Term: August – October 2019
Born in Poland, Viktor Witkowski lived in Germany, France, and the U.S. before moving to Vermont where he teaches, makes art, and writes on Same Old Art.
Viktor earned a Master’s Degree in Art Education, Art History and Studio Art from the Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunschweig (HBK Braunschweig, Germany) in 2006 and a MFA in Visual Arts from Rutgers University in 2010.
Viktor Witkowsky about his work: “My paintings and films address the representation of history, domestic as well as global conflicts and the impact these have on the individual. At the same time, I ask what the possibilities of painting and film are in the face of unsettling, yet socially relevant topics. Is there a space for poetics when dealing with the darker issues in life?
My work is driven by a deeply personal agenda: after martial law had been lifted in Poland in 1983, my parents decided to flee to what used to be West Germany in order to escape uncertainty and oppression. Ultimately, my work shows that politics and history are anything but theoretical constructs. On the contrary, these conditions affect people’s minds, hearts and everyday lives.”
Education
2008- 2010 MFA, Visual Arts Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts
New Brunswick, NJ
2003-2004 History of Art Department, University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA 1999- 2006
Staatsexamen in Visual Arts, Art History and Art Education
Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunschweig
Braunschweig, Germany
1999-2006 Staatsexamen in Teaching English as Foreign Language, American Studies, Philosophy
Technische Universität Braunschweig
Braunschweig, Germany
Teaching
2015 – Present Lecturer, Dartmouth College, Studio Art Department
Hanover, New Hampshire
2012 – 2015 Faculty at AVA Art Center and Gallery
Lebanon, NH
2010 – 2012 Head of Art Department and Visual Arts Teacher at EAB Victor Hugo School
Paris, France
2008 – 2010 Lecturer, Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts
New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA
Videos & Films
2019 Rutland (72m, HD video, color, sound)
2017 The Aleppo Room (14:30m, HD video, color, sound)
2017 17 Months – 12 Minutes (14:47m, digital video, found footage, color, sound)
2016 Refuge (23m, HD video, color, sound)
2016 The Candidate (2:14m, HD video, color, sound)
2016 What We Have to Lose (3:15m, digital video, found footage, black & white, sound)
Screenings & Festivals
2019 Premiere of Rutland at the UU Church of Rutland, Vermont
2019 Official Selection (The Aleppo Room), Ethnografilm Paris, Paris, France
2018 Official Selection (The Aleppo Room), Amarcord Arthouse Television & Film Fest, Chicago, IL
2018 Museum for Islamic Art (The Aleppo Room), Pergamon Museum, Berlin, Germany
2018 Official Selection (The Aleppo Room), The Mespies, Minneapolis, WI
2017 Official Selection (Refuge), The Artists Forum Festival of the Moving Image, New York City, NY
2017 Official Selection (Best Experimental Film – Refuge), Polish International Film Festival, Warsaw, Poland
2017 Official Selection (Finest International Documentary – Refuge), The Mespies, Minneapolis, WI
2017 Loew Auditorium (Refuge), Black Family Visual Art Center, Dartmouth College, NH
2016 Official Selection (Refuge), LA Underground Film Forum, Los Angeles, CA
Exhibitions
2018 Aesthetica Art Prize Exhibition, York Art Gallery, York, UK
2018 FÄLSCHUNG // FAKE, Krudebude, Leipzig, Germany
2018 Intolerance as Violence (curated by Ian Alden Russell), Hera Gallery, Wakefield, RI
2018 Durchdashaus, Ping Pong, Leipzig, Germany
2018 Unheimlich, Alte Handelsschule, Leipzig, Germany
2018 Art as Information, The Delaware Contemporary, Wilmington, DE
2017 Art as Information, The Delaware Contemporary, Wilmington, DE
2017 PaperWest (curated by Willie Cole), Gittins Gallery, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
2017 Faces of Immigration: Here and Abroad, Russo Gallery, Joan Sloan Dickey Center, Dartmouth College, NH
2017 O.T., Studio MM, Galerie Martin Mertens, Berlin, Germany
2017 Berlin Gallery Weekend, Studio MM, Galerie Martin Mertens, Berlin, Germany
2017 Borderlands, Nearburg Gallery, Black Family Visual Arts Center, Dartmouth College, NH
2016 Re: Formation, Ann Arbor Art Center, Ann Arbor, MI
2016 Re: Formation, Gallery Project, Toledo, OH
2016 Spring Benefit, Momenta Art, Brooklyn, NY
2016 Our Histories (Near and Far), The Caroll House Art Gallery, Keene State College, Keene, NH (Solo Exhibition)
2016 Visiting Faculty Exhibition, Strauss Gallery, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
2015 Spring Benefit, Momenta Art, Brooklyn, NY
2014 Unseen, Eastern Market (Gallery Project), Detroit, MI
2014 Unseen, Ann Arbor Art Center, Ann Arbor, MI
2013 Drones, Ann Arbor Art Center, Ann Arbor, MI
2013 Drones, Eastern Market (Gallery Project), Detroit, MI
2013 10 Years Too Late, Institut für alles Mögliche (I-A-M), Berlin, Germany
2013 Push on the Surface, RVCC Art Gallery, Branchburg, NJ
2013 1st Annual Juried National Exhibition, Flood Gallery, Asheville, NC (juried and curated by Diana Stoll from Aperture Magazine)
2012 Open Door, Rosalux Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
2012 Grammar of the Elite, Gallery Project, Ann Arbor, MI
2012 Federica Nadalutti and Viktor Witkowski, Nouvel Organon, Paris, France
2012 White Box Spring Benefit, White Box, New York, NY
2012 In-between: Abstraction and Figuration, Nouvel Organon, Paris, France
2011 Nuit Blanche, L’Index, Ivry-sur-Seine, Paris, France
2011 The Big Show 6, Silas Marder Gallery, Bridgehampton, NY
2011 Yours/Mine, Gallery Project, Ann Arbor, MI
2011 Light Up, White Box, New York, NY
2010 Off the Map, White Box, New York, NY
2011 Smoke and Flowers, Thesis Exhibition, Mason Gross Galleries, New Brunswick, NJ
2011 24th International Juried Show, curated by Susan Kismaric, Visual Arts Center of New Jersey
2009 Hit It Big, Mason Gross Galleries, New Brunswick, NJ
2008 First Year Review, Mason Gross Galleries, New Brunswick, NJ
2008 Souvenirs de Vacances, L’Art de Rien, Paris, France
2008 Invent(aire) 3, L’Art de Rien, Paris, France
Awards, Residencys & Public Talks
2019 Artist Talk at Parsons The New School, NYC
2019 MFA Student Critiques at the New York Academy of Art, NYC
2018 Aesthetica Art Prize Anthology, 100 Contemporary Artists 2018, York, UK
2018 Artist Residency at Pilotenkueche, Leipzig, Germany
2017 Honorable Mention – The Aleppo Room, LA Underground Film Forum, Los Angeles, CA
2017 Best Experimental Film Award for Refuge, Polish International Film Festival, Warsaw, Poland
2017 Finest International Documentary Award for Refuge, The Mespies, Minneapolis, MN
2017 Faculty Fellowship, Leslie Center for the Humanities, Dartmouth College, NH
2017 Artist Residency at Studio MM, Galerie Martin Mertens, Berlin, Germany
2016 Artist Residency at Die Kolonie, Worpswede, Germany
2013 Best in Show, 1st Annual Juried National Exhibition, Flood Gallery, Asheville, NC
2011 Dave Bown Projects, 3rd Semiannual Competition, New York, NY
2008-10 Full Scholarship Award, Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts
2008-10 Teaching Assistantship Fellowship, Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts
2009 Mason Gross Teaching Excellence Award, Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts
2006 “High Honors” certificate of distinction from TU Braunschweig and the Hochschule für
Bildende Künste Braunschweig
2003-04 University of Michigan/Rackham Graduate School Fellowship
2003-04 DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) Full Travel Grant
