Warsaw, Poland, 1958
Lives and works between Warsaw, Poland and Oliva, Valencia, Spain
Mirosław Bałka imbues physical objects and the spaces they occupy with subtle layers of metaphor and memory, seeking to express how history inevitably shapes and governs the present. Working primarily with abstract sculpture (although also frequently employing formats such as video, drawing and installation), Bałka has developed a highly personal artistic idiom that incorporates an eclectic range of materials, often symbolic of his personal, familial or collective Polish heritage. Known as a “counter-memorialist” and often basing the scale of his work on the measurements and proportions of the human body, Bałka uses his practice to give voice to the ways the personal and the universal speak not only to each other, but also through each other.
Bałka’s work forms part of major institutional collections such as The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) (New York), San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) (LosAngeles), The Art Institute of Chicago, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (Washington, D.C.), Tate Modern (London), Moderna Museet (Stockholm), Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (Madrid), Malmö Konsthall, EMΣT | The National Museum of Contemporary Art Athens, Zachęta – National Gallery of Art (Warsaw), Museu de Serralves (Porto) among others. He has has exhibited widely and has participated in numerous international exhibitions such as La Biennale di Venezia (2013, 2005, 2003, 1993, 1990), Biennale of Sidney (2006, 1992), SITE SANTA FE (2006), Liverpool Biennial (1999), the Bienal de São Paulo (1998) and documenta IX (1992).