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MACIEJ TOPOROWICZ - BIOGRAPHY

American, b. 1958 in Bialystok, Poland, lives and works in New York, NY
Member of performance duo AWACS (with Piotr Grzybowski, active 1981-1983 under Martial Law in Poland)

EDUCATION

1982        MFA Academy of Fine Arts, Krakow, Poland

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2017        Serial Killers and other Fingerprints, SPRING/BREAK Art Show, New York, NY
2014        AWACS / 1981-1983 (Maciej Toporowicz and Piotr Grzybowski), Bunkier Sztuki, Krakow, Poland
2009       SCHOENBERG!, Wyspa Art Institute, Gdansk, Poland
2008       Planet Japan, Kinokuniya, New York, NY, USA
2000       Obsession, Pori Art Museum, Pori, Finland
                Stairs 2 Heaven, Lombard Freid Fine Arts, New York, NY, USA
1997         A Season in Hell, Lombard Freid Fine Arts, New York, NY, USA
1996        Obsession, Galeria Camargo Vilaca, Sao Paulo, Brazil
                Lure, Lombard Freid Fine Arts, New York, NY, USA
1994        Obsession, Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, USA
1991        Maciej Toporowicz, Galeria Wschodnia, Lodz, Poland

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2016        Wall Signs, Galeria Sztuki Wspolczesnej, Opole, Poland (installation Aokigahara)
2016        Z mojego okna widać wszystkie kopce / All Mounds Can Be Seen from My Window – Bunkier Sztuki 50th anniversary exhibition, Bunkier Sztuki, Krakow, Poland (documentation of AWACS – a
                performance duo founded by Piotr Grzybowski and Maciej Toporowicz, active 1981-1983)
2015        Wyspa 3.0. Mapa i terytorium. Wystawa z okazji 30-lecia Wyspy / Wyspa 3.0. Map and Territory. Wyspa 30th anniversary exhibition, Wyspa Art Institute, Gdansk, Poland
               Krolow jest bez liku / There are many Kings, F.A.I.T Gallery, Krakow, Poland
2014       The Aesthetic of Man, Allard Pierson Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2013        Polish Art and Holocaust (with Miroslaw Balka, Tadeusz Kantor, Zbigniew Libera, Alina Szapocznikow, Artur Zmijewski, etc.), Jewish Historical Institute, Warsaw, Poland
2012        Evil Design, Rohsska Museet, Gothenburg, Sweden
               (NIE) PORZADEK / (DIS)ORDER, Galeria Sztuki Wspolczesnej/Contemporary Art Gallery, Opole, Poland
                Drugie zycie obrazow. Filmy found footage / The Afterlife of Images. Found Footage Films, a film program, Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw, Poland (Toporowicz’ Obsession was shown)
2011         History in Art, Museum of Contemporary Art Krakow (MOCAK), Krakow, Poland
                57th International Short Film Festival, Oberhausen, Germany
2010        Decadence Now! Visions of Excess, curated by Otto M. Urban, Galerie Rudolfinum, Prague, Czech Republic (with: Matthew Barney, Gilbert & George, Keith Haring, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons,
                David LaChapelle, Zbigniew Libera, Robert Mapplethorpe, Catherine Opie, ORLAN, Andres Serrano, Cindy Sherman, David Wojnarowicz, among others)
2009        PHOTOFOBIA-2, National Center for Contemporary Arts, Kaliningrad, Russia
                WRO Media Art International Biennale, National Museum, Wroclaw, Poland
                On the Tectonics of History, curated by Martin Krenn and Andrea Domesle, International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP), Brooklyn, NY, USA
2008        All Hallow’ Even, Gowanus Studio, Brooklyn, NY, USA
                Maciej Toporowicz’ video retrospective, Noc Muzeow/Night of the Museums, Wyspa Art Institute, Gdansk, Poland
2007        On the Tectonics of History, curated by Martin Krenn, Andrea Domesle & Aneta Szylak, Wyspa Art Institute, Gdansk, Poland
2006        With Shuddering Horror Pale, Artspace, New Haven, CT, USA
                POZA: On the Polishness of Polish Contemporary Art, curated by Marek Bartelik, Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT, USA
                Polyphony of Images. A Night of Cutting-Edge Contemporary Art from Poland: Video, Performance, and Other Media, curated by Monika Fabijanska, Polish Cultural Institute at the De Lamar
                Mansion (Consulate General of Poland), New York, NY, USA
2005        4th London International Sci-Fi Film Festival, London, UK
                Le Festival des Très Courts, France (international film festival of shorts, held each year in dozens of cities simultaneously)
2004       New New Yorkers, CCA Zamek Ujazdowski, Warsaw, Poland
                Arte e Publicita, Museo D’Arte Moderne, Bolzano, Italy
                The Book as Object and Performance, Gigantic Art Space, New York, NY, USA
2003        Video Art from Poland, Atelier Nord, Oslo, Norway
                Cambio Constante 3, Monastero Veruela, Zaragoza, Spain
2002        Mirroring Evil, The Jewish Museum, New York, NY, USA
                Videozone, Trieste Film Festival, Trieste, Italy
2001        Markers, organized by Ryszard Wasko during Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
                Identitites: Contemporary Portraiture (with Francesco Clemente, Chuck Close, Lucian Freud, Kiki Smith, etc.), New Jersey Center for Visual Arts, Summit, NJ, USA
2000       Confronting the Figure, Fuller Museum of Art, Brockton, MA, USA
                Confession of a Voyeur, Dulcinea, Istanbul, Turkey
                After Hours, Bunkier Sztuki, Krakow, Poland
2000       Construction in Process VII - This Earth is a Flower, Bydgoszcz, Poland
1999        Propaganda, Lombard Freid Fine Arts, New York, NY, USA
                Your I, Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, USA
1998        Medialization, Edsvik Konst Kultur, Stockholm, Sweden
                Photobiennale, ICP, Moscow, Russia
                Cannibal City, Paco Das Artes, Sao Paulo, Brazil
                Tangents, Tallinn Art Hall, Tallinn, Estonia
                Absence/Presence, Katherine Nash Gallery, Minneapolis, MN, USA
                Urban Romantics-Part 2, Lombard Freid Fine Arts, New York, NY, USA
1996        Sex/Industry, Stux Gallery, New York, NY, USA
                Untitled, Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, USA
                The Experimenters, Lombard Freid Fine Arts, New York, NY, USA
                100 Photographers, American Fine Arts, Co, New York, NY, USA
                Voyeurs Delight, Franklin Furnace, New York, NY, USA
1995        Tangled roots: 16th annual New Music & Arts Festival, curated by Jacqueline S. Nathan with Myroslava Mudrak, Fine Arts Center Galleries, Bowling Green University, Bowling Green, OH, USA
                Accumulation, Work Space, New York, NY, USA
                Arresting Images, Gallery 400, Chicago, IL, USA
                Construction in Process V, Mitzpe Ramon, Israel
                Giordano Bruno, Goethe Institute, Krakow, Poland
1994        Beyond the Borders, Bronx Museum, New York, NY, USA
1993         Construction in Process IV – My Home is Your Home, Lodz, Poland
                Hair, Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI, USA
1990        Sites of Intolerance, P.S.1, Queens, NY, USA
1989        Invitational, Stux Gallery, New York, NY, USA

SELECTED ACTIONS AND INTERVENTIONS IN PUBLIC SPACE

2014        Obsession, street posting action, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1995         Auslånder Raus, mailing action, Frankfurt, Germany
1994        Obsession, street posting action, New York, NY, USA
                Forza Italia, mailing action, Rome, Italy
                Serial Killers, mailing action, New York, NY, USA

SELECTED PERFORMANCES

2014        Czwarta proba dojscia / The 4th Trial, on the occasion of the retrospective exhibition AWACS / 1981-1983 (of performance duo: Maciej Toporowicz and Piotr Grzybowski), Bunkier Sztuki,
                Krakow, Poland, Apr. 15, 2014
1995         Antoni Artaud, BWA Gallery, Krakow, Poland
                10 Commandments, Podewil, Berlin, Germany
                10 Commandments, Galata Festival, Istanbul, Turkey
1994        10 Commandments, Chapter Gallery, Cardiff, UK
1987        Ultragothic, New Langton Arts, San Francisco, CA, USA
                Ding an Sich, Franklin Furnace, New York, NY, USA
1986        Ding an Sich, P.S.122, New York, NY, USA
1985         Apocalypse Now, Negerhalle, Munich, Germany
1984        Ding an Sich, Moltkerai, Cologne, Germany
1983         Art Now Gallery, Mannheim, Germany
                AWACS* Group performance, Strych Gallery, Lodz, Poland
                AWACS Group performance, AT Gallery, Poznan, Poland
1982        Radio Ebb, railway tracks, Krakow, Poland
1981         AWACS Group performance, Klub Pod Reka, Krakow, Poland
                Rose, AWACS Group performance, 9th Krakow Meetings, Bunkier Sztuki (then BWA), Krakow, Poland
1981        Tapes, Academy of Fine Arts, Krakow, Poland

*AWACS was a performance duo founded by Piotr Grzybowski and Maciej Toporowicz in Poland, active 1981-1983

COLLECTIONS

  • The Jewish Museum, New York, NY, USA
  • Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw, Poland
  • MOCAK – Museum of Contemporary Art Krakow, Poland
  • Museo D’Arte Moderne, Bolzano, Italy

GRANTS AND RESIDENCIES

1991        Studio Program Award, P.S.1, New York, NY, USA

REVIEWS

2017 

2014       

2012       

  • Quantum of Image, by Lukasz Kropiowski, Artpunkt, Opole, Poland, no. 15, Dec. 2012

2008       

2007       

  • The remembered and imagined Holocaust in contemporary art: on the work of Zbigniew Libera, Piotr Uklanski, and Maciej Toporowicz, by Eleonora Jedlinska, in: Pro Memoria, Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum, Poland, issue 26, 2007, pp. 53-60

2004       

2003       

  • Pomiedzy postawa krytyczna a analityczna, strategie najnowszej polskiej sztuki wideo / Between Critical and Analytical Approach. Strategies of the Recent Polish Video Art, by Lukasz Ronduda, in: Artmix, Warsaw, Poland, no. 6/2003

2002       

  • Readymade Redux: Once More the Jewish Museum, by Lisa Saltzman, in Grey Room, MIT Press Journals, Cambridge, MA, Fall 2002, no. 9, pp. 90-104
  • In Her Own Image, by Jeff Chu, in: Time, New York, NY, USA, Aug. 19, 2002
  • Mirroring Evil: Nazi Imagery/Recent Art, by Linda Nochlin, in: Artforum, Summer 2002
  • “Mirroring Evil”: It’s Only Nazis, by Christian Viveros-Faune, in: New York Press, New York, NY, USA, Apr. 16, 2002
  • No Business Like Shoah Business, by Michelle Goldberg, salon.com, New York, NY, USA, Apr. 3, 2002
  • Mild Thing, by Jerry Saltz, in: Village Voice, Apr. 2, New York, NY, USA, 2002
  • The Hitler Show, by Peter Schjeldahl, in: The New Yorker, New York, NY, USA, Apr. 1, 2002
  • Springtime for Hitler, by Michael Frank, in: Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, CA, USA, Mar. 31, 2002
  • The Art of Banality, Editorial Page (Opinion), The New York Times, New York, NY, USA, Mar. 22, 2002
  • Alles, was trivial ist, by Andrian Kreye, in: Suddeutsche Zeitung, Munich, Germany, Mar. 22, 2002
  • L'impair du musée juif de New York. Polémique autour d'une exposition censée dénoncer l'imagerie nazie, by Fabrice Rousselot, in: Liberation, Paris, France, Mar. 20, 2002

2001       

  • Maciej Toporowicz, Suicide Forest, in: The Fader, New York, NY, USA, Winter 2001

2000       

  • Confronting the Figure, by Joanne Silver, in: Boston Herald, Boston, MA, USA, Sept. 1, 2000
  • Confronting the Figure, by Cate McQuaid, in: Boston Globe, Boston, MA, USA, Aug. 24, 2000
  • Maciej Toporowicz at Lombard Freid, by Sarah Valdez, in: Art in America, USA, Sept. 2000
  • Inhaling Passions: Art, Sex, and Scent, by Jim Drobnick, in: Sexuality & Culture, USA, Summer 2000, vol. 4, issue 3, pp. 37-56
  • Stairs 2 Heaven, by Robert Morgan, in: Review, USA, Mar. 2000
  • L’obsession de Maciej, in: Etapes: Design Graphiques & Culture Visuelle, Paris, France, Apr. 2000

1998       

  • Maciej Toporowicz at Lombard Freid Fine Arts, by Robert Morgan, in: Art Press, New York, NY, USA, Feb. 1998
  • Reveries, Assaults and Evaporating Presences: Olfactory Dimensions in Contemporary Art, by Jim Drobnick, in: Parachute Magazine, Montreal, Canada, issue 89, January 1998

1997       

  • Maciej Toporowicz, Jan Zakrzewski, Lombard Freid Fine Arts, New-York, Etats-Unis, 16/10/97-16/11/97, in: Art Press, Paris, France, no. 232
  • Maciej Toporowicz, A Season in Hell, by Abraham Lubelski, in: NY Arts, New York, NY, USA, Nov. 1997
  • Selling Woman, by Erica Browne, in: New York Post, New York, NY, USA, Oct. 23, 1997
  • Maciej’s Obsession, by Lewis Blackwell, in: Creative Review, London, UK, Spring 1997
  • The Ever Controversial Female Genitalia, in: Flash Art, Milan/New York, Jan. 1997

1996       

  • Obsession, Archive, Germany, Fall 1996
  • Maciej Toporowicz at Lombard Freid, by Alfred Corn, in: Art in America, USA, Oct. 1996
  • Maciej Toporowicz, by Kim Levin, in: The Village Voice, New York, NY, USA, May 28, 1996
  • Lombard Freid, by Roberta Smith, in: The New York Times, New York, NY, USA, May 17, 1996

1994       

  • Art that’s crossed borders & cultures, by Raphael Sugarman, in: Daily News, New York, NY, USA, Apr. 1, 1994
  • Making Scents of Fascism, by Ted Loose, in: Art & Antiques Magazine, New York, NY, USA, Nov. 1994
  • Obsession insightful and yet superficial, by Ray Mark Rinaldi, in: Times Union, Albany, NY, USA, Oct. 1994
  • Ad lib, by Kathi Norklun, in: Woodstock Times, Kingston, NY, USA, Oct. 1994
  • A fascination with Fascism?, by Balise Schweitzer, in: Daily Freeman, Kingston, NY, USA, Sept. 27, 1994
  • Il Duce sui francobolli per dire no al fascism, editorial, in: La Voce, Rome, Italy, Sept. 2, 1994
  • Obsession Wehrmacht, in: Der Spiegel, Hamburg, Germany, no.29, July 18, 1994
  • La Dolce Musto, by Michael Musto, in: Village Voice, New York, NY, USA, May 31, 1994
  • Inside Art, by Carol Vogel, in: The New York Times, New York, NY, USA, May 27, 1994
  • Maciej Toporowicz, in: Art Press, Paris, France, Apr. 1994 (on Serial Killers series)
  • a review by Marek Bartelik, in: Nowy Dziennik Polish Daily News, New York, NY, USA, Mar. 1994
  • Doing Art in Poland, by Robert Morgan, in: Cover, New York, NY, USA, Jan. 14, 1994 (a review of Construction in Process, Toporowicz’s work photographed)

1983       

  • Maciej Toporowicz: Radio Ebb, in: High Performance. The Original Performance Art Magazine, Los Angeles, CA, USA, # 22, vol. VI, no. 2, 1983 (photographs and description of Toporowicz’ performance held in Poland under Martial Law)

1982       

  • AWACS, in: High Performance, Los Angeles, CA, USA, #17/18, vol. V, nos. 1/2, 1982 (photographs and description of AWACS (Maciej Toporowicz & Piotr Grzybowski) performance held in Poland under Martial Law)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

  • 2013        Sztuka Polska wobec Holocaustu / Polish Art and the Holocaust, ed. Maria Budkowska, Jewish Historical Institute, Warsaw, Poland, 2013, p. 203 (group exhibition catalogue)
  • 2012        (NIE) PORZADEK / (DIS) ORDER, ed. Lukasz Kropiowski, Galeria Sztuki Wspolczesnej/Contemporary Art Gallery, Opole, Poland, 2012 (group exhibition catalogue)
  • 2011        Historia w sztuce / History in Art, ed. Anna Maria Potocka, Museum of Contemporary Art Krakow (MOCAK), Krakow, Poland, 2011, p. 310, 311 (group exhibition catalogue)
  • 2010        Decadence NowI Visions of Excess, curated and essays by Otto M. Urban, Arbor vitae Publishers, Řevnice, Czech Republic in collaboration with Pro Arte Society, 2010 (337 p.,
                    bilingual catalogue to accompany the exhibition Decadence Now! Vision of Excess at the Galerie Rudolfinum, Prague, Sept. 30, 2010 – Jan. 2, 2011, with: Matthew Barney, Gilbert &
                    George, Keith Haring, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, David LaChapelle, Zbigniew Libera, Robert Mapplethorpe, Catherine Opie, ORLAN, Andres Serrano, Cindy Sherman, Maciej
                    Toporowicz, David Wojnarowicz, etc.)
  • 2010       POZA: On the Polishness of Polish Contemporary Art, ed. Marek Bartelik, Real Art Ways/DAP, Hartford, CT, USA, 2007, pp. 126-129 (group exhibition catalogue)
  • 2006       Strategie subwersywne w sztukach medialnych, by Lukasz Ronduda, Rabid, Krakow, Poland, 2006
  • 2006      Polyphony of Images. A Night of Cutting-Edge Contemporary Art from Poland: Video, Performance, and Other Media, Polish Cultural Institute, at the De Lamar Mansion at the
                    Consulate General of Poland in New York, NY, USA, ed. and curated by Monika Fabijanska, Oct. 2006, pp. 5, 13, 20 (group exhibition catalogue)
  • 2001        Mirroring Evil. Nazi Imagery / Recent Art, ed. Norman L. Kleeblatt, The Jewish Museum New York and Rutgers University Press, USA, 2001 (group exhibition catalogue)
  • 1997        New Art, Harry Abrams, Inc., New York, NY, USA, 1997
  • 1995        Maciej Toporowicz: Obsession, by Vasif Kortun, dir. CCS Bard College, in: Tangled roots: 16th annual New Music & Arts Festival, October 13-November 3, 1995, curated by Jacqueline S.
                   Nathan with Myroslava Mudrak, the Fine Arts Center Galleries, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH, USA, 1995 (group exhibition catalogue)
  • 1995        Maciej Toporowicz: Lure, by Vasif Kortun, director, Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, USA, 1995 (press release for Toporowicz’ solo exhibition Lure
                    at Lombard Freid Fine Arts in New York in 1996)
  • 1984        Maciej Toporowicz, Works, Omnibus Press, Munich, Germany, 1984