Magdalena Gluszak-Holeksa (b. 1990) is a Polish artist, who lives and works in UK and Poland. She grew up in the Silesian Beskids mountain range in the South of Poland. Throughout her practice, she uses her changing memories of the landscape surrounding her home as a metaphor to explore concepts of metamorphosis and the symbiotic exchange between the dead and living matter. At the core of her process lies her deep interest in psychology and how our inherited belief systems and emotions form a non-verbal language within our unconscious, influencing our perception of the self and the sense of our belonging. She holds a Master of Fine Arts from Wimbledon College of Arts, University of the Arts London (2019) and a BA (Hons) in Photography from the Arts University Bournemouth (2014). She is a Fellow at Digswell Arts Trust, where she works from her studio at the Forge, Welwyn North.
Solo exhibitions
A Mountain, Too, Has Its Thoughts, Broadway Gallery, Letchworth, 2022
Rozczlonkowanie (Dismemberment), Dom Narodowy, Cieszyn, Poland, 2017
Selected group exhibitions
Airy Disk, River Art Gallery, Taiwan, 2024
Clyde & Co Prize, London, 2024
MacFarlanes Prize, London, 2024
John Moores Painting Prize, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, 2023
A Matter of Perspective, Liliya Art Gallery, London, 2023
South Open, OHSH Projects, London, 2023
Correspondence 01, Broadway Gallery & Exeter Phoenix Gallery, 2021
Emergent Vision, Uncovered Collective, Safe house 1, London, 2020
ARTIQ The Graduate Art Prize, Herbert Smith Freehills, London, 2019
Orbit UK, Bargehouse, OXO Tower Wharf, London, 2019
Postopia, Ugly Duck, London, 2019
Who Will Provide?, Crypt Gallery, London, 2019
Beyond the Pale, LOFT, London, 2018
Awards, prizes and competitions
Clyde & Co Prize, 2024
MacFarlanes Prize, 2024
John Moores Painting Prize, 2023
Jackson's Art Prize, Shortlist, 2023
A-n, Professional Development Bursary, 2022
Newplatform.art, Professional Development Programme, 2022
ARTIQ Art Graduate Prize, Shortlist, 2019
Saatchi Art Rising Stars, 2019
Jackson's Painting Prize, Shortlist, 2019
The Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation, 2nd Artist Grant, Canada, 2018
The Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation, 1st Artist Grant, Canada, 2017
Bar-Tur Award, 2nd place in Lifestyles category, London, 2011
Residencies and collaborations
The Letchworth Residency, Broadway Gallery, 2021—2022
Collaboration with artist Oliver Kirkham as part of Correspondence 01, Broadway Gallery & Exeter Phoenix Gallery, 2021
Collaboration with artist Whitney Jade Halstead on a site specific installation Are We the Heavy Mountain We Have to Carry?,
as part of Who Will Provide? exhibition at Crypt Gallery, London, 2018
Publications and interviews
Uncovered Collective, Interview, 2023
Trebuchet Magazine, Issue 12, 2022
In conversation with Sarah White, Broadway Gallery & Morphē Arts, 2022
Artists Responding To...,Magazine, Issue 4, 2020
Saatchi Art Rising Stars, 2019
Jackson's Painting Prize; Interview. 2019
Young Space; interview, 2016
Education
PgCert Design for Visual Communication (Distinction),
London College of Communication, University of the Arts London, 2023—2024
MFA Fine Arts (Distinction),
Wimbledon College of Arts, University of the Arts London, 2017—2019
BA (Hons) Photography,
Arts University Bournemouth, 2011—2014
Foundation Degree in Art and Design,
Byam Shaw School of Art, 2010—2011