Piotr Kowalski (2 March 1927 – 7 January 2004) was a Polish artist, sculptor, and architect. Kowalski worked in non-traditional materials including electronic and mechanical devices, neon art, large earth works, explosions and other natural phenomena including plant growth and gravity. Kowalski attended

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

in order to study mathematics, but turned to architecture, and then to sculpture. He immigrated to France as an architect for UNESCO and spent most of the rest of his life in Paris. Along with gallery works, he installed several large outdoors projects.

Biography

Piotr Kowalski was born 2 March 1927 in

Lwów Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

(now Lviv,

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

). By 1946 he was a refugee of the war living in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. He attended

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

from 1947 to 1952, receiving a Bachelors in Architecture, and maintained relations with MIT throughout his life. He worked as an architect for I. M. Pei from 1952 until 1953, then joined

Marcel Breuer Marcel Lajos Breuer ( ; 21 May 1902 – 1 July 1981) was a Hungarian-American modernist architect and furniture designer. He moved to the United States in 1937 and became a naturalized American citizen in 1944. At the Bauhaus he designed the Was ...

as an architect at

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. He became a fellow at the

Center for Advanced Visual Studies The MIT Program in Art, Culture and Technology (ACT) has its origins in the Center for Advanced Visual Studies (CAVS) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), an arts and research center founded in 1967 by artist and teacher György Kepes ...

at MIT in 1978, and continued in that position until 1985. In 1985, he became president of the ''Ars Technica'' Association connected to the

Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie The Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie (, "City of Science and Industry", abbreviated la CSI) or simply CSI is a large science museum in Europe. Located in the Parc de la Villette in Paris, France, it is one of the three dozen French Cultural ...

uniting philosophers, artists, scientists such as Jean-Marc Levy-Leblond, Claude Faure,

Jean-Max Albert Jean-Max Albert (born 1942) is a French painter, sculptor, writer, and musician. He has published theory, books on artists, and a collection of poems, plays and novels inspired by quantum physics. He perpetuated experiments initiated by Paul Klee ...

, Sara Holt, Piero Gilardi, Jean-Claude Mocik, reflecting on the relationship between art and new technologies. He was named professor at École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris in 1987. He died in Paris.

Bibliography

* ''Sisyphe géomètre'', with Ghérasim Luca (poème), Genève, Impr. Union (Paris), Claude Givaudan, Givaudan 1966 * ''Le Chant de la carpe'', with Ghérasim Luca (poème), Paris, François Di Dio, Le Soleil Noir, 1973 * ''Kowalski, espaces, épreuves'' : contient ''Serre des temps'' de Henri-Alexis Baatsch ; ''Cimento : Kowalski'' by Jean-Christophe Bailly; ''Idées récurrentes sur l'épreuve du sens'' de Jacques Dyck, Genève, Givaudan, 1978 *''Piotr Kowalski'', by Jean-Christophe Bailly : Éditions Hazan, Paris, 1988 * Information Transcript (CDrom édité par le Métafort d'

Aubervilliers Aubervilliers () is a communes of France, commune in the Seine-Saint-Denis departments of France, department, Île-de-France regions of France, region, northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. Geography Localisation Aubervilliers is one of th ...

) * ''Art et Science, Hommage à Piotr Kowalski'', 20/21^e siècles, Cahiers du Centre Pierre Francastel, n°3, automne 2006 * ''Piotr Kowalski, A contemporary’s Insights,'' by

, ''Far-Sited'' : California International Sculpture Symposium 1965/2015, University Art Museum, California State University, Long Beach, 2018

Filmography

* ''Deux temps, trois mouvements'', Gisèle et Luc Meichler, Centre Georges Pompidou et EXLGM©, Paris, 1982 * ''In Situ Kowalski'', Gisèle et Luc Meichler, Paris, EXLGM©, Paris, 1993 * ''Le Cube de la Population'', Gisèle et Luc Meichler, Paris, EXLGM©, Paris, 1995 * ''Piotr Kowalski'' entretien avec Claude Guibert, Encyclopédie audiovisuelle de l'art contemporain, Paris, 1996 * ''Piotr Kowalski, entretiens à propos des projets'', Gisèle et Luc Meichler, EXLGM©, Paris, 2000

Outdoor works

*''Now'' 33° 46' 52.24 N 118° 06' 46.07" W, 1965. *''L'Axe de la Terre'' 48° 50' 25.21" N 2° 35' 04.17" E. 1992. **''L'Axe de la Terre'' Université de Marne la Vallée, *''L'Arche de Saint-Quentin en Yvelines'' 48° 47' 23.55" N 2° 02' 08.92" E *''Place des Degrés'' (Place Blaise Pascal) 48° 53' 22.93 N 2° 14' 08.40" E *''Le Grand Escalier'' 48° 53' 29" N 2° 14' 11" E. 1991-1993. *''Signal (Tour de Vitry)'', 48° 47' 19" N 2° 23' 25" E. 1974 *''Bimetallic'', the Metal Forum in Danube Park, (''Thermocouple'', forum metall Donaulande) Linz, Austria *''Tour de Créteil'' 1990. *''Totem Holographique'' 1993. *''Windmill'', Yamaguchi Beach 34°00'19.16" N 131°22'25.35" E *''Sunflower'', Daikanyama, Tokyo 35°38'56.39" N 139°42'08.29" E *''Oike Dori Fountain'', Kyoto 35°00'39.40" N 135°46'11.22" E. 1997. *''Electronic Tree'', Morioka Japan

References

External links

www.piotrkowalski.com

at the 1995 First Biennale de Lyon
Leonardo Electronic Almanac
volume 12, number 5, May 2004. In memoriam: Piotr Kowalski, by Jean Delsaux

April 28 – May 26, 1979 The Mirror, Time Machine

California State University, Long Beach
Piotr Kowalski in the National Gallery of Australia's Kenneth Tyler collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kowalski, Piotr 1927 births 2004 deaths 20th-century Polish artists 20th-century Polish sculptors 20th-century Polish architects Neon artists Polish male sculptors Polish emigrants to France Polish emigrants to Brazil Artists from Lviv MIT School of Architecture and Planning alumni