Born in Poznan, Poland, in 1939.
Lives and works in Łódż, Poland.
Józef Robakowski graduated from the Department of Fine Arts of the Nicolaus Copernicus
University in Toruń and the Camera Department of the Film, Television
and Theatre State Academy in Łódź.
Between 1970 and 1981 he was a lecturer at the Film, Television, and Theatre State Academy in Łódź. He
was a co-founder of the Avantgarde group „Zero-61” operating in Toruń
from 1961 to 1969 and groups „Oko”, "STKF”, „Petla” and „Krag”.
Co-organizer of Film Form Workshop and Television Creative Group Station
„L” in Łódź, which undertook experimental work connecting film,
picture, and sound, permanently entering the Polish arena of conceptual
and post-conceptual art of the 70s.
He works with films, photographic
series, videotapes, installations, drawings, objects, conceptual
projects and initiates many events, exhibitions, and artistic actions.
He is also an editor and theoretical critic of contemporary art. He has
exhibited in some of the world’s most important museums, such as Tate
Modern, Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, and the Centre Georges Pompidou
in Paris.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2023 Angular Dynamics, Persons Projects, Berlin, DE.
2021 The Artist Is Present, MOCAK Kraków, PL
2021 Józef Robakowski - Art As Energy!, Baltic Gallery of Contemporary Art Ustka, Ustka, PL.
2017 Nearer – Farther Luigi Pecci Centre for Contemporary Art, Prato, IT.
2017Art Encounters 2nd edition. Life A User's Manual, Art Encounters, Timisoara, RO.
2016 Transmissions: Art in Eastern Europe and Latin America, 1960-1980, MoMA, NY.
2015 Józef Robakowski - Szpula energetyczna| Energetic Reel , lokal_30, Warsaw, PL.
2015 The Living Gallery. Art of the 1970s in a Film by Józef Robakowski, Profile Foundation, Warsaw, PL.
2015 Józef Robakowski - Józef R.’s Little Video-Theatre, Galeria Labirynt - BWA Lublin, Lublin, PL.
2015 WRO Media Art Biennale, Wroclaw, PL.
2013 Der Linie nach, ZAK | BRANICKA, Berlin, DE.
2013 WRO Media Art Biennale: Pioneering Values, Wroclaw, PL.
2012 Jozef Robakowski. The Handshake, ZKM Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, DE.
2012 My Own Cinema, Centre for Contemporary Art, Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, PL. Apocalypse, 13 muz, Szczecin, PL.
2012 Der Linie nach, Gallery ŻAK | BRANICKA, Berlin, DE.
2012 Istota Idei, National Museum in Gdansk, PL.
2012 Front Wschodni, Atlas Sztuki, Lodz, PL.
2012 The Unseen - The Fourth Guangzhou Triennial, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangszhou, CN.
2011 Concept Photography from Poland, Freies Museum Berlin, Berlin, DE.
2011 P A R T I CO L A R E. Paths of democracy, 54th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, Signum Foundation, Palazzo Donà, Venice, IT.
2011 Józef Robakowski, MINI/Goethe-Institut Curatorial Residencies Ludlow 38, N.Y., US.
2011 3rd Athens Biennale 2011 - MONODROME, Athens, GR.
2010 Peep Generation, Museum Sztuki, Lodz, PL.
2010 A Part of No-Part: Parallelisms Between Then and Now, Chelsea Art Museum, NY, US.
2009 WITKACY – ROBAKOWSKI: Confidence Men, Gallery ŻAK | BRANICKA, Berlin, DE. Wystawa Śląskiej Kolekcji Sztuki Współczesnej, Galeria Śląska BWA, Bielsko Biala, PL.
2008 Regard-Camera, Portrait de l’artiste en spectateur, Centre d’art contemporain de la Ferme du Buisson, Marne-la-Vallee, FR
2008 So ist es und anderes (Porządki urojone), Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach, DE.
2008 The Way Things Are..., CSW (CoCA), Torun, PL.
2008 1, 2, 3... Avant-Gardes: Film/Art Between Experiment and Archive, (Analytical Strategies),Tate Modern, London, UK.
2008 Bunkier Sztuki Collection, Galeria Starego Browaru, Poznan, PL.
2008 VideoZone, The 4th International Video Art, Biennale in Israel, CCA, Tel Aviv, ISR,
2008 Collection of 20th and 21st Century Art, ms2 (Muzeum Sztuki), Łodz, PL.
2008 I will, WUK / Kunsthalle, Vienna, AT.
2007 Józef Robakowski PERSON!, Cinematheque Ontario, Toronto, CAN. Documenta 12, Film Programme, BALI Kinos, Kassel, DE.
2007 Delusive Orders, Museum of Art, Łódż, PL.
2007 Analogue: Pioneering Video from the UK, Canada and Poland (1968-88), MOCCA- Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Toronto, CAN.
2007 Miragges of Józef R. (Retrospective), Museum of Art, Łódż, PL.
2007 The Second Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, Moscow, RUS.
2007 Antyphotography, 5th Photo Biennale, Arsenal Gallery, Poznan, PL.
2007 Polish photography in the 20th Century, Palac Kultury i Nauki, Warsaw, PL.
2007 Concrete Legacy: from le Corbusier to the Homeboys, Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, PL.
2007 Nachbarn. Deutsche Motive in polnischer Gegenwartskunst, Kultur Forum Altona, Hamburg, DE.
2007 Time Remembered. Mala Gallery 1977-2006, Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, PL.
2007 Die Zweite Avantgarde das Fotoforum Kassel 1972-1982, Foundation Moritzburg (Kunstmuseum), Halle, DE.
2007 Art till it Hurts, Galerie Magazin, Berlin, DE.
2006 Analogue: Pioneering Artists „Video from Poland (1968-1988)”, Tate Modern, London, UK. One-Minute Films, Tate Modern, London, UK.
2006 The Other City, Trafo Gallery, Budapest, HUN.
2006 The Energy of Remittance, Austrian Cultural Forum, Warsaw, PL.
2006 In Poland, That is Where?, Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, PL. European Festival of Performance, Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, PL.
2006 20th Century in the Polish Photograpy, Collection of the Museum of Art in Łódż, Nugata City Art Museum, JAP.
2006 Tranzit - Auditorium, Stage, Backstage, Eine Ausstellung in 32 Szenen, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt am Main, DE.
2006 1, 2 , 3... AVANT–GARDE, Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, PL. Weak Foundations, Momenta Art, Brooklyn, New York, USA.
2006 E-Flux Video Rental, Arthouse at the Jones Center-Contemporary Art for Texas, Austin, USA. You Cannot Come Closer, Cell-Project Space, London, UK.
2006 Fighting Poland, Christine Koenig Galerie, Vienna, A.
2006 En compagnie de Joseph Robakowski Les Yeux de l’Oui, Nancy, FR
2006 Józef Robakowski - In Person, Austrian Museum of Film, Vienna, A.
2005 EGOCENTRIC, IMMORAL, OUTMODED Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, PL. WRO 05 Media Art Biennale WRO Center for Media Art, Wroclaw, PL.
2005 e-flux VIDEO RENTAL, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, DE.
2005 Józef Robakowski (Telekiner and Polish Found Footage), TTT Gallery, London, UK. Józef Robakowski (Special-Energetic Pictures), 51 International Days of Short Films, Oberhausen, DE.
2005 Art... Is Never Wrong (The Workshop of the Film Form 1970-1977), Neues Museum Weserburg, Bremen, DE.
2005 Spaces of Intimacy (Contemporary Polish Photography and Video Art), National
2005 Two Asias, Two Europes, Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, CN.
2004 Malerei II (O.Holzapfel, F.Nitsche, J.Robakowski, M.Vater), Johnen + Schoettle Gallery, Cologne, DE.
2004 Memoires Du Temps De L’Immaturite, Passage de Retz, Paris, FR
2004 The Workshop Of The Film Form 1970-77, Electronic Arts Intermix, New York, USA. Collected Views From East Or West, Generali Foundation, Vienna, AT.
2004 Warsaw - Moscow 1900-2000, Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, PL.
2004 De Ma Fenetre Des Artistes Et Leurs Territoires, Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris, FR
2004 Video Zone 2, Center for Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv, IL.
2003 Von Monument Zum Markt (Polish Video Art), Podewil, Berlin, DE. Comportement Energetique, Galerie Satellite, Paris, FR
2003 Energetische Ecken - Józef Robakowski, Museum of Modern Art, Huenfeld, DE. Organic Pictures 1958/2003 - Józef Robakowski, 86 Gallery, Łódż, PL.
2003 Found Footage in Poland, Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, PL. Turbulent Screen, Edith - Russ - Haus für Medienkunst, Oldenburg, DE.
2003 A Short History Of Polish Avant-Garde And Experimental Film, Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA.
2003 Rafal Bujnowski / Jozef Robakowski, Galerie Ruediger / Schoettle, Munich, DE.
2002 15th Stuttgart Filmwinter, Festival for Expanded Media, Stuttgart, DE.
2002 Around Decade, Museum of Art, Łódż, PL.
2002 Robakowski / Cahen, Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, PL.
2002 Changing Places, Index The Swedish Contemporary Art Foundation, Stockholm, SWE. From My Window - Video Show, Anthony Wilkinson Gallery, London, UK.
2002 Atelier of Mondrian I Minimal Art, Museum of Art, Łódż, PL.
2002 Video Zone, 1st Biennale of Video Art, Tel Aviv, IL.
2002 Person / Zeit / Raum – Photographie from Poland, Museum of Contemporary Art, Salzburg, AT.
2001 18 Kasseler Dokumentarfilm und Videofest, Kassel, DE. 5th Graz Biennal On Media And Architecture, Graz, AT. Videonale, Kunstverein, Bonn, DE.
2001 Selbstbildenisse, Neues Museum Weserburg, Bremen, DE.
2000 Negotiators of Art – Facing Reality, Centre for Contemporary Art, Bathause, Gdansk, PL.
2000 The Workshop Of The Film Form 1970-77, Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, PL.
2000 Samizdat (Alternative Kultur in Zentral und Osteuropa: Die 60er bis 80er Jahre), Akademie der Künste, Berlin, DE.
2000 From My Window (solo show), Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt am Main, DE. Pologne 1970-1990 (film-video), Cinédoc, Paris, FR
2000 Construction in Process (VII edition), District Museum, Bydgoszcz, PL.
2000 2000 + Arteast Collection, Museum of Modern Art, Ljubljana, SLO.
1999 Global Conceptualism: Points of Origin 1950s-1980s, Queens Museum of Art, NY, US. Translocation (new)media art; Generali Foundation, Vienna, AT.
1999 8th Biennal of Moving Images, Centre for Contemporary Images, Saint-Gérvais, Génenve, CH.
1998 The Łódż Film School Of Poland: 50 Years, Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA. Avantgarde films and videos from Central Europe, The LUX Centre, London, UK. Body And The East, Museum of Modern Art, Ljubljana, SLO.
1997 Polish Art 1945-1996, Mucsarnok Gallery, Budapest, HUN.
1997 Energetic Picture, Arsenal Gallery, Poznan; Bunkier Sztuki Gallery, Krakow, PL. Contemporary Polish Photography, Ernst Museum, Budapest, HUN.
1996 The Butterfly Effect, Mucsarnok Gallery, Budapest, HUN.
1996 Projections, Les Transports De L’Image, Studio le Fresnoy, Tourcoing, FR
1995 LAB 5 International Film, Video and Computer Art Exhibition, Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, PL.
1995 Art of the Energy Mediation, BWA Gallery, Katowice, PL.
1994 Der Riss Im Raum, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, D; Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, PL. VIP - Video Art in Poland, Museum of Art, Łódż, National Museum, Poznan, PL.
1994 Minima Media (Medienbiennale), Fabrikhallen, Leipzig, DE.
1994 Europa, Europa, Kunst und Ausstellungshalle, Bonn, DE.
1993 Polnische Avantgarde 1930-1990, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin, DE.
1992 Lyon / Łódż - La collection du Musée de Łódż, Musée d’Art Contemporain Lyon, FR
1992 Deutscher Videokunst Preis 1992, ZKM, Karlsruhe, DE.
1992 36 London Film Festival, National Film Theatre, London, UK.
1991 New Spaces Of Photography, Museum of Architecture, Wroclaw, PL. 1990 5 Manifestation de Video, Centre Video, Montbeliard, FR
1991 Videonale 4, Kunstverein, Bonn, DE.
1989 What Is Photography (150 Years of Photography), Mánes, Prague, CZ. 1988 International Festival of Video and Electronic Art, Locarno, CZ.
1987 Private Photography (Out of Eastern Europe), Massachussets, USA.
1985 Polish Avant-Garde, Culturel Centre, Brechen/Antwerp, BE.
1983 Kunst Mit Photographie, Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Kunstverein Cologne, Stadtmuseum Munich,
Kunsthalle, Kiel, DE.
1983 Presence Polonaises, Centre Pompidou, Paris, FR
1982 Biennale Of Sydney, New South Wales Institute of Technology, Sydney, AUS.
1981 De Pologne: 9 artists d’avant-garde (film, video, photo, musique, texte), Raffinerie du Plan K,
Bruxelles, BE.
1981 Construction in Process, BUDREM Hall, Łódż, PL.
1980 Foto Medium Art, Aai Gallery, Tokio, JAP.
1979 3. International Avant-Garde Film Festival, National Theatre, London, UK.
1979 Works And Words, De Appel, Amsterdam, NL.
1979 Experiment’79, Netherlands Filmmuseum and Stedelk Museum, Amsterdam, NL. Film As Film (Formal Experiment in Film 1910-1975), Hayward Gallery, London, UK.
1978 5-th Triennale of Drawing, Museum of Architecture, Wroclaw, PL.
1977 Documenta 6 (Experimental Film Section), Museum Fridericianum, Kassel, DE.
1977 Oosteuropese Conceptuele Fotografie, Technische Hogeschool, Eindhoven, NL. 1976 Video - Film - Photo - Text show, De Appel, Amsterdam, NL.
1977 Video Art, Labirynt Gallery, Lublin, PL.
1977 Workshop Film Form (film - video exhibition), ICC, Antwerp, BE.
1975 Aspects of Polish Contemporary Art, Wspolczesna Gallery, Warsaw, PL. 1974 Actual Art In Eastern Europe, ICC, Antwerp, BE.
1975 Photography As Art - Art As Photography, Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Chalonsur FR
1975 Saône, F; Fotoforum, Kassel, DE.
1973 Remittance from Łódż, Sao Paulo Biennale, BRA.
1973 Polska’73, Exhibition of Polish Contemporary Art, CAYC, Buenos Aires, ARG.
1972 ATELIER-72, Polish Contemporary Art Exhibition, Demarco Gallery, Edinburgh, UK.
1972 Combattimento Per Un’Immagine (fotografi e pittori), Il Museo Civico di Torino, I.
1972 Searching Photographers, Fotokina, Cologne, DE.
1971 Searching Photographers, Wspolczesna Gallery, Warsaw, PL. 1970 Photographic Forms, LTF Gallery, Łódż, PL.
1969 Ferrier, exhibition of the Grupy ZERO-61, Torun, PL.
1968 Polish Subiective Photography, BWA Pavilion, Krakow, PL.
From 1961 untill 1969 participation in many exhibitions of Torun art formations
(ZERO-61, Stowarzyszenie KRAG, Tworczy Klub Filmowy PETLA)
1961 Photo Exhibition of the OKO Group, KMPiK, Torun, PL.
1959 Overall Polish Exhibition of Art Photography, GTF, Gliwice, PL.
