wood, epoxy resin, artist's own technique, 10 x 9.7 x 6.5 cm, signed at lower edge 'Ł. Surowiec'; '38/100'
In his objects and artistic interventions, Surowiec addresses historical and political issues, penetrates and investigates current social relations. Important projects carried out by the artist relating to social relations include Waiting Room (2013), Buying Tears (2014), Level. Berlin- Birkenau was also a project dealing with history and Polish-German relations. The goal of his artistic interventions is to enact initiatives and strategies that respond to socio-artistic issues. His work takes the form of a method to explore public reality, with attention to marginalized individuals.
A pre-war wooden floor cube from the premises of Oskar Schindler's former factory. The object was designed by Lukasz Surowiec as part of the author's project related to the method of work organization proposed by Schindler. The material, cobblestones, comes from the hall of the former factory, which by making work possible and giving employment saved Jews from extermination.
The artist thinks of the cube as an island, he tried to design the object, to sink it in resin, as an artifact related to the issue of labor and memory.
Luke Surowiec is an interdisciplinary artist: sculptor, performer, stage designer, video maker and author of social actions. He graduated from the Department of Sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow, and also studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznań and the Universität der Künste in Berlin. In his objects and artistic interventions, Surowiec penetrates and explores current social relations, and also addresses historical and political issues. The artist rejects classical categories or classifications in favor of intermedia works that explore the human condition in contemporary socioeconomic conditions. In his works, he tries to draw attention to marginalized social groups and their problems, including historical pasts seemingly buried in the past. His work also explores issues of memory. His work takes the form of a method to explore public reality, with a focus on marginalized individuals. In his artistic activity, he addresses current social issues, also going beyond the walls of official art institutions. He is a recipient of a scholarship from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and a winner of the prestigious Spojrzenia (2017) competition for young artists. He has participated in numerous exhibitions at home and abroad. Among them, the 7th Berlin Biennale (2012), Dziady, Bunkier Sztuki (2013), What can be seen - Polish art today, MSN, Warsaw (2014), Wejście do portu, Emigration Museum, Gdynia (2016), Late Polishness, CCA Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw (2017).
