Maria Loboda (b. 1979 in Krakow, Poland) creates enigmatic and carefully composed environments that engage with multilayered narratives while reflecting on the present. Her work combines poetic, historical, and philosophical research with formal equations of language and materiality, exploring how objects and symbols communicate beyond their conventional readings.
Loboda graduated from the Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main. In 2025, she was appointed Professor of Sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Nuremberg. She has held visiting lectureships at Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK), Institut Kunst Basel, and the Intermedia Department of the University of the Arts in Poznań (UAP).
Her works have been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions, including at Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt (2018), Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (2019), and Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw (2019). Other notable solo presentations took place at Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland, IAC Villeurbanne, France, and CAC Vilnius, Lithuania (all 2017), as well as The Power Plant Contemporary Art Center, Toronto (2016).
Loboda’s work has also been featured in major group exhibitions and international biennials, including documenta 13 in Kassel (2012), Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid (2013), Kunstverein Braunschweig (2014), Palais de Tokyo in Paris (2014), the Taipei Biennial in Taiwan (2014), and the Venice Biennale (2019). In the same year, she served as artistic director of Volcano Extravaganza together with Milovan Farronato.
She is the first recipient of the Ottilie-Roederstein-Grant, awarded in 2022 by the Hessian Ministry of Culture, and received a fellowship from the Hessian Cultural Foundation in 2012.
Vita
- Born 1979 in Krakow, Poland
- 2003–2008 Interdisciplinary art studies at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste – Städelschule (Class of Mark Leckey), Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- 2015–2016 Professor at Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK), Zurich, Switzerland
- 2020–2021 Guest lecturer in the Department of Intermedia at the Magdalena Abakanowicz University of the Arts, Poznań, Poland
- From the winter term 2025 Professorship of Sculpture, Akademie der Bildenden Künste Nürnberg
Solo Exhibitions
2025 (planned)
- Tatra Museum, Zakopane, Poland
- Lore, Galerie Thomas Schulte, Berlin, Germany
- Hypermaremma, Art in the Landscape, Tuscany, Italy
- Intervention – Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany
2024
- Highlights from the permanent collection, Peles, Berlin, Germany
2023
- The Machine, Senckenberg Natural History Museum, Frankfurt, Germany
- Vexare, Maisterravalbuena, Madrid, Spain
- Faux, Vistamare Gallery, Milan, Italy
2022
- The Year of Living Dangerously, Art Basel Parcours, Basel, Switzerland
2021
- An exhausted Dr. John Dee enjoys the view towards the lake, Atelier Amden, Basel, Switzerland
2020
- Two Ribbons Engaged in an Aerial Combat, Elementarz Dla Mieszkańców Miast, Krakow, Poland
- Omniabsent, Maisterravalbuena, Madrid, Spain
- Hearing otherworldly music, curated by Emer McGarry, The Model, Sligo, Ireland
2019
- To build a business that will never know completion, curated by Pamela Desjardin, Museo Tamayo, Mexico
- Sitting Here Bored Like a Leopard, curated by Ewa Gorzadek, Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw, Poland
2018
- Idyl in an electronics factory, curated by Matthias Ulrich, Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt, Germany
2017
- I am Radiant, I am Radiant, I am Radiant in my Defeat, curated by Ula Tornau, CAC, Vilnius, Lithuania
- Havoc in the Heavenly Kingdom, curated by Elena Filipovic, Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland
- La Fête, La Musique, La Noce, curated by Nathalie Ergino & Magalie Meunier, IAC, Villeurbanne (Lyon), France
2016
- Mmmmhhmmmmm, CAB, Burgos, Spain
- Some weep, some blow flutes, The Power Plant (Contemporary Gallery), Toronto, Canada
- Art Weekend Zuoz, curated by Alexandra Blaettler, Hotel Castell, Zuoz, Switzerland
- Domestic Affairs and Death, Maisterravalbuena Gallery, Madrid, Spain
2015
- Movements that Mattered, site-specific permanent installation, curated by Lidia Krawczyk, Bunkier Sztuki, Krakow, Poland
- The pursuit of illusions…, curated by Gesine Borcherdt, CAPRI, Düsseldorf, Germany
- Night Conquers Day, curated by Kasia Redzisz and Magda Materna, Bunkier Sztuki (Krakow) & Tatra Museum (Zakopane), Poland
2014
- The Plutonian House, Mendes Wood DM, São Paulo, Brazil
- A Rapid Approach or more likely Departure, Schleicher/Lange, Berlin, Germany
- Dead Guardian, Kunstverein Braunschweig, Germany
2013
- Chalcedony into Onyx, curated by Anna Gritz, South London Gallery, London, UK
- Las Fieras, Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain
- Frieze Projects, curated by Cecilia Alemani, Randalls Island, New York, USA
- General Electric, Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York, USA
2012
- The Tempest, Ludlow 38, New York, USA
- The Messenger (Be aware of the one who appears not to be moving), Schleicher/Lange, Paris, France
2011
- Peril, Maisterravalbuena, Madrid, Spain
- Dynamite Winter Palace, Galerie Schleicher/Lange, Paris, France
Group Exhibitions
2025 (planned)
- Blickachsen 14 Sculpture Biennale, Bad Homburg v. d. Höhe, Germany
2024
- Pratiques cosmomorphes, IAC Villeurbanne, France
2023
- To see the world in a grain of sand, curated by Sylvia Metz & Christin Müller, Kunstverein zu Assenheim, Niddatal, Germany
- Humans and Demonds, curated by Ekaterina Degot & Pieternel Vermoortel, Steirischer Herbst, Graz, Austria
- BELIEVE, Tropez Sommerbad Humboldthein, Berlin, Germany
2022
- The Year of Living Dangerously, Art Basel 2022, Basel, Switzerland
- Site-specific for Parcours, Art Basel 2022, curated by Samuel Leuenberger, Basel, Switzerland
2020
- Encuentro VII. Reunión de expertos…, Maisterravalbuena, Madrid, Spain
2019
- May You Live in Interesting Times, 58th Venice Biennale, Italy
- Yorkshire Sculpture International, curated by Laurence Sillars (Henry Moore Foundation), UK
- Death, artistic direction Maria Loboda, Volcano Extravaganza, Stromboli, Italy
2018
- Oh, that I had a thousand tongues, Tinos Quarry Platform, Greece
- Free Jazz II, Contemporary Art Center, Singapore
- Beyond the River, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Germany
- Infinity has its limits, Salts Basel, Switzerland
- The Future Is Certain; It's the Past Which Is Unpredictable, Blaffer Art Museum, Texas, USA
- Pompei@Madre. Materia Archeologica, MADRE, Naples, Italy
- Sculpture Park, CAC, Vilnius, Lithuania
- A sedução de uma vírgula bem colocada, Museu de Arte Contemporânea, Elvas, Portugal
- Oh, that I had a thousand tongues, Cultural Foundation of Tinos, Greece
- Enchanted Bodies/Fetish for Freedom, GAMeC, Bergamo, Italy
2017
- Days are Dogs – Carte Blanche à Camille Henrot, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France
- Giles Round. They bow. Curtain. No applause., Spike Island, Bristol, UK
- Si Sedes Non Is, The Breeder, Athens, Greece
2016
- Completely Something Else, Point Centre for Contemporary Art, Nicosia, Cyprus
- Peles empire, Berlin, Germany
- Back to Mulholland Drive, La Panacée, Montpellier, France
- The Winter of our Discontent, Galerie Martin Janda, Vienna, Austria
- The Vanished Reality, Modern Art Oxford, UK
- In One’s Own Time, Emalin, Naples, Italy
- I Go Where I Don’t Belong, Volcano Extravaganza, Stromboli, Italy
- The Tarantallegra, Hester, New York, USA
- A Change of Heart, Hannah Hofmann Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
- Buffalo Head: A Democratic Storytelling Experience, Serpentine Gallery, London, UK
- Contemporary Art from Poland, ECB, Frankfurt, Germany
- The portent of light, MeetFactory, Prague, Czech Republic
- Folly, Dunmore Pineapple, Falkirk, Scotland
2015
- Dans la Bataille Pense à Moi, Institut d’art contemporain, Villeurbanne/Rhône-Alpes, France
- ArtLine 30 Projects for the Contemporary Park, Milan, Italy
- Moving Image Department, Chapter III, National Gallery Prague, Czech Republic
- Stranger than Paradise, Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf, Germany
- Ten Rooms, Three Loggias and One Hall, Sprengel Museum Hannover, Germany
- Words Aren’t the Thing, CAC, Vilnius, Lithuania
- Psychic Lighthouse, The Model, Sligo, Ireland
- Trouble in Paradise, Kunsthalle of the Federal Republic, Bonn, Germany
- Parliament of things, Firstsite, Colchester, UK
- The Grantchester Pottery Paints the Stage, Jerwood Space, London, UK
- DZ Hosts, The Violet Crab: Nights of Cabaret, DRAF, London, UK
- 132.54 m², Schleicher/Lange, Berlin, Germany
2014
- Tatra Conference, Zakopane, Poland
- Lives of Performers, Centre d’art contemporain de la Ferme du Buisson, France
- Pier 54, High Line, New York, USA
- Taipei Biennial 2014, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan
- Leaving to come back, Cuenca Biennial, Ecuador
- Breaking News from the Ether, Montpellier, France
- A Bridge between Luxembourg and New York, MUDAM, Luxembourg
- Abracadabra | Disappear like this word, Galeria Aleksander Bruno, Warsaw, Poland
Awards / Grants
- 2022 Ottilie-Roederstein-Grant, Hessian Ministry for Science and Art, Germany
- 2012 Edward-Steichen-Art-Award, New York, including residency at Les Récollets, Paris, France
- 2010 Dynamo-Eintracht-Grant, Cultural Foundation Dresden / Dresdner Bank, Germany
- 2009 Grant of the Cultural Foundation Hessen for London, UK
- 2006 Dellbrück-Bethmann-Private Bank Prize, Berlin, Germany
Collections
- IAC, Villeurbanne, France
- Banco de España, Madrid, Spain
- Fundación ARCO, Madrid, Spain
- FRAC Aquitaine, France
- FRAC Basse-Normandie, France
- FRAC Reims, France
- CA2M, Madrid, Spain
Publications
- 2019 Idyl an Electronics Factory, text by Matthias Ulrich (Schirn Kunsthalle, February 2019)
- May you live in interesting times (58th International Art Biennale, Venice)
- 2017 Some weep, some blow flutes, The Power Plant, Toronto
- 2015 “Nie Jesteśmy już wyrzutkami. Rozmowa z Marią Loboda,” Art Magazine Szum; “Czary Marii,” Harper’s Bazaar Poland; Frieze Master, Above & Below, Frieze Magazine
- 2014 “How do we get out of all this darkness?”, Mousse Publishing, Kunstverein Braunschweig
- 2013 “Maria Loboda: General Electric,” Karen Rosenberg, The New York Times (24.01.2013)
- 2012 Publications in Fluor Magazine, Libelle (Rosascape), Sternberg Press (monograph Oh, Wilderness), Artpress, Frieze d/e, Artforum, schirn-magazin.de; dOCUMENTA (13)-catalogue; art magazin (Special); dOCUMENTA (13)-exhibition catalogue
- 2011 Texts in “Based in Berlin” (catalogue, Kulturprojekte Berlin), Cura Magazine, ArtReview
- 2010 Creamier Contemporary Art in Culture (Phaidon), exhibition catalogue New Thoughts, Old Forms (Bielefelder Kunstverein), Artline, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Art Monthly
- 2009 3/3, Hatje Cantz; Younger than Jesus, New Museum (Phaidon); monographic catalogue The Apartment(Diamondpaper); Athens Biennale Heaven (catalogue)
