Joanna Rajkowska

Joanna Rajkowska was born in Poland in 1968 and studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Kraków, graduating with a Master’s Degree in mural painting in 1993, and completed an MA in History of Art from the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. She extended her education at the State University of New York. Her films, sculpture and installations have been exhibited in major museums, international festivals and biennials. Her public sculpture Greetings from Jerusalem Avenue, a 15-meter palm tree, is permanently installed in the centre of Warsaw and is considered one of the most iconic works of Polish public art.

Some of Rajkowska’s most acclaimed public art projects include The Hatchling – Frieze Sculpture/The Line, London (2019), Trafostation, Wrocław, Poland (2016), Rosa’s Passage in Łódź (2014), Soundlessness, Gdynia, Poland (2014), All-Seeing Eye, Open Art Projects, Brasilia, Brazil, (2013), Forcing a Miracle, Frieze Projects, UK (2012), Benjamin in Konya, British Council, Turkey (2010), Chariot, The Showroom, London, UK (2010), Oxygenator, Warsaw, Poland, (2007), Greetings from Jerusalem Avenue, Warsaw, Poland (2002).

Amongst most notable Awards and Fellowships are Nomination for Anni and Heinrich Sussmann Award 2019, Austria; 2012 Award of the City of Warsaw; 2010 Grand Prize, Fundacja Kultury, Warsaw, Poland; 2009 Pro Helvetia grant and residency, PROGR, Bern, Switzerland; 2007 Paszport Polityki for Best Visual Artist; Visegrad Artist Residency, Budapest, Hungary; 2006 The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage Scholarship IASPIS grant and residency, Umeå, Sweden; 2001 The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage Scholarship; 1998 The Civitella Ranieri Fellowship; 1997 The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture Fellowship; 1996 The ArtsLink Partnership, Buffalo, USA; President’s Award of the City of Kraków; 1992 Kunsthaus Horn, Austria.