Cyryl Polaczek (b. 1989, Zielona Góra) is a visual artist and painter whose practice also extends to object-based works. Together with Karolina Jabłońska and Tomasz Kręcicki, he co-founded Galeria Potencja, an artist-run space in Kraków.

He studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk (2008–2010), the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków (2010–2014), and the Universität der Künste in Berlin (2013). He completed his diploma in the studio of Professor Andrzej Bednarczyk. In 2012, he was awarded the Grand Prize in the 11th edition of the Hestia Artistic Journey competition.

Polaczek lives and works in Kraków.

Selected solo exhibitions:

2024

Tenant, BWA Zielona Góra, Zielona Góra, PL

Reckoning of Stars and Wisdom of Grass, Clay.Warsaw, Warsaw, PL

2022

Little Tears, Galeria Monopol, Warsaw, PL

2021

James Fuentes Online, James Fuentes, Nowy Jork, USA

There used to be sea here, Galeria Potencja, Cracow, PL (with Martyna Kielesińska)

2020

Dicke Brummer, Good Job!, Lipsk, DE (with Martyna Kielesińska)

Through Quarantine I Developed My Passions, Galeria Dobro, Olsztyn, PL

Little Inconvenience, Galeria Monopol, Warsaw, PL

2018

Floundering, Potencja, Cracow, PL

2016

Intermediate Forms, Galeria Zderzak, Cracow, PL

2014

Any Resemblance, Aacollection Gallery, Vienna, AU (with Tomasz Kręcicki)

2012

Ouueaooo, Fundacja Promocji Sztuki Współczesnej, Warsaw, PL

Selected group exhibitions:

2025

Back to Basics, Linseed, Shanghai, CHN

House of Day, House of Night: Works from the Collection of Radosław Kotarski, MOCAK, Cracow, PL

Portraits. EDEL SEI DER MENSCH, Braunsfelder, Cologne, DE

Hidden meanings. Interiors in Polish Art from the XXth to the XXIst Century, The National Museum in Poznań, Poznań, PL

Neue Stimmung, Gdańsk Municipal Gallery 1, Gdańsk, PL

NADA Villa Warsaw, Warsaw, PL

Lost and Found, Monopol Gallery, Warsaw, PL

Don’t Ask About Poland, Centre for Contemporary Art, Toruń, 2025

2023

My Body Is Your Body, Braunsfelder, Cologne, DE

Clouds of Lead, Gdańska Galeria Miejska, Gdańsk, PL

Reconciling Apparent Contradictions, Esther Schipper, Berlin, DE

Backyard, Galeria SKALA, Poznań, PL

Bruno Schulz. Iron Capital of Spirit, Museum of Literature, Warszawa, PL

Transition States, Galeria BWA, Bielsko-Biała, PL

2022

A Season in Hell, Galeria BWA, Bielsko-Biała, PL

The Discomfort of Evening, Zachęta – National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, PL

Visibility, NOWA Art Space, Nowa Ruda, PL

Swamp/Sponge, Galeria Szaber, Cracow, PL

Potencja – Humoral Theory: Quattro stagioni, Galeria Bielska BWA, Bielsko-Biała, PL

MEGAWONSZ9, Kościół Nihilistów, Wrocław, PL

2021

Potencja – Humoral Theory, BWA Zielona Góra, PL

Z (Don’t Panic, Kiss Me), Studio BWA, Wrocław, PL

Guilty Pleasure, Rondo Sztuki, Katowice, PL

Pokrzepiająca moc kserówki, Galeria Skala, Poznań, PL

2020

Time and Foam, Gallery of the Academy of Fine Arts, Cracow, PL

All of Poland, BWA Wrocław, PL

2019

NADA Projects Miami, Potencja, Miami, USA

The Artist as Muse, Gutstein Gallery, Savannah, USA

Funny Games, Gussglashalle, Berlin, DE

44th Biennial of Painting Bielska Jesień, BWA Bielsko Biała, PL

Potencja: Soundcheck, Rondo Sztuki, Katowice, PL

Małposzczur, Rondo Sztuki, Katowice, PL

Force Field, Fundacja Rodziny Staraków, Oficine 800, Venice, IT

2018

2017

2016

Ojciec szklarz, matka szyba, Henryk Gallery, Cracow, PL

Interstelaż, Potencja, Cracow, PL

Apteka leków gotowych, Galeria Zderzak, Cracow, PL

2015

42nd Biennial of Painting Bielska Jesień, BWA Bielsko Biała, PL

2014

From Dusk Till Dawn, Galeria Zderzak, Cracow, PL

2013

Parade of Progress, West Germany, Berlin, DE