Iwona Siwek-Front
Bold art shaped by the urban ready-made, marked by rebellion, freedom and sense of joy.
She describes her practice as "visual journalism," using overheard stories, texts on walls, and urban gestures as ready-mades. Her vivid, contrast-driven works offer bold commentaries on urban life and social conditions.
Born in 1967 to an artist family, she studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków and Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver, completing a PhD in 2009 on the semiosphere and the circulation of signs in public space.
She exhibits widely in Poland and internationally, including the Polish–Mexican exhibition La Vida Es Sueño (Culiacán, 2024) and her solo show Animal Traces. Monsters There (2025). She also participated in a major exhibition on women's emancipation at the Museum of Krakow.
Her work reflects an interdisciplinary artistic and scholarly approach, making it the subject of academic research, including The Artist in Urban Space. Her pieces are held in the Museum of Kraków, XYLON Switzerland, Museum Bergkamen, Galleri Ofoten in Narvik, and private collections worldwide. She collaborates regularly with the Museum of Kraków and serves on the board of the Palace of Fine Arts.
“ My work is rooted in urban life and the constant circulation of words, signs, and gestures. I collect short, sharp phrases overheard on the streets, in trams and bars, alongside fragments of media and slogans written on the city’s walls.
Text and language often become integral visual elements in my compositions. My practice forms a portrait of people and a close, attentive observation of contemporary society in constant transformation.
I work across drawing, painting, mural, comics, and animation. Each piece is a direct and honest note shaped by observation. I always carry a sketchbook and record what I see.
I am building a portrait of a society pulled between desire, rebellion, and the pressure to conform to imposed norms. I focus on the moment when personal freedom collides with social rules and expectations. A free individual is, by nature, disobedient, timeless, and beyond reputation.
My works shift between vivid, hedonistic colour and raw, restrained realism, reflecting different tensions within the same reality.
Each piece is signed with the exact date, time, and temperature. It becomes a document of the moment it was made.”
Siwek-Front's artistic practice is deeply rooted in research. Her doctoral project, "Semiosfera mojego Miasta. Notatki" (2009), was based on empirical documentation of Kraków's urban tissue through photographs, recorded conversations and field notes collected in trams, taxis, cafés and public spaces. These materials became the foundation for paintings, drawings and animated films interpreting the city with humour, sensitivity and anthropological insight. Her animated works feature the voices of Kraków actors and form an interdisciplinary dialogue between visual art, sound and urban storytelling.
Institutional Exhibitions & Projects
Baba Lukrowana
A Cultural Alter Ego
The character of Baba Lukrowana was born in 2013 in the Vis-à-Vis café in Kraków.The first images were spontaneously made with a pen on small pieces of paper at the bar. Baba is a synthetic figure shaped by traits of independent women I have been observing and recording for nearly twenty years, across series such as Liberated Women, Botox will not get you into paradise and Kraków Courtesans. She functions as an alter ego, a figure that moves beyond social conventions, indifferent to time and reputation. Baba is both a free spirit and a mirror of the local community. Through Baba, I create a space of freedom. She allows me to speak openly, to express thoughts that may be uncomfortable or controversial, and to smuggle in what might otherwise remain unspoken. She is strong, and I can stand behind her. She protects me! In 2014, I created a four-metre-long comic as a record of this community, based on real conversations overheard in the bar and documented over the year through notes and small sketches. The comics with Baba's figure as the "Front Scroll" and the "Roll of Truth" are drawn documents of a specific place, its language, and its social nuances, forming a layered portrait of Kraków and its inhabitants.
Press & Media
Baba with a Dragonfly
From the collection: Gardens of Paradise
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Mechanical Compounds
From the collection: Different Love
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Gust of Changes
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Escape
From the collection: Brain
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Liberated Women
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Krakow Courtesans
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Monstrosities
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Mary, Our Lady of All Distance
From the collection: Kingdom of Heaven
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Chthonic old man
From the collection: Botox will not get you into paradise
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Revolution
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Life is a Dream
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Greek myths
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Portraits
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Illusion
From the collection: Illusion
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War
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The Radioactive Gossipers
From the collection: Gossips
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Semiosphere
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Comedians
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Life
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Birth
From the collection: Siwek 2 Siwek
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The last Klezmer
From the collection: Israel
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Zebu from Madagascar
From the collection: Zebu From Madagascar
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Baba temporarily conflicted
From the collection: Adventures of the Sugar Baba
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Collage
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Art Teaches Us How to Understand Life
From the collection: Drawings of a Flooded Artist
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I Have No Boss Over Me
From the collection: Zodiac
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I Feel Too Confined Here
From the collection: Self-Portrait
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Sketches
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Cats
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Miss Quarantine
From the collection: Covid
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My Dog Picasso Feels Spring
From the collection: Picasso
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Bird
From the collection: Birds
View collection → Baba with a Dragonfly
From the collection: Gardens of Paradise
View collection → Mechanical Compounds
From the collection: Different Love
View collection → Gust of Changes
View collection → Escape
From the collection: Brain
View collection → Liberated Women
View collection → Krakow Courtesans
View collection → Monstrosities
View collection → Mary, Our Lady of All Distance
From the collection: Kingdom of Heaven
View collection → Chthonic old man
From the collection: Botox will not get you into paradise
View collection → Revolution
View collection → Life is a Dream
View collection → Greek myths
View collection → Portraits
View collection → Illusion
From the collection: Illusion
View collection → War
View collection → The Radioactive Gossipers
From the collection: Gossips
View collection → Semiosphere
View collection → Comedians
View collection → Life
View collection → Birth
From the collection: Siwek 2 Siwek
View collection → The last Klezmer
From the collection: Israel
View collection → Zebu from Madagascar
From the collection: Zebu From Madagascar
View collection → Baba temporarily conflicted
From the collection: Adventures of the Sugar Baba
View collection → Collage
View collection → Art Teaches Us How to Understand Life
From the collection: Drawings of a Flooded Artist
View collection → I Have No Boss Over Me
From the collection: Zodiac
View collection → I Feel Too Confined Here
From the collection: Self-Portrait
View collection → Sketches
View collection → Cats
View collection → Miss Quarantine
From the collection: Covid
View collection → My Dog Picasso Feels Spring
From the collection: Picasso
View collection → Bird
From the collection: Birds
View collection →
Originals available: 1
Purchase the artwork
Original paintings, drawings and selected works are available for collectors and institutions.
One-of-a-kind paintings — once sold, gone.
Iwona Siwek-Front
Painting, drawing and narrative art exploring urban memory, femininity and everyday mythology.
Explore the PortfolioBackground
She describes her practice as "visual journalism," using overheard stories, texts on walls, and urban gestures as ready-mades. Her vivid, contrast-driven works offer bold commentaries on urban life and social conditions.
Born in 1967 to an artist family, she studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków and Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver, completing a PhD in 2009 on the semiosphere and the circulation of signs in public space.
Artist Statement
My work is rooted in urban life and the constant circulation of words, signs, and gestures. I collect short, sharp phrases overheard on the streets, in trams and bars, alongside fragments of media and slogans written on the city’s walls.
Text and language often become integral visual elements in my compositions. My practice forms a portrait of people and a close, attentive observation of contemporary society in constant transformation.
Urban Research & Doctoral Foundation
Siwek-Front's practice is rooted in research. Her doctoral project "Semiosfera mojego Miasta. Notatki" (2009) documented Kraków's urban tissue through photographs, conversations and field notes from trams, cafés and public spaces.
These materials became the foundation for paintings, drawings and animated films interpreting the city with humour and anthropological insight. Her animated works feature Kraków actors and form a dialogue between visual art, sound and urban storytelling.
Institutional Exhibitions & Projects
Baba Lukrowana
A Cultural Alter Ego
The character of Baba Lukrowana was born in 2013 in the Vis-à-Vis café in Kraków. The first images were spontaneously made with a pen on small pieces of paper at the bar.
Baba is a synthetic figure shaped by traits of independent women I have been observing and recording for nearly twenty years, across series such as Liberated Women, Botox will not get you into paradise and Kraków Courtesans.
Press & Media
In this interview, Iwona talks about her situation and inspirations, bla bla bla
— TVP
Read the article →Collection
Gardens of Paradise
Originals available: 1
Purchase the artwork
Original paintings, drawings and selected works are available for collectors and institutions.
One-of-a-kind paintings — once sold, gone.