Marek Sułek
and Dobiesław Gała
at ART INTERNATIONAL ZURICH FAIR 2024
Marek Sułek is a Polish artist who works primarily in the urban space. He creates objects, sculptures and paintings. An author of the so-called Spheres of Unreal Reality. He is also noted for a cycle of ephemeral actions entitled Disposable Sculptures and Destruction=Creation. The artist often touches upon the subject of the coexistence of nature and technology brought by the civilisation. His art combines elements of the artificial and natural world – for example plastic with biological material. In this way, startling and unusual mutations are created – pink trees, white potatoes, red stones or blue human bodies. Objects are given a new form exposed by the unnatural color. The actions created by Marek Sułek interfere with the surrounding space. They create the so-called Spheres of Unreal Reality – spaces where artistic elements influence perception. The Blue Tree among the ruins of the Sarajevo Olympic Park, the building-observatory near the ruins of WTC (Foley Square, Manhattan) and The Pink Tree near the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw are great examples of such spaces.
In 2010 Marek Sułek initiated a cycle of artworks connected to his childhood memory. Paper Boat – a floating sculpture on the Vistula river in Warsaw, A Shoal (in the Children’s Hospital in Warsaw) – composition made of 200 objects/fish, Boat Sculpture presented in Milano at the Expo 2015, an outdoor sculptural cycle within the space of Praga district in Warsaw – The City of Angels, Disposable Sculptures – Praga Koneser Center in Warsaw.
Marek Sułek (born 16 August 1963 in Tarnów) is a Polish multidisciplinary artist. Graduated from The Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw (under Prof. Jan Tarasin and Prof. Ryszard Winiarski) and from The Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam (both diplomas obtained in 1992). In the years 2000-2010 he was a lecturer at the European Academy of Photography in Warsaw. Ever since completing his education, Marek Sułek is active at the European artscene creating projects such as the cycle of The Spheres of Unreal Reality, Destruction=Creation. His works were displayed intel alia in urban spaces of Amsterdam, Brussels, Berlin, Antwerp, The Hague, Sarajevo and in the number of Polish cities – Cracow, Gdańsk, Toruń, Warsaw.
Creator of a concept entitled Extraordinary Warsaw which consisted of a number of urban projects such as floating sculpture Paper Boat, Disposable Sculpture – Mariensztat, The Pink Tree nearthe Palace of Culture in Warsaw, Red on Grey – De Gaulle Roundabout and sculpture of a Little Refugee near the UN Roundabout. Marek Sułek was nominated twice to represent Warsaw during the World Exposition – Expo 2000 in Hanower and Expo 2015 in Milan. Years 2001-2004 were dedicated to the projects held in the city of New York. The most significant was a sculpture+action in the central part of the city The Piece of the Sky over Manhattan created with the collaboration of the Ministry of Culture, The Institute of the Polish Culture and the New York City.
Awarded The Artist of the Year 2011 by the Exit Magazine. Irish foundation of Saint Patrick gave him a grant for the creation of the project for the New Children’s Hospital in Warsaw (installationmade of 200 sculptures). In 2018 he obtained the official scholarship from the City of Warsaw.
.......................................................................................................
Dobiesław Gała (1975) - PhD, assistant professor at the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków and vice-dean at the Faculty of Sculpture. Dobiesław Gała was distinguished by the Academy of Fine Arts in Nuremberg, where he collaborated with the world-famous sculptor, Prof. Tim Scott. Dobiesław Gała's talent was appreciated by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland, awarding him creative scholarships. He was honored with the Gloria Artis Medal for Merit to Culture for his entire achievements.
He is, among others, laureate and winner of the Grand Prix of the 10th Triennial of Polish Contemporary Drawing and prestigious award Orły "Wprost" 2024 for his infuence on Polish art.
In Italy, renowned curators and art critics, including Dr. Francesco Saveiro Russo and Dr. Sandro Serradifalco, were delighted with Dobiesław Gała's work, awarding him the Phoenix Prize in April 2024 for his entire artistic output, the stylistic content of his works, and the media introduced by Dobiesław Gała, which influence the innovative form of his works and, at the same time, the development of the discipline of sculpture. In June 2024, Dobiesław Gała was awarded the International Artistic Career Award 2024, awarded by the Constanza Foundation in Florence, and in July 2024, the International Artistic Prize awarded by the Effetto Arte Foundation for innovative artistic creation, the influence on the development of the discipline of sculpture, and the protection and correctness of cultural activities that include environmental activities.
His works were presented at over 90 individual and collective exhibitions in Poland and abroad. The last three years have definitely been his.
Individual exhibitions, in renowned galleries and museums in Italy, including Treviso, Como and Lugano in Switzerland, in Monaco and Venice. His innovative art is appreciated in his native Krakow. It was a beautiful illustration of the celebrations of the 10th anniversary of Arena Krakow, becoming a permanent, timeless symbol of the birthday.
Dobiesław Gała's works can be found in private collections, museums and galleries in Poland and abroad, such as the USA, China, Italy, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Slovakia, France and Germany.
