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 is currently on view in the group exhibition Family Album at Kunsthuis Syb, The Netherlands (until 16 January 2027).
Sobczak’s forthcoming and recent exhibitions include Kunsthaus Zürich; 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.
The artist’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
Upiór, 2022Single channel video, 16:34 minUpiór tells the story of a Polish official visiting an Orthodox church that is to be demolished as part of the Recovery Action carried out in 1938. There he encounters...Upiór tells the story of a Polish official visiting an Orthodox church that is to be demolished as part of the Recovery Action carried out in 1938. There he encounters an Upiór, a mythological figure from the periphery of Polish-Ukrainian culture. The Upiór is suspended between life and death, therefore not adhering to the rules of time and space. He reveals to the clerk fragments of various stories, built upon narratives of violence, hope, identity and memory.
The style of the film is characteristic of German Expressionist cinema. Highly dramatic acting, demonic archetypes and vivid imagery are all present in this work. The cinematography of expressionism that came to fruition during the First World War and breaking with the realistic way of recreating reality, expressed a common fear of omnipresent violence and tyranny. Immersed in the traditions of folk beliefs, filled with oneiric mood, the film by Mikołaj Sobczak presents completely real, documented fragments of the biography of real people - Upiórs.ExhibitionsExternal ExhibitionsPressPublicationsVideoRequest more information




