Tomek Kawiak – Sculpture / Performances
Full name: Tomasz Kawiak
Birth: Lublin, Poland
Training: Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw (architecture, painting, sculpture)
Movement: Conceptual Art, Land Art, Monumental Installations
Artistic Journey
Tomek Kawiak studied architecture, then painting and sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, graduating in 1968. After exhibiting in Poland, he moved to France in the early 1970s and became a French citizen. Very quickly, he turned toward monumental installations and Land Art, intervening in both urban and natural landscapes around the world.
His works question the relationship between man, nature, and consumer society. He uses everyday objects (furniture, clothing, suitcases), transforming them into oversized sculptures, often covered in concrete or integrated into public spaces. His artistic approach is resolutely international: he has exhibited and installed his creations across Europe, the United States, Asia, and the Middle East.
Major Works
Monumental Jeans – Giant concrete jeans sculptures, symbols of global consumption.
Giant Tables and Chairs – Urban installations playing with scale and perception.
Concrete Suitcases – Metaphors of exile, travel, and identity.
Land Art Installations – Outdoor interventions integrating nature and monumentality.
Style and Influences
Focus on everyday objects transformed into universal symbols.
Blend of monumentality, irony, and social critique.
Influences: Conceptual Art, Nouveau Réalisme, Land Art.
Quote
“The public space is a studio.”
