Mikołaj Sobczak
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Biography
Born 1989 in Poznań, Poland
Lives and works in Amsterdam, Netherlands and Düsseldorf, Germany
Mikołaj Sobczak’s distinctive practice brings together painting, performance, and video to construct alternative histories, centering queer and marginalized figures largely excluded from dominant narratives.
His work will be presented in Family Album at Kunsthuis Syb, The Netherlands (17 October 2026 – 16 January 2027). Sobczak‘s forthcoming and recent exhibitions include Kunsthaus Zürich (opening spring 2027); MANIFESTA 16 Ruhr; Luther Museum, Amsterdam; Polish Institute, Düsseldorf; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; ROZENSTRAAT, Amsterdam; Salzburger Kunstverein; Kunstmuseum Moritzburg, Halle; Jester - Flanders Arts Institute, Genk, Belgium; Ludwig Forum, Aachen; Kunsthalle Münster; Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin; MUDAM, Luxembourg and Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw.
Sobczak’s works are held in the collections of Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf; Ludwig Forum, Aachen; The Perimeter, London; Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw and The National Museum, Gdańsk, among others.
In 2021, Sobczak was awarded Poland’s most prestigious art prize, the Paszport Polityki. He was an artist-in-residence at the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam, and took part in the residency program with Art Explora - Cité internationale des arts, Paris. As one of four selected artists, he was awarded the Villa Romana Prize in 2026. Turning to writing as another form of expression, Sobczak published his first book this year, Anti-Fascist Art Manifesto (currently sold out).
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Installation view: House of Nisaba: New Stories of Painting (Group Show), Moderna Museet, Stockholm, May 14 – August 30, 2026Mikołaj Sobczak
Parole, Parole, Parole, 2026Oil, acrylic and collage on canvas
220 x 590 cm
86.6 x 232.3 inches -
Together with a group of friends, I travelled to Capri to research queer resistance during the time of Nazi persecution, when the island functioned as a kind of refuge, almost a mythic sanctuary for queer lives.
– Mikołaj SobczakTo listen to the artist as he speaks about his work, click here.
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In times of political radicalization, Sobczak's art invites us to engage with the construction of history.
– Merle Radtke, Kunsthalle Münster
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News
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Works
Mikołaj Sobczak
Eva & Sylvin, 2024Oil on canvasSigned, dated and titled verso180 x 198 cm
70.9 x 78 inches
B-MSOBCZAK-.24-0015The painting portrays Eva Kotchever observing herself, alongside her partner Hella Olstein and Sylvin Rubinstein, who, in turn, watches himself and his sister performing as 'Dolores and Imperio'. The black-and-white...The painting portrays Eva Kotchever observing herself, alongside her partner Hella Olstein and Sylvin Rubinstein, who, in turn, watches himself and his sister performing as 'Dolores and Imperio'. The black-and-white background draws inspiration from set designs for the cabaret where Hella Olstein was performing when she first met Eva Kotchever in Paris. The artwork also alludes to a painting by Wojciech Wojtkiewicz, assumed to be queer, who died young, leading his mother to bury him with his diaries. The palms depicted in the painting belong to the artist but are inspired by Socialist Realist murals. Together, they present this narrative to the viewer.Exhibitions
Mikołaj Sobczak, Le Boudoir de l'Amour, Capitain Petzel, Berlin, 2024
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