bio – Daniel Kotowski

born 1993 in Łomża (Poland), currently lives in Warsaw

statement:

I am an indicator of incompleteness, inconsistent with the norm, because I am Deaf and I do not use phonic speech. Talking about incompleteness and completeness in the existential dimension, I analyse their potential. I am either considering the possibility of fulfilling expectations of completeness or protesting against it. I am looking for the limit of ambivalence. My artistic practice is the starting point for reflection on the ways of existence. It is based on research where I use stories of those who are incomplete and complete. I observe their experiences and their interpersonal relationships. The way we are perceived by other individuals. My works concern the mechanism of power over biology, social and linguistic communication and social policy. They often refer to the concept of biopower and biopolitics. Based on my own experiences and observations, I develop my own strategy for managing my communication tool or body. I bring back the memory of incompleteness. I use various forms of expression, such as performances, design, installations, photography, objects and videos.

education:

2021-…….
PhD | Academy of Fine Arts | Gdańsk

2019-2020
The School of Seeing | Fort Institute of Photography | Warsaw

2016-2018
MA | Faculty of Interior Design | Academy of Fine Arts | Warsaw | diploma in the Studio of Exhibition of Barbara Kowalewska

upcoming:

soon

performances:

29/12/2023
SIGNING/SINGING | as a part of Myślnik. Słowo jako materia sztuki exhibition | Adam Mickiewicz Museum of Literature | Warsaw | curated by Anna Lebensztejn, Karolina Vyšata

22-24/06/2023
Feeler | Festival Theaterformen | Hannover

20-21/05/2023
It wasn’t me who stole the show | site of the former bear paddock | Centre for Inclusive Art / Theatre 21 | Warsaw | curated by Justyna Wielgus, Justyna Lipko-Konieczna

13-14/05/2023
Feeler | Theatertreffen | Berliner Festspiele | Berlin

03/05/2023
The Official Language of the Republic of Poland Is Polish | Haller Square | Centre for Inclusive Art / Theatre 21 | Warsaw | curated by Justyna Wielgus, Justyna Lipko-Konieczna

27/04/2023
The Official Language of the Republic of Poland Is Polish | Centre for Inclusive Art / Theatre 21 | Interart_s | Oslo | curated by Justyna Wielgus, Justyna Lipko-Konieczna

15/10/2022
Feeler | as a part of The Discomfort of Evening. Actions | Zachęta – National Gallery of Art | Warsaw | curated by Magdalena Komornicka, Weronika Zalewska

16/12/2021
It’s My Duty | Zachęta – National Gallery of Art | Warsaw

18/11/2021
Instruction for the Love Ritual | as a part of Exercises on Everyday Life project | Cricoteka | Kraków | curated by Barbara Pasterak

11/11/2021
I Am Reading Aloud II | as a part of Hospitality March | BWA Warszawa | Warsaw

28/09/2021
Monument to the Victims of Biopower | Galeria Labirynt | Lublin | curated by Agata Sztorc-Gromaszek

03/05/2021
The Official Language of the Republic of Poland Is Polish | Facebook Live | Museum of Modern Art | Warsaw

16/12/2020
It’s My Duty | Zachęta – National Gallery of Art | Warsaw

18/10/2020
Monument to the Victims of Biopower | former hospital on Poniatowskiego street | NOWY ZŁOTY (previously ZŁOTY KIOSK) | Wrocław

30/07/2020
A Tool for Using Speech | as a part of in private: in search of identity project | ZOOM platform | Collective of Artistic Experimental Forms

08/07/2020
I Am Reading Aloud II | We Are People | Galeria Labirynt | Lublin | curated by Waldemar Tatarczuk

02/07/2020
A Tool for Using Speech | Instagram Live | Contemporary Art Promotion Foundation

03/05/2020
The Official Language of the Republic of Poland Is Polish | Facebook Live | Museum of Modern Art | Warsaw

20/12/2019
I Am Reading Aloud II | as a part of Grassomania 11 project | Gdańsk City Gallery 1 | Gdańsk

16/12/2019
It’s My Duty | Zachęta – National Gallery of Art | Warsaw

14/12/2019
I Am Reading Aloud II | Ślad | W Y Gallery | Art Factory | Łódź

19/11/2019
I Am Reading Aloud after National Independence Day | Radio Kapitał | Museum of Modern Art | Warsaw

02/11/2019
The Official Language of the Republic of Poland Is Polish | Bródno Park | Stroboskop | Warsaw

26/10/2019
The Official Language of the Republic of Poland Is Polish | Palace of Culture and Science | Stroboskop | Warsaw

26/10/2019
The Official Language of the Republic of Poland Is Polish | Constitution Square | Stroboskop | Warsaw

12/10/2019
The Official Language of the Republic of Poland Is Polish | Fort Mokotów | Stroboskop | Warsaw

05/10/2019
The Official Language of the Republic of Poland Is Polish | Sokratesa street | Stroboskop | Warsaw

27/09/2019
The Official Language of the Republic of Poland Is Polish | Stroboskop | Warsaw

indivudial exhibitions:

13/10-26/11/2023
SIGNING/SINGING | ZAMEK Culture Centre | Poznań | curated by Jagna Domżalska, Kamil Mizgała

08-31/10/2021
Monument to the Victims of Biopower | Galeria Labirynt | Lublin | curated by Agata Sztorc-Gromaszek

22/10-11/12/2020
Monument to the Victims of Biopower | NOWY ZŁOTY (previously ZŁOTY KIOSK) | Wrocław

27/09-02/11/2019
The Official Language of the Republic of Poland Is Polish | Stroboskop | Warsaw

13/04-03/06/2018
The Unreasonable Man Persists in Trying to Adapt the World to Himself | Ludwik Zamenhof Centre | Białystok | curated by Aleksandra Czerniawska

group exhibitions | group shows | public projects:

17-18/11/2023
Tender Points | Narracje #14 | Gdańsk | curated by Katarzyna Słoboda, Jakub Gawkowski

03/02-16/04/2023
7th Gdansk Biennale of Art | Gdansk City Gallery | Gdańsk | curated by Grażyna Tomaszewska-Sobko

14/10-13/11/2022
Renewal. Biennale Zielona Góra | Uniwersytet Zielonogórski, Instytut Sztuk Wizualnych, BWA Zielona Góra | curated by Marta Gendera, Bartek Lis, Joanna Sokołowska

13/10-14/11/2022
Dependencje. Dzieła z kolekcji Dolnośląskiego Towarzystwa Zachęty Sztuk Pięknych | Wrocław Contemporary Museum | Wrocław | curated by Daniela Tagowska

07/10-31/12/2022
Polish Biennale of Young Art Rybie Oko 10 | Baltic Gallery of Contemporary Art | Słupsk | curated by Edyta Wolska, Roman Lewandowski

09-10/07/2022
Love Ritual | Tough love | Komuna Warszawa | Warsaw | curated by Anna Smolar

24/06/2022-04/06/2023
Głusza | Silesian Museum | Katowice | curated by Michał Burdziński, Michał Justycki, Agnieszka Kołodziejczak, Dagmara Stanosz

11/02-10/04/2022
The Politics of (In)Accessibility | Arsenal Municipal Gallery | Poznań | curated by Zofia Nierodzińska

30/10/2021-12/01/2022
45th Painting Biennale Bielska Jesień 2021 | Galeria Bielska BWA | Bielsko-Biała | curated by Grażyna Cybulska

01/10-19/11/2021
Manifesto for a Better Life | Salon Akademii | Warsaw | curated by Magda Lipska, Eulalia Domanowska

01-15/09/2021
Free Space | Łódź of Four Cultures Festival | exhibition in the urban space | Łódź | curated by Agnieszka Zawadowska, Anna Łazar, Monika Rudaś-Grodzka, Antonina Benedek

01/08/2021
NOW | Starak Family Foundation and Spectra Art Space

25-29/06/2021
You ain’t going nowhere | 19. SURVIVAL Art Review | Kotłownia on Farbycznej 14 street | Wrocław | curated by Michał Bieniek, Anna Kołodziejczyk, Małgorzata Miśniakiewicz, Ewa Pluta, Daniel Brożek

14-20/06/2021
Short Waves Festival 2021 | Poznań

28/05-12/09/2021
Naked Nerve | Master’s Atelier | BWA Wrocław Główny Gallery | Wrocław | curated by Joanna Rajkowska in collaboration with curator Anna Mituś

13/12/2020-16/05/2021
You’ll Never Walk Alone | Galeria Labirynt | Lublin

20/11/2020-16/05/2021
THREE’S A CROWD | The International Urban Art Festival OUT OF STH/Space Absorbency | BWA Wrocław Główny Gallery | Wrocław | curated by Michał Grzegorzek, Anka Herbut, Gregor Różański

02/10/2020-17/01/2021
Something in Common | Warsaw Under Construction 12 | Museum of Modern Art | Warsaw | curated by Tomasz Fudala, Natalia Sielewicz

11/09/2020
Death in Everyday Life | as part of Jasna 10 project | Warszawska Świetlica Krytyki Politycznej | Warsaw | curated by Wojtek Zrałek-Kossakowski

06/09/2020
Warsaw Preview (small sculptural forms) 2020 | Warsaw

07/08-4/09/2020
Freedom of Speech | Contemporary Art Gallery MD_S | Wrocław

16-30/07/2020
Praise for Transience | virtual exhibition | 01 Gallery | www.01gallery.pl

01/06/2020-21/05/2022
Solidarity And Agency | virtual exhibition | Arsenał Gallery | Białystok | curated by Katarzyna Różniak, Eliza Urwanowicz-Rojecka

10/12/2019-01/10/2020
Directions And Phrases | Spokojna Gallery | Warsaw | curated by Zuzanna Sadowa, Marta Jarnuszkiewicz

15/10/2019
Foreign Bodies | video screening | Stroboskop and Carnation Contemporary | Zachęta – National Gallery of Art | Warszawa

23/09/2019-2020
OSA/The Open Anti-fascist Studio | touring exhibition and a tangible archive of the grassroots initiative called the Anti-fascist Year | Polska | RUCH art collective

21/09/2019
Attrape | WL4 Mleczny Piotr Gallery | Wolne Pokoje | Gdańsk

01/09-11/11/2019
Three Plagues | Galeria Labirynt | Lublin | curated by Agnieszka Cieślak, Magdalena Linkowska

28/06-28/07/2019
Welcome to Hell #5 | Śmierć Frajerom gallery | Warsaw

27/05-11/06/2017
The point of view | Fotofestiwal | MEOK Gallery | Łódź

07/06-22/06/2014
Somewhere | Fotofestiwal | Our Gallery | Łódź

15/09/2012
Deaf Art | Krasiński Library | Warsaw

curatorial projects:

21/08/2021
Fairy Tale About Normality | Zachęta – National Gallery of Art | Warsaw

12/06-15/08/2021
Living Storages: Socially Appropriate, Statistically Average, Scientifically Healthy, Personally Desired… | Zachęta – National Gallery of Art | Warsaw

residences:

08/08-26/11/2023
SIGNING/SINGING | ZAMEK Culture Centre | Poznań | curated by Jagna Domżalska, Kamil Mizgała

26/06-01/07/2023
Sign Language Art Laboratory | Festival Theaterformen | Hannover | curated by Rita Mazza

09-12/2022
Open Place | Warsaw/Kyiv (PL/UA)

19/04-10/07/2022
Love Ritual | Tough love | Komuna Warszawa | Warsaw | curated by Anna Smolar

01/10-07/11/2020
Important matter | COVID-19. The World After the Pandemic | Biennale Warszawa | Warsaw

awards | scholarships:

2023
finalist of the 7th Gdansk Biennale of Art | Gdansk City Gallery | Gdańsk

2022
finalist of the Polish Biennale of Young Art Rybie Oko 10 | Baltic Gallery of Contemporary Art | Słupsk

2021
Sofiya Nalepinska-Boychuk Fellowship | Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art, Ukrainian Institute, Adam Mickiewicz Institute

finalist of the 45th Painting Biennale Bielska Jesień 2021 | Galeria Bielska BWA | Bielsko-Biała

nomination for the Short Waves Festival 2021 award | Polish Experimental Films Competition | Poznań

2020
nomination for Allegro Prize | Allegro and Contemporary Lynx

2019
nomination for “Bo wARTo” special award | MocArty RMF Classic

collections:

Silesian Museum | Katowice
Dolnośląskie Towarzystwo Zachęty Sztuk Pięknych | Wrocław
private ones

performative lectures | lectures:

17/10/2021
How to help the d/Deaf? | TEDxDługaSt | TEDx | Gdańsk | with Weronika Szymańska-Gątarek (Billie Sparrow)

24/10/2020
Republic of the Deaf | 12th Theatre Meetings Close Strangers | Teatr Polski | Poznań | with Anna Łazar, Ilia Kamiński, Martyna Zaremba-Maćkowiak, duo Mixed Tomasz Melissa and Mikołaj Chylak

03/09/2020
Incomplete | Scena Robocza | Poznań

debates | talks:

24/02/2022
Głuche migrantki ze Wschodu mieszkające w Polsce | Arsenal Municipal Gallery | debate conducted by me | with Volha Siarko and Lesia Lupookova

02/10/2021
Jackpot: Interview with Nadia Markiewicz about works and social normativity | Zachęta – National Gallery of Art | debate conducted by me | with Nadia Markiewicz

30/07/2021
What we see? How we see? | Zachęta – National Gallery of Art | debate conducted by me | with Magda Szcześniak

24/06/2021
Screening of the film “Singing Lesson 2” and meeting with Artur Żmijewski | Zachęta – National Gallery of Art | debate with Artur Żmijewski conducted by me

17/04/2021
Self-censorship of the Deaf | Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw | debate with Agnieszka Kołodziejczak and Tomasz Świderski conducted by me

16/12/2020
THREE IS A CROWD: body, voice, protest! | BWA Wrocław | debate with Yulia Krivich, Agata Kubis and Ania Nowak conducted by Marianna Dobkowska

03/12/2020
Post-truth and the Exclusion of the Deaf | Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw | debate with Helena Chmielewska-Szlajfer, Joanna Ciesielska and Bartosz Marganiec conducted by me

texts | reviews | interviews:

09/07/2022
Daniel Kotowski: to śmieszne, że musiałem trzymać w tajemnicy, kim jestem | Onet Kultura | interview by Dawid Dudko

13/06/2022
W poszukiwaniu dostępności, w poszukiwaniu miłości | SZUM magazine | issue 37 | article | Paweł Leszkowicz

12/04/2022
Audyt dostępności | Dwutygodnik journal | review | Anna Pajęcka

09/03/2022
Praca udostępniania i empatii | Czas Kultury journal | review | Ewelina Jarosz

16/12/2021
Manifesto for a Better Life | SZUM magazine | issue 35 | review | Karolina Plinta

04/11/2021
From Masochism to Tenderness. How Contemporary Performance Deals With the Body | Culture.pl | article | Piotr Policht

09/10/2021
If You Talk Ugly, You’d Better Be Silent | Gazeta Wyborcza Lublin | interview by Sylwia Hejno

11/09/2021
Playing the Naked Nerves | Dwutygodnik journal | review | Stach Szabłowski

10/09/2021
Against the Masters. “Naked Nerve” at BWA Wrocław | SZUM magazine | review | Aleksy Wójtowicz

18/08/2021
Look at the Matter of the World Against the Light | BLOK journal | interview with Joanna Rajkowska by Anna Mituś

03/08/2021
Unusual Bodies | Zachęta online magazine | issue 31 | my interview with Nadią Markiewicz

11/04/2021
Untill Potopii | SZUM magazine | issue 32 | article | Aleksy Wójtowicz

11/04/2021
THREE IS ALREADY A CROWD | SZUM magazine | issue 32 | review | Agata Pyzik

01/01/2021
2020 in Art: A Summary of Cities | SZUM magazine | review

21/09/2020
Solidarity and Agency | SZUM magazine | issue 30 | review | Karolina Plinta

23/12/2020
We’re heading there together. Around the exhibition “Solidarity and Agency” | Postmedium | interview with Edka Jarząb, Rita Müller and Marta Romankiv by Karolina Różniak

07/11/2020
Daniel Looked for His Own Language for a Long Time. Like Every Deaf | Polityka weekly | article | Mateusz Witczak

21/07/2020
In the Past, I Used to Have Feeling That It Was Inappropriate for Me to Speak | Culture.pl | interview by Piotr Policht

13/05/2020
A Moving Performance by Daniel Kotowski | PROwincja magazine | article

23/01/2020
Well, the Anthem Is Hard to Read | MEOK gallery | review | Agnieszka Kołodziejczak

20/01/2020
The Best and Worst of Art in Central Europe in 2019 | BLOK journal | review

03/11/2019
Daniel and His Performance “The Official Language of the Republic of Poland Is Polish” | MEOK gallery | review | Agnieszka Kołodziejczak

18/10/2019
Civil Disobedience | SZUM magazine | review | Piotr Kosiewski

01/01/2019
Rebellion of the Deaf | Zachęta online magazine | January/February 2019 | my interview with Bogna Burska

04/05/2018
The Unreasonable Person Tries Forever and Whether They Succeed Is a Separate Matter | MEOK gallery | review | Agnieszka Kołodziejczak

publications:

12/2022
Polish Biennale of Young Art Rybie Oko 10 | Baltic Gallery of Contemporary Art | catalogue | Słupsk

06/2022
Głusza | Silesian Museum | book | Katowice

12/2021
You ain’t going nowhere | SURVIVAL 19 Art Review | Art Transparent Foundation for Contemporary Art and Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Fine Arts in Wrocław | catalogue | Wrocław

10/2021
45th Painting Biennale Bielska Jesień 2021 | Galeria Bielska BWA | catalogue | Bielsko-Biała

06/2021
Artist’s website | SZUM magazine | issue 33

03/2020
Artist’s website | SZUM magazine | issue 28

12/2019
Trace | Galeria W Y | New Culture and Education Association | catalogue | Łódź

daniel kotowski

daniel kotowski

daniel kotowski