Collection

Creator of installations, sculptures, videos, objects, and artistic actions; curator. He studied sociology and psychology at Jagiellonian University and managed the Goldex Poldex co-operative. His work is inspired by scientific theories and models, and the specificity and usefulness of such fields as geography and economics, both responding to civilisational change. His installations and objects frequently involve visualisations based on mathematical and physical formulae and statistical data. All are experimental in nature, reflecting the clash between scientific theories and daily life or current sociological and political phenomena. Many of his works, occasionally including complex electronic circuits, were developed to do-it-yourself rules, produced by the artist end to end. Simon engages in projects across the world, inviting other artists to collaborate. Winner of the Views 2007 Deutsche Bank Foundation Award. He lives and works in Warsaw.

Janek Simon’s colourful relief was inspired by ornamental carpets and fabrics from the Podlasie region of Poland, Afghanistan, the Caucasus, and West Africa. The work was developed using elements printed by 3D printers the artist constructed himself. Individual pieces have been arranged into patterns containing interwoven motifs symbolising Simon’s earlier works and ex-girlfriends. Speaking the language of art, Simon narrates a tale of travel and artistic and emotional life. Despite the occasionally random array, individual components of the piece form a harmonious whole, tying in with the artist’s belief in the existence of an “ideal disorder”, where harmony and order require a rearrangement rather than reformatting of inherent components.