Doktor Polak, Wrażenia z "Powrotu do domu", “Obieg”, 19.04.2013 (PL)

Daniel Miller, Janek Simon, "Art in America",10.07.2010 (EN)

Karolina Zychowicz, Kolonializm w wydaniu polskim, kompresja przestrzeni i inne opowieści Janka Simona. "Morze" w Rastrze, "Obieg", 14.07.2010 (PL)

Stach Szabłowski, Na kolonie. Janka Simona lekcja Geografii - po końcu geografii, "Przekrój", 18.05.2010, p. 58-59 (PL)

 

 INTERVIEWS

Popiół i diament w Nollywood, interview with Janek Simon, by Anna Mituś, “Szum”, 04.03.2014 (PL)

- Pataeconomics in Practice, interview with Janek Simon, by Joanna Turek, “Notes.na.6.tygodni", #65, 12/2010, p. 102-111 (PL, EN)

 

EXHIBITION CATALOGS AND FOLDERS

- Wyświetlanie widzenia (Entoptic Screening), ASP w Warszawie, galeria Salon Akademii, Warszawa 2016, s. 60,61 (PL, ENG)

- State of Life, Polish Contemporary Art within a Global Circumstance, National Art Museum of China, Pekin, 2015 (ZH)

- We Rather Look Back to Futures Past, Teheran: Contemporary Art Publications 2015 (EN)

- Ruptures and Convergences, Ośrodek Kultury i Sztuki, Wrocław, 2014 (EN)

- Dzień jest za krótki (The Day is Not Enough), Ośrodek Kultury i Sztuki, Wrocław, 2013 (PL, EN)

- Modernautställningen 2014 – Society Acts, Moderna Museet, Malmo, 2014, s. 154-157 (EN)

- Panslawizmy, Warszawa, 2013 (PL)

- Niewczesne historie, Muzeum Sztuki, Łódź, 2012 (PL, EN)

- Izabela Kopania, Zbiór otwarty (Open set), Galeria Arsenał, Białystok, 2012, s. 210-211 (PL, EN)

- Janek Simon. Gradient, Galeria Sztuki Współczesnej Bunkier Sztuki, Kraków, 2007 (PL)

 

OTHER

- Aleksandra Kaminska, Polish Media Art in an Expanded Field, Bristol, Chicago: Intellect 2016, p. 3, 14, 15, 66, 68, 86, 89, 94-96, 102, 149, 165, 176-178 (EN )

Janek Simon, Alang Transfer, "Widok", # 7, 2014 

- Janek Simon, Graphic Representation of Lotto Systems in: Mind's Struggle with the World. Games of Chance, Warsaw: Bęc Zmiana 2009 Foundation