Martyna Pekala (2000, Poland, she/her) is a multimedia artist based in the Netherlands. Within her practice, she explores the notion of online identity by repurpusing and sampling her own self-image and incorporating various Internet symbols. Through video, installation, performance, and costume making, she strives to question the pivotal role that individual and collective identities play in ascribing meaning to virtual worlds that in turn, impact the understanding of our physical reality. In her multidisciplinary practice, the starting point is usually digital, but tends to take on a tangible form to highlight the blurred line between the physical and virtual realities. The artist’s deep-dive into the online spaces of her childhood and youth manifests through vivid colors, bold patterns, and whimsical compositions. However, beneath the comical and, at times, overly cute absurdity, an undercurrent of escapist discomfort attempts to seep through, prompting us to question whether the pursuit of ‘staying connected’ may paradoxically lead to our growing disconnection.
martyna.m.pekala@gmail.com
Education
2024 – present – Sandberg Institute, MA Dirty Art
2018 – 2022 – University of the Arts Utrecht, BA Fine arts
2014 – 2018 – Canadian International School of Beijing, IB Diploma
Exhibitions
Talking Textures – Kunsthal Kloof
Styx and Stones – Slotervaart
Entangled – Kunstliefde
RUMBLE – AG
PALET In Red – Lofi
Reunion 25:50 – Sydhavn Teater
Artjam – The Sun
Durga Puja Festival 2023
Preview Show of 2023 Durga Puja Art – Town Hall
Not All That Glitters is Pixel – Exboot
De Belofte 18: Façade – Kunstliefde
Not All That Glitters is Pixel (solo) – 37PK
1000 Shape-Shifting Chocolate Chips – Laak Club
Not All That Glitters is Pixel (VJ) – Future Intel
Ticket to the future – Omstand
Metamorphosis (VJ) – Club Altelier
Uitfeest – Art Utrecht
Ecotone – De Nijverheid
Graduation Show – Melkweg
Songs by the Creek – Gallery Flyvsk
HKU Exposure – Pastoe Fabriek
Beats in the Woods – NAR Cafe der Kunsten
Internationale Vrouwendag – NAR Cafe der Kunsten
Metamorphosis – Sexyland
Hit the Curb – EKKO
Astroworld: Exit Tourism – KUN Art Museum
Utrecht (NL) | January 2025
Amsterdam (NL) | November 2024
Utrecht (NL) | August 2024
Utrecht (NL) | April 2024
Amsterdam (NL) | March 2024
Copenhagen (DK) | January 2024
Rotterdam (NL) | December 2023
Kolkata (IN) | October 2023
Kolkata (IN) | October 2023
Utrecht (NL) | July 2023
Utrecht (NL) | June 2023
Haarlem (NL) | April 2023
The Hague (NL) | April 2023
The Hague (NL) | January 2023
Arnhem (NL) | October 2022
Amsterdam (NL) | October 2022
Utrecht (NL) | September 2022
Utrecht (NL) | September 2022
Amsterdam (NL) | August 2022
Flensburg (DE) | August 2022
Utrecht (NL) | June 2022
Utrecht (NL) | April 2022
Utrecht (NL) | March 2022
Amsterdam (NL) | February 2022
Utrecht (NL) | July 2021
Beijing (CN) | June 2021
Residencies
Sep-Nov 2023 – Behala Nutan Dal, Kolkata (IN)
Jan-Apr 2023 – DOC4, Haarlem (NL)
Publications/Nominations/Other
November 2023 – Kunstliefde Prize 2023/winner
Jan-Apr 2023 – Melkweg Companions Trajectory – mentored by FOAM’s Head of Public Practice Amelie Schüle
Aug-Sep 2022 – Featured in Metropolis M, Eindexamen 2022
July 2022 – Travis Geertuida Research Prize/nominated
Jun-Aug 2021 – Internship for Anne-Jan Reijn
July 2021 – Video documentation – Common Ground, solo show by Ilona Plaum
January 2020 – Flag design for exhibition Psychedelic Oshawa