Lecturer at Academy of Photography in Kraków, assistant at Faculty of Polish Studies of Jagiellonian University. Author of three volumes of poetry: “Steppenwolf” (1997), “Eternit” (2003), ”Realism” (2017) and photographic documentary projects: “Black and White Silesia” (1999-2003), “Kalwaria” (1995-2004), “Life after Life” (2004-2006), “Postindustrial” (2003-2007), “Innocent Eye Does Not Exist” (2006-2008), “Holy War” (2009-2014), and, together with Elżbieta Janicka, “Another City” (2011-1012). Twice nominated for Deutsche Börse Photography Prize. He received an honourable mention in Photographic Publication of the Year 2009 competition (for “Innocent Eye Does Not Exist” album) and the PHOTO BOOK OF THE YEAR 2014 award in Grand Press Photo 2015 competition (for “Holy War” album). Since 2009, he has been running the blog: hiperrealizm.blogspot.com. Together with Grzegorz Wróblewski, he implemented “Blue Pueblo” intermedia project (2013-2014) combining text and photographs. It was accompanied by an artbook published in 350 numbered and signed copies. His “Blow-ups” series created in years 2016-2018 was presented at “Terribly Close: Polish Vernacular Artists Face the Holocaust” exhibition at The Ethnographic Museum in Kraków.
“We Are All Soccer Yobs”, 2014
video, 10’24’’
Wojciech Wilczyk is a poet, photographer, exhibition curator, author of essays and critical texts on art. “We Are All Soccer Yobs” is a video about violence and aggression we all have gotten familiar with to such an extent that we no longer see it. The author himself writes about the video: “When in 2013 I visited my father’s grave at Batowice graveyard in Cracow, I saw the slogan saying FUCK JEWS WITH MACHETE on the wall of garages at Strzelców Street, which are adjacent to the public transport station located opposite the necropolis. It was All Saints’ Day, crowds of Cracow’s citizens visiting graves swirled everywhere, carrying candles and chrysanthemums, they were passing the inscription with complete indifference. At the pedestrian crossing at Strzelców Street, policemen in bright yellow reflective vests were guiding traffic whistling profusely. They also did not react at all even though they had a hateful slogan in sight similarly to passers-by. I regretted that I did not have a device with me that could record this highly symbolic scene with, and I thought that this situation would not happen again. When I went to the graveyard a year later, the inscription was still stuck on the wall, the Christmas crowd was swirling, police officers were directing traffic on Strzelców Street, and again none of the passers-by or policemen was even slightly impressed with this blazonry slogan. Since in the meantime I became the owner of a smartphone with the ability to record HD movies, I recorded this situation.”
