Paweł Althamer

Paweł Althamer (b. 1967) is a sculptor, performer, installation artist, and video artist. From 1988 to 1993, he studied at the Faculty of Sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. He received his diploma in the studio of Grzegorz Kowalski, preparing at that time his sculptural, hyperrealist self-portrait.In the 1990s, together with fellow students Katarzyna Kozyra, Jacek Markiewicz, and Jacek Adamas, he co-created “Kowalski’s Studio,” also known as “Kowalnia.” At the same time, he traveled to Africa, which significantly influenced his practice as a sculptor. Althamer’s first figures were made in a simplistic way, using unconventional materials such as grass, straw, animal skins, and intestines. Althamer is also widely recognized for his performance art. Especially in the 1990s, these works were attempts to search for alternative realities and “altered states of consciousness,” a journey inward. The artist is also known for artistic interventions based on activating local communities.Althamer’s works are held in the collections of the most important Polish cultural institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art (Warsaw), Zachęta – National Gallery of Art (Warsaw), and the Polish Sculpture Center in Orońsko. He is the recipient of the prestigious Vincent van Gogh Award (2004) and the Polityka Passport Award (2010).