Adam Niklewicz

born in 1956 in Poland; lives and works in North Haven, Connecticut, USA

Adam Niklewicz earned his BFA in graphic communications from Washington University in St. Louis in 1989 and his MFA in sculpture from SUNY Purchase (State University of New York) in 2006. His work has been featured and discussed in ARTnews, the New York Times, Sculpture Magazine, Modern Painters Magazine and the Nation, among others, and shown at such venues as Real Art Ways, Galerie fur Landschaftskunst (Hamburg, Germany), the New Britain Museum of American Art, the Stamford Museum, Grounds for Sculpture, Black & White Gallery, FiveMyles, Slag Gallery and Zacheta (Warsaw, Poland). His 2011 engagements include exhibitions at Galeria Sztuki Wspolczesnej (the Gallery of Contemporary Art) in Opole, Poland and Black & White Gallery/Project Space in New York City.

Niklewicz’s work thrives on surprise and plays with de-contextualization. The objects of his attention are quite ordinary. These are tables, chairs, plates and a host of other items that have a role to play in the network of daily experiences that define the practical world. Niklewicz stands back and assumes a detached view of the objects attempting to discover new and secret aspects of reality by making obvious things odd and finding playful qualities along with clear and palpable symbolism. Such contemplative detachment translates into absurd situations suspended of practicality but with healthy dose of irony and humor – all communicated through mediums ranging from sculpture, video, installation and conceptual photography.

What do contemporary people need art for?
Art, like reality, is in constant flux. Ever changing, ever fresh.

Why do you create art?
A way of making sense of this world.