One of the most distinguished Polish contemporary sculptors, born in Krakow in 1953. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw from 1973 to 1978. He actively pursues various creative disciplines and was formerly closely associated with Jerzy Grotowski’s Laboratory Theatre, for which he designed posters from 1976 to 1981.
He has lived in Rome since 1988 and has been an Italian citizen since 2003. He maintains professional ties with Poland. Since 2014, he has worked as a guest professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, where he also earned his doctorate. From 2016 to 2018, he collaborated with the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome.
In his early works, he addressed communist propaganda: Total Portrait of Karl Marx (1978, collection of the Museum of Independence in Warsaw), Collective Portrait (1980, collection of the National Museum in Warsaw), and the socio-political situation of Poland under martial law: Birthplace (1982, Polish History Museum in Warsaw), Victoria-Victoria (1983, collection of the National Museum in Krakow). His most famous work is the sculptural installation Moby Dick (1989, collection of the Museum of Art in Łódź). He designed the tombstones of several distinguished figures in culture and politics, including Konstanty Puzyna, Krzysztof Kieślowski, Ryszard Cieślak, Wojciech Fangor, Krzysztof Krauze, Tomasz Stańko, Ewa Demarczyk, Jerzy Limon, Jan Lityński, and Karol Modzelewski. He also designed the sarcophagi of Krzysztof Penderecki and Adam Zagajewski (located in the National Pantheon in Krakow), as well as the monuments Incontro con Federico Fellini (Rimini, 1994), Frédéric Chopin’s La note bleue (Vienna, 2010), Hommage à Maria Jarema – Kraków Jaremiance (Krakow, 2022), and Piano-forte (Kalisz, 2003).
He has received several scholarships from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and, in 1988/1989, a scholarship from the Italian Government. He has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Katarzyna Kobro Award (Łódź 2004), the Golden Owl of Polonia (Vienna 2012), the Franco Cuomo International Award (Rome 2017), the Leopold Staff Award (Warsaw 2019), and the Premio Gazzetta Italia (Warsaw 2025). He was awarded the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis (2011).
He played himself in the film My Italy (2017), directed by Bruno Colella. He has exhibited his works in over one hundred solo exhibitions and over five hundred group exhibitions. Krzysztof M. Bednarski’s works are held in Polish and international museums, as well as in private collections.
Pomona is the Roman goddess of fruit. Her name is derived from the Latin pōmŭm, meaning fruit, especially that from orchards. My Pomona, depicted metaphorically, becomes the embodiment of a time of fruitfulness – fullness, abundance, and the quiet triumph of nature.
The starting point for this topic was censorship – Facebook’s removal of my photographs showing the breasts of a classical Greek sculpture. This led to the idea of creating a peepshow featuring a multi-breasted Pomona as the main character, whose synthetic, rounded forms would evoke a biological-abstract sculpture. The original intention was for the statue to be viewed only through openings in the surrounding walls, placing the potential viewer in the role of a “voyeur.” However, the concept evolved over time. Initially, it had an ironic and provocative tone, with nudity as the primary theme, but ultimately returned to its ancient roots.
I was overcome by the need to give the sculpture a classical form, crafting it from sandstone – a noble yet vulnerable material, easily showing any signs of wear and tear, suggesting both ancient provenance and vandalism. Pomona’s unrealistically depicted breasts are a metaphor for ripe fruit, fertility, and prosperity. In the past, the goddess was a frequent subject of park and garden sculpture, particularly in the Renaissance and Baroque periods, a time when nudity evoked delight rather than outrage. Ultimately, I decided not to keep the viewer at a distance – I would give them complete freedom to view and touch the freestanding work.
– Krzysztof M. Bednarski
