{"id":16797,"date":"2024-11-13T15:05:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-13T14:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/?p=16797"},"modified":"2025-12-08T10:50:03","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T09:50:03","slug":"matter-and-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/2024\/11\/13\/matter-and-line\/","title":{"rendered":"Matter and Line"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Krak\u00f3w\u2013Leipzig residency exchange program \u201eFlux\u201c<\/strong><\/p>\n

Opening and artist talk: 13.11.2025 \/ 20:00<\/strong>
Exhibition: 14.11.\u201306.12.2025<\/strong><\/p>\n

Micha\u0142\u00a0Sroka\u2019s practice moves fluidly between the dense, tactile world of painting and the spare, ascetic clarity of drawing. His works created in Leipzig reveal a consistent interest in structure, rhythm, and process, but explored through very different material and visual languages.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Micha\u0142 Sroka: Merz Drawings<\/p><\/div>\n

In painting,\u00a0Sroka\u00a0emphasizes materiality. Thick layers of paint are structured into repetitive grooves and ridges, giving the canvas a relief-like quality. These surfaces oscillate between order and disruption: linear systems attempt to impose structure, yet color bursts through, unsettling the rhythm. The result is painting not as window onto the world, but as surface of memory, an accumulation of gestures, traces, and erosion. The works resonate with the industrial and graphic heritage of Leipzig, evoking the rhythm of machines, print matrices, or the layered decay of factory walls.<\/p>\n

In contrast, the drawings reduce expression to a single, fragile line. Here the body appears fragmented, dislocated, sometimes headless, sometimes fused with objects. These figures echo the legacy of surrealism and anatomical illustration, but are stripped of explanatory context. They are both precise and absurd, unsettling in their simplicity. Where the paintings overwhelm with material density, the drawings open up space for projection and ambiguity.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Micha\u0142 Sroka: Stratygrafia (2016)<\/p><\/div>\n

Together, these two modes form a compelling dialectic. The paintings embody weight, resistance, and sedimentation; the drawings expose fragility, incompleteness, and the uncanny. Both share a fascination with process and with the instability of form, whether it is paint that slips out of order or bodies that no longer hold together.\u00a0Sroka\u2019s practice thus inhabits a space between matter and line, chaos and control, memory and forgetting, offering works that are intensely physical yet open to interpretation.<\/p>\n

\n

Statement from the artist:<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cMy research explores the relationship between art and space, also understood as architecture. In my doctoral work I analysed definitions of space from sociology, anthropology, philosophy, and psychology, and their artistic significance.<\/p>\n

I study how artists define and use space, focusing on exhibitions, artworks, and strategies such as assembly, gesamtkunstwerk<\/em>, or sculptural architecture. Key research areas include ruins, gaps, and non-places \u2014 structures shifting the relation between object and space.<\/p>\n

My practice unites painting, sculpture, and installation through architectural elements. Although rooted in architectural education, my work relies more on intuitive, plastic impulses than on design rules, placing it at the intersection of architecture, sculpture, and painting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

About the artist:<\/p>\n

Micha\u0142 Sroka<\/strong> is a visual artist, architect and lecturer at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krak\u00f3w. He has taken part in over 100 exhibitions in Poland and abroad (Germany, Czech Republic, UK, Austria, and Hungary) and in study visits to the USA, Germany, France, Norway, Israel, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Collaborated with institutions such as Bunkier Sztuki, Cricoteka, Photomonth Festival, Museum of Warsaw, as well as the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston, Bezalel Academy in Jerusalem, and Kunstakademie D\u00fcsseldorf. Since 2021 Sroka co-manages the PIANA Foundation and Gallery. His practice includes painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, design, and multimedia. Central theme: relationships between painting, architecture, sculpture, and space.<\/p>\n

\n

Veranstalter: Kombinat e.V. & PIANA Gallery in Kooperation mit dem Polnischen Institut Berlin \u2013 Filiale Leipzig und der Europ\u00e4ischen Stiftung der Rahn Dittrich Group f\u00fcr Bildung und Kultur<\/p>\n

Veranstaltung auf Facebook<\/a>
Info:<\/strong> instagram.com\/michalsroka<\/a>, pianagallery.com<\/a>, instagram.com\/kombinat.studiospace<\/a>
Eintritt:<\/strong> frei
\u00d6ffnungszeiten:<\/strong> Di\u2013Fr 10:00\u201316:00 Uhr und zu Veranstaltungen
Ort:<\/strong> Polnisches Institut, Markt 10, 04109 Leipzig<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Abbildungen \u00a9 Micha\u0142 Sroka \/ PIANA Gallery<\/pre>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n
Programm des Polnischen Instituts:<\/h3>
Caf\u00e9 Ukra\u0457na \u2013 monatliche Meet-Ups <\/h5><\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
 from<\/span> ical<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGoogle<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\toutlook<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAndere <\/span>\t\t\t\t\tDiskussion <\/span>\t\t\t\t\tFilm <\/span>\t\t\t\t\tLiteratur <\/span>\t\t\t\t\tMusik <\/span>\t\t\t\t\tProgramm <\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\nPolnisches Institut, Markt 10, 04109 Leipzig\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>
Andrzej-Wajda-Jahr 2026 <\/h5><\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
 from<\/span> ical<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGoogle<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\toutlook<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFilm <\/span>\t\t\t\t\tProgramm <\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\nweltweit\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>
Der Warschauer Aufstand 1944 <\/h5><\/a>
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 from<\/span> ical<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGoogle<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\toutlook<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAusstellung <\/span>\t\t\t\t\tProgramm <\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\nBundesverwaltungsgericht, Simsonplatz 1, 04107 Leipzig\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>
38. Filmfest Dresden <\/h5><\/a>
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 from<\/span> ical<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGoogle<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\toutlook<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFilm <\/span>\t\t\t\t\tProgramm <\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\nverschiedene Orte in Dresden\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>
Kana\u0142 \/ Der Kanal <\/h5><\/a>
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tical<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGoogle<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\toutlook<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFilm <\/span>\t\t\t\t\tProgramm <\/span>\t\t\t\t\tVortrag <\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\nPolnisches Institut, Markt 10, 04109 Leipzig\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>
Joanna Duda Trio <\/h5><\/a>
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tical<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGoogle<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\toutlook<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMusik <\/span>\t\t\t\t\tProgramm <\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\nTRAFO, Nollendorfer Str. 30, 07743 Jena\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>
Gedenkkonzert mit neu entdeckten Werken von Szymon Laks <\/h5><\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tical<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGoogle<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\toutlook<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMusik <\/span>\t\t\t\t\tProgramm <\/span>\t\t\t\t\tVortrag <\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\nPolnisches Institut, Markt 10, 04109 Leipzig\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>
Listy z Wilczej \/ Briefe aus der Wilcza <\/h5><\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tical<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGoogle<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\toutlook<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFilm <\/span>\t\t\t\t\tProgramm <\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\nCamillo, Handwerk 13, 02826 G\u00f6rlitz\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>
Migration im polnischen Kino <\/h5><\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
 from<\/span> ical<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGoogle<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\toutlook<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDiskussion <\/span>\t\t\t\t\tFilm <\/span>\t\t\t\t\tProgramm <\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\nPuschkino, Halle (Saale)\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>
Po-Lin. Okruchy pami\u0119ci \/ Spuren der Erinnerung <\/h5><\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tical<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGoogle<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\toutlook<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFilm <\/span>\t\t\t\t\tProgramm <\/span>\t\t\t\t\tVortrag <\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\nPolnisches Institut, Markt 10, 04109 Leipzig\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Krak\u00f3w\u2013Leipzig residency exchange program \u201eFlux\u201c Opening and artist talk: 13.11.2025 \/ 20:00Exhibition: 14.11.\u201306.12.2025 Micha\u0142\u00a0Sroka\u2019s practice moves fluidly between the dense, tactile world of painting and the spare, ascetic clarity of drawing. His works created in Leipzig reveal a consistent interest in structure, rhythm, and process, but explored through very different material and visual languages. In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":16804,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[179],"tags":[440,414,428],"class_list":["post-16797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-programmarchiv","tag-ausstellung-de","tag-kunst-de","tag-leipzig-de"],"yoast_head":"\nMatter and Line - Instytut Polski w Lipsku<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/2024\/11\/13\/matter-and-line\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"pl_PL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Matter and Line - Instytut Polski w Lipsku\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Krak\u00f3w\u2013Leipzig residency exchange program \u201eFlux\u201c Opening and artist talk: 13.11.2025 \/ 20:00Exhibition: 14.11.\u201306.12.2025 Micha\u0142\u00a0Sroka\u2019s practice moves fluidly between the dense, tactile world of painting and the spare, ascetic clarity of drawing. His works created in Leipzig reveal a consistent interest in structure, rhythm, and process, but explored through very different material and visual languages. In […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/2024\/11\/13\/matter-and-line\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Instytut Polski w Lipsku\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-11-13T14:05:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-08T09:50:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2024\/11\/2025-11-13-DIALOG-Michal-Sroka-Pracownie-do-wgladu-9.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1361\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"601\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rainer Mende\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Napisane przez\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rainer Mende\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Szacowany czas czytania\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minut\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"event\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/2024\/11\/13\/matter-and-line\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/2024\/11\/13\/matter-and-line\/\",\"name\":\"Matter and Line\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/2024\/11\/13\/matter-and-line\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":[\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2024\/11\/2025-11-13-DIALOG-Michal-Sroka-Pracownie-do-wgladu-9.jpg\",\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2024\/11\/2025-11-13-DIALOG-Michal-Sroka-Pracownie-do-wgladu-9-300x132.jpg\",\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2024\/11\/2025-11-13-DIALOG-Michal-Sroka-Pracownie-do-wgladu-9-1024x452.jpg\",\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2024\/11\/2025-11-13-DIALOG-Michal-Sroka-Pracownie-do-wgladu-9.jpg\"],\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2024\/11\/2025-11-13-DIALOG-Michal-Sroka-Pracownie-do-wgladu-9.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-13T14:05:00+02:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-08T09:50:03+02:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/#\/schema\/person\/a74d20cf3dac53f5579b2a3ec40f22dd\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/2024\/11\/13\/matter-and-line\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"pl-PL\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/2024\/11\/13\/matter-and-line\/\"]}],\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"startDate\":\"2025-11-14\",\"endDate\":\"2025-12-06\",\"eventStatus\":\"EventScheduled\",\"eventAttendanceMode\":\"OfflineEventAttendanceMode\",\"location\":{\"@type\":\"place\",\"name\":\"Polnisches Institut, Markt 10, 04109 Leipzig\",\"address\":\"Polnisches Institut, Markt 10, 04109 Leipzig\",\"geo\":{\"@type\":\"GeoCoordinates\",\"latitude\":\"51.28362182766469\",\"longitude\":\"12.376354797697585\"}},\"description\":\"Krak\u00f3w\u2013Leipzig residency exchange program \u201eFlux\u201c\\nOpening and artist talk: 13.11.2025 \/ 20:00Exhibition: 14.11.\u201306.12.2025\\nMicha\u0142\u00a0Sroka\u2019s practice moves fluidly between the dense, tactile world of painting and the spare, ascetic clarity of drawing. His works created in Leipzig reveal a consistent interest in structure, rhythm, and process, but explored through very different material and visual languages.\\n[caption id=\\\"attachment_16800\\\" align=\\\"aligncenter\\\" width=\\\"465\\\"] Micha\u0142 Sroka: Merz Drawings[\/caption]\\nIn painting,\u00a0Sroka\u00a0emphasizes materiality. Thick layers of paint are structured into repetitive grooves and ridges, giving the canvas a relief-like quality. These surfaces oscillate between order and disruption: linear systems attempt to impose structure, yet color bursts through, unsettling the rhythm. The result is painting not as window onto the world, but as surface of memory, an accumulation of gestures, traces, and erosion. The works resonate with the industrial and graphic heritage of Leipzig, evoking the rhythm of machines, print matrices, or the layered decay of factory walls.\\nIn contrast, the drawings reduce expression to a single, fragile line. Here the body appears fragmented, dislocated, sometimes headless, sometimes fused with objects. These figures echo the legacy of surrealism and anatomical illustration, but are stripped of explanatory context. They are both precise and absurd, unsettling in their simplicity. Where the paintings overwhelm with material density, the drawings open up space for projection and ambiguity.\\n[caption id=\\\"attachment_16803\\\" align=\\\"aligncenter\\\" width=\\\"883\\\"] Micha\u0142 Sroka: Stratygrafia (2016)[\/caption]\\nTogether, these two modes form a compelling dialectic. The paintings embody weight, resistance, and sedimentation; the drawings expose fragility, incompleteness, and the uncanny. Both share a fascination with process and with the instability of form, whether it is paint that slips out of order or bodies that no longer hold together.\u00a0Sroka\u2019s practice thus inhabits a space between matter and line, chaos and control, memory and forgetting, offering works that are intensely physical yet open to interpretation.\\nStatement from the artist:\\n\u201cMy research explores the relationship between art and space, also understood as architecture. In my doctoral work I analysed definitions of space from sociology, anthropology, philosophy, and psychology, and their artistic significance.\\nI study how artists define and use space, focusing on exhibitions, artworks, and strategies such as assembly, gesamtkunstwerk, or sculptural architecture. Key research areas include ruins, gaps, and non-places \u2014 structures shifting the relation between object and space.\\nMy practice unites painting, sculpture, and installation through architectural elements. Although rooted in architectural education, my work relies more on intuitive, plastic impulses than on design rules, placing it at the intersection of architecture, sculpture, and painting.\u201d\\nAbout the artist:\\nMicha\u0142 Sroka is a visual artist, architect and lecturer at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krak\u00f3w. He has taken part in over 100 exhibitions in Poland and abroad (Germany, Czech Republic, UK, Austria, and Hungary) and in study visits to the USA, Germany, France, Norway, Israel, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Collaborated with institutions such as Bunkier Sztuki, Cricoteka, Photomonth Festival, Museum of Warsaw, as well as the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston, Bezalel Academy in Jerusalem, and Kunstakademie D\u00fcsseldorf. Since 2021 Sroka co-manages the PIANA Foundation and Gallery. His practice includes painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, design, and multimedia. Central theme: relationships between painting, architecture, sculpture, and space.\\nVeranstalter: Kombinat e.V. & PIANA Gallery in Kooperation mit dem Polnischen Institut Berlin \u2013 Filiale Leipzig und der Europ\u00e4ischen Stiftung der Rahn Dittrich Group f\u00fcr Bildung und Kultur\\nVeranstaltung auf FacebookInfo: instagram.com\/michalsroka, pianagallery.com, instagram.com\/kombinat.studiospaceEintritt: frei\u00d6ffnungszeiten: Di\u2013Fr 10:00\u201316:00 Uhr und zu VeranstaltungenOrt: Polnisches Institut, Markt 10, 04109 Leipzig\\n\u00a0\\n\u00a0\\nAbbildungen \u00a9 Micha\u0142 Sroka \/ PIANA Gallery\\n\u00a0\\n\u00a0\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"pl-PL\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/2024\/11\/13\/matter-and-line\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2024\/11\/2025-11-13-DIALOG-Michal-Sroka-Pracownie-do-wgladu-9.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2024\/11\/2025-11-13-DIALOG-Michal-Sroka-Pracownie-do-wgladu-9.jpg\",\"width\":1361,\"height\":601},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/2024\/11\/13\/matter-and-line\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Matter and Line\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/\",\"name\":\"Instytut Polski w Lipsku\",\"description\":\"Kolejna witryna sieci „Instytuty Polskie”\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"pl-PL\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/#\/schema\/person\/a74d20cf3dac53f5579b2a3ec40f22dd\",\"name\":\"Rainer Mende\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"pl-PL\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/61382ed949dec269ce106c2fd5871a60?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/61382ed949dec269ce106c2fd5871a60?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Rainer Mende\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/author\/mender\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Matter and Line - Instytut Polski w Lipsku","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/2024\/11\/13\/matter-and-line\/","og_locale":"pl_PL","og_type":"article","og_title":"Matter and Line - Instytut Polski w Lipsku","og_description":"Krak\u00f3w\u2013Leipzig residency exchange program \u201eFlux\u201c Opening and artist talk: 13.11.2025 \/ 20:00Exhibition: 14.11.\u201306.12.2025 Micha\u0142\u00a0Sroka\u2019s practice moves fluidly between the dense, tactile world of painting and the spare, ascetic clarity of drawing. His works created in Leipzig reveal a consistent interest in structure, rhythm, and process, but explored through very different material and visual languages. 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His works created in Leipzig reveal a consistent interest in structure, rhythm, and process, but explored through very different material and visual languages.\n[caption id=\"attachment_16800\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"465\"] Micha\u0142 Sroka: Merz Drawings[\/caption]\nIn painting,\u00a0Sroka\u00a0emphasizes materiality. Thick layers of paint are structured into repetitive grooves and ridges, giving the canvas a relief-like quality. These surfaces oscillate between order and disruption: linear systems attempt to impose structure, yet color bursts through, unsettling the rhythm. The result is painting not as window onto the world, but as surface of memory, an accumulation of gestures, traces, and erosion. The works resonate with the industrial and graphic heritage of Leipzig, evoking the rhythm of machines, print matrices, or the layered decay of factory walls.\nIn contrast, the drawings reduce expression to a single, fragile line. Here the body appears fragmented, dislocated, sometimes headless, sometimes fused with objects. These figures echo the legacy of surrealism and anatomical illustration, but are stripped of explanatory context. They are both precise and absurd, unsettling in their simplicity. Where the paintings overwhelm with material density, the drawings open up space for projection and ambiguity.\n[caption id=\"attachment_16803\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"883\"] Micha\u0142 Sroka: Stratygrafia (2016)[\/caption]\nTogether, these two modes form a compelling dialectic. The paintings embody weight, resistance, and sedimentation; the drawings expose fragility, incompleteness, and the uncanny. Both share a fascination with process and with the instability of form, whether it is paint that slips out of order or bodies that no longer hold together.\u00a0Sroka\u2019s practice thus inhabits a space between matter and line, chaos and control, memory and forgetting, offering works that are intensely physical yet open to interpretation.\nStatement from the artist:\n\u201cMy research explores the relationship between art and space, also understood as architecture. In my doctoral work I analysed definitions of space from sociology, anthropology, philosophy, and psychology, and their artistic significance.\nI study how artists define and use space, focusing on exhibitions, artworks, and strategies such as assembly, gesamtkunstwerk, or sculptural architecture. Key research areas include ruins, gaps, and non-places \u2014 structures shifting the relation between object and space.\nMy practice unites painting, sculpture, and installation through architectural elements. Although rooted in architectural education, my work relies more on intuitive, plastic impulses than on design rules, placing it at the intersection of architecture, sculpture, and painting.\u201d\nAbout the artist:\nMicha\u0142 Sroka is a visual artist, architect and lecturer at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krak\u00f3w. He has taken part in over 100 exhibitions in Poland and abroad (Germany, Czech Republic, UK, Austria, and Hungary) and in study visits to the USA, Germany, France, Norway, Israel, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Collaborated with institutions such as Bunkier Sztuki, Cricoteka, Photomonth Festival, Museum of Warsaw, as well as the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston, Bezalel Academy in Jerusalem, and Kunstakademie D\u00fcsseldorf. Since 2021 Sroka co-manages the PIANA Foundation and Gallery. His practice includes painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, design, and multimedia. Central theme: relationships between painting, architecture, sculpture, and space.\nVeranstalter: Kombinat e.V. & PIANA Gallery in Kooperation mit dem Polnischen Institut Berlin \u2013 Filiale Leipzig und der Europ\u00e4ischen Stiftung der Rahn Dittrich Group f\u00fcr Bildung und Kultur\nVeranstaltung auf FacebookInfo: instagram.com\/michalsroka, pianagallery.com, instagram.com\/kombinat.studiospaceEintritt: frei\u00d6ffnungszeiten: Di\u2013Fr 10:00\u201316:00 Uhr und zu VeranstaltungenOrt: Polnisches Institut, Markt 10, 04109 Leipzig\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\nAbbildungen \u00a9 Micha\u0142 Sroka \/ PIANA Gallery\n\u00a0\n\u00a0"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"pl-PL","@id":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/2024\/11\/13\/matter-and-line\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2024\/11\/2025-11-13-DIALOG-Michal-Sroka-Pracownie-do-wgladu-9.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2024\/11\/2025-11-13-DIALOG-Michal-Sroka-Pracownie-do-wgladu-9.jpg","width":1361,"height":601},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/2024\/11\/13\/matter-and-line\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Matter and Line"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/#website","url":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/","name":"Instytut Polski w Lipsku","description":"Kolejna witryna sieci „Instytuty Polskie”","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"pl-PL"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/#\/schema\/person\/a74d20cf3dac53f5579b2a3ec40f22dd","name":"Rainer Mende","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"pl-PL","@id":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/61382ed949dec269ce106c2fd5871a60?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/61382ed949dec269ce106c2fd5871a60?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Rainer Mende"},"url":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/author\/mender\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/79"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16797"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16797\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17178,"href":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16797\/revisions\/17178"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/leipzig\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}