{"id":30,"date":"2026-01-31T16:21:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T16:21:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tomswoboda.pl\/?page_id=30"},"modified":"2026-02-07T17:58:38","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T17:58:38","slug":"bio-cv","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/tomswoboda.pl\/index.php\/bio-cv\/","title":{"rendered":"Bio + CV"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Bio (EN)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tom Swoboda is a contemporary visual artist whose practice investigates the relationships between humans, animals, and space. His recent projects, including Animal Space and Zooscape, examine zoo architecture as a system of control and separation \u2014 a constructed environment shaped primarily for the human gaze. Through these works, Swoboda exposes the hidden power structures, surveillance mechanisms, and forms of violence embedded within seemingly neutral landscapes.
Moving beyond representation, his work critically addresses anthropocentrism, moral responsibility, and the conditions of coexistence within late-capitalist culture. A crucial aspect of his methodology is his engagement with Classical Japanese Cultural Studies, which informs his analytical approach to space, emptiness, temporality, and the relationship between subject and environment as tools for understanding contemporary reality.
Born in Upper Silesia, Swoboda approaches regional identity as a spatial and psychological condition shaped by industrial transformation, tension, and adaptation. This background permeates his reflection on landscape, borders, and constructed environments. He studied sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Wroc\u0142aw and completed his doctoral degree at the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice in 2023. He has initiated numerous artist residencies and curatorial projects in Poland and abroad. Swoboda lives and works in Cieszyn.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Bio (PL)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tom Swoboda jest artyst\u0105 wizualnym, kt\u00f3rego praktyka koncentruje si\u0119 na analizie relacji mi\u0119dzy cz\u0142owiekiem, zwierz\u0119ciem i przestrzeni\u0105. W projektach takich jak Animal Space i Zooscape bada architektur\u0119 ogrod\u00f3w zoologicznych jako system kontroli i separacji \u2014 przestrze\u0144 zaprojektowan\u0105 nie tylko dla zwierz\u0105t, lecz przede wszystkim dla ludzkiego spojrzenia. Jego prace ujawniaj\u0105 ukryte mechanizmy w\u0142adzy, nadzoru i przemocy wpisane w pozornie neutralne struktury krajobrazu.
Tw\u00f3rczo\u015b\u0107 Swobody wykracza poza dokumentacj\u0119 czy reprezentacj\u0119. Artysta podejmuje krytyczn\u0105 refleksj\u0119 nad antropocentryzmem, moraln\u0105 odpowiedzialno\u015bci\u0105 oraz granicami wsp\u00f3\u0142istnienia w rzeczywisto\u015bci kszta\u0142towanej przez logik\u0119 kapitalistyczn\u0105. Istotnym elementem jego metodologii jest Studium Kultury Starojapo\u0144skiej, kt\u00f3re wp\u0142ywa na spos\u00f3b postrzegania relacji podmiot\u2013otoczenie, czasu, pustki i struktury \u2014 jako narz\u0119dzi analizy wsp\u00f3\u0142czesnego \u015bwiata.
Urodzony na G\u00f3rnym \u015al\u0105sku, Swoboda traktuje regionaln\u0105 to\u017csamo\u015b\u0107 jako do\u015bwiadczenie przestrzenne i mentalne: obszar napi\u0119\u0107, transformacji i przemys\u0142owych \u015blad\u00f3w, kt\u00f3re rezonuj\u0105 w jego my\u015bleniu o krajobrazie, granicach i adaptacji. Studiowa\u0142 rze\u017ab\u0119 na Akademii Sztuk Pi\u0119knych we Wroc\u0142awiu, a w 2023 roku uko\u0144czy\u0142 studia doktoranckie na ASP w Katowicach. Jest inicjatorem rezydencji artystycznych i projekt\u00f3w kuratorskich w Polsce i za granic\u0105. Mieszka i pracuje w Cieszynie.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Artistic achievements<\/strong><\/h6><\/div>\n\n\n\n

IMPORTANT SOLO EXHIBITIONS :<\/strong>
2026 Galeria Rzeczna, Rybnik (upcoming)
2026 Galeria Esta, Gliwice (upcoming)
2026 BWA, Bydgoszcz (upcoming)
2026 BWA, Wroc\u0142aw (upcoming)
2026 Papercuts, GuaCollective, Wroc\u0142aw (upcoming)
2025 It\u2019s hard to Dance with Devil on Your Back, WGW, Warszawa
2025 Uwa\u017caj na cienie, mog\u0105 wyrosn\u0105\u0107 im z\u0119by, open call, PIXHOUSE, Pozna\u0144
2024 Jeszcze jeden doktor w mie\u015bcie, Galeria 12 w Cieszynie, PL
2024 Being Well, Point 11 and the space of the city of Bielsko-Bia\u0142a, PL
2024 ZOOSCAPE, Galeria Sztuki BWA w Bydgoszczy, PL
2023 Like An Animal, Contemporary Art Space, Batumi, Georgia
2021 Terytorry, MWW, Wroc\u0142aw, PL
2019 EGOINSTA, Muzeum Miejskie, \u017bory, PL
2014 Draw God for me, Szara Gallery, Cieszyn, PL
2010 Conterfect. Documentation, Slot Art Festival, Lubi\u0105\u017c, PL
2009 Do you know who you are?, Gallery of Wrexham School of Art and Design, UK
2007 Order, Raciborski Festiwal Sztuki, Racib\u00f3rz, PL
2004 ho-use, Underground Art Centre, Clitheroe, UK
2003 Memory cards, Gallery Szara, Cieszyn, PL
2002 1\/3 two suns, Gallery BWA, Wroc\u0142aw, PL
2002 Osmos, Slot Art Festival, Lubi\u0105\u017c, PL
2000 Gate, Slot Art Festival, Gi\u017cycko, PL
1999 Continuity of changes in matter. Diploma exhibition, City Gallery, Wroc\u0142aw, PL
1998 Nobody, Slot Art Festiwal, Gi\u017cycko, PL<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IMPORTANT GROUP EXHIBITIONS:<\/strong>
2024 ZOOSCAPE, Photo Festival Plener, \u017bory, PL
2023 \u0141emkowskie Jeruzalem, Centrum Kultury im B I Antonycza, Gorlice, PL
2023 TEMPORARY GOD, Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw, PL
2022 INWAZJE, Punkt odbioru Sztuki, \u0141\u00f3d\u017a, PL
2022 Sport, Sport, Play Football, O\u015brodek Mi\u0119dzykulturowych Inicjatyw Tw\u00f3rczych, Lublin, PL
2021 Terytorium, MWW, Wroc\u0142aw, PL
2020 Dystans, Tabakfabrik, Vierraden, DE
2020 Meldunek sta\u0142y. Sympozjum realnych postaw, Galeria 12, Cieszyn, PL (curator, artist)
2020 Meldunek sta\u0142y. Sympozjum realnych postaw, internet (curator, artist)
2019 on.ona, Muzeum Miejskie, \u017bory, PL
2018 PHOTO LONDON LensCulture Portrait Awards, Sommerset House, Londyn, UK
2018 LensCulture Portrait Awards 2018, Voies Off Festival, Arles, FR
2018 Wystawa finalistow konkursu Sony World Photography Awards, Sommerset House, Londyn, UK
2017 DIE DEUTSCHEN KAMEN NICHT, Kunsthause, Drezno, DE
2015 jest \/ nie ma, MWW, Wroc\u0142aw, PL
2014 Niemcy nie przyszli, MWW, Wroc\u0142aw, PL
2014 Artysta w czasach beznadziei. Najnowsza sztuka polska, Galeria BWA, Wroc\u0142aw, PL
2013 Supermarket Art Fair 2013, Kulturhuset, Sergels torg, Sztokholm, SE
2012 Cieszyn kocham Ci\u0119 z daleka, Galeria Szara, Cieszyn, PL
2012 Wystawa Sztuka-Obiekt-Zapis 4\u2019, Galeria Imaginarium, \u0141\u00f3d\u017a, PL
2011 Laboratorium, Galeria Bielska BWA, Bielsko-Bia\u0142a, PL
2010 Katolicy w Kronice (Konterfekt \u2013 14cm), Galeria Kronika, Bytom, PL
2008 Manual CC, Galeria Bielska BWA, Bielsko-Bia\u0142a, PL
2007 Zam\u00f3wienie \/ Order, Raciborski Festiwal Sztuki, Racib\u00f3rz, PL
2007 Border Crossing \/ Przekraczanie granic, Arts Centre, Wrexham, UK
2006 Konstruowanie to\u017csamo\u015bci, Galeria Szara, Cieszyn, PL
2006 Int\u00e9rieur, Galeria Arsena\u0142, Pozna\u0144, PL
2006 Int\u00e9rieur, Galeria Bielska BWA, Bielsko Bia\u0142a, PL
2005 The last picture show, The Underground Art Centre, Clitheroe, UK
2003 Oddychanie, City Gallery, Lucern, CH
2001 Przestrze\u0144 \u2026 Galeria Miejska, Wroc\u0142aw, PL
2000 Supermarket Sztuki , Galeria ZPAP, Warszawa, PL
1998 Prezentacja m\u0142odych artyst\u00f3w, Centrum Rze\u017aby Polskiej, Oro\u0144sko, PL
1998 Pompa, Galeria Miejska, Wroc\u0142aw, PL
1996 Labyriynth. Open air, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA
1996 Obiekty i rysunki, College of Art., Edynburg, UK
1995 Odciski d\u0142oni, City Gallery, Osaka, JP<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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