MARCIN BIALAS
DEFRAGMENTATION 1.0 
art exhibition

   About

   Marcin Białas is a graphic artist, draftsman, and academic. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice, where he earned his diploma with distinction in the Intaglio Printing Studio under the guidance of Professor Jan Szmatloch in 2004. Since graduating, he has been professionally affiliated with his alma mater. In 2011, he obtained the degree of Doctor of Arts (PhD), followed by the degree of Habilitated Doctor in 2019. In 2020, he was appointed Professor at the Faculty of Art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice.

Białas has held numerous solo exhibitions in Poland and internationally, including in Canada (Trois-Rivières), Romania (Ploiești), Germany (Berlin), Ireland (Dublin), Belarus (Minsk), France (Paris), Iran (Tehran), Belgium (Antwerp), and Hungary (Budapest). Since 2003, he has actively participated in printmaking biennials, festivals, and group exhibitions both in Poland and abroad, contributing to approximately 300 collective exhibitions. His work has been recognized with around 50 awards and distinctions.​​

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About the Exhibition and Artistic Statement​

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   The works presented in the Defragmentation 1.0 exhibition comprise a selection from two decades of artistic practice (2003–2023), all created using intaglio printing techniques. The earliest pieces originate from Białas’s master’s diploma and the subsequent two to three years. Two mid-career series—Above the Pavements and Room with a View—are conceptually and thematically interconnected, drawing on shared architectural motifs. The most recent series, Half-Life (2020–present), expands the artist's medium to include not only graphics but also paintings and objects, while maintaining the graphic matrix as a conceptual and material foundation.

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" Initially, I based my artistic searches on figurative representations, but gradually I abandoned their use in favor of the interpretation of urban structures in which the symbolic presence of man still had its place and purpose. The graphic interpretations of urban infrastructure were inspired by the city of Katowice, and were intended to create alternative places in a parallel world. I am currently working on the Half-Life series, which is an attempt to defragment the information and intuition resulting from observations of modern times."  -  Marcin Bialas