Tomasz Machciński

Tomasz Machciński died on January 3 2022, aged 79.

Sinds 2020 he is represented by galerie christian berst art brut.

In the year following the establishment, in 2018, of the Tomasz Machciński Foundation, his films were screened at the Whitechapel Gallery (London); that same year he participated in the Rencontres de la Photographie (Arles) in the exhibition PHOTO l BRUT, collection Bruno Decharme & compagnie. In 2020, he is exhibited at the American folk art museum of New York, and finally a great retrospective exhibition will be dedicated to him by the Manggha (Kraków) from May to September 2021. He had a Solo show for Paris Photo 2021.

Machciński was born in Górki, in the Kampinos Forest; He spent his childhood in hospitals and orphanages, incl. in Kalisz. After World War II, the American actress Joan Tompkins took care of him. In 1994, their story was presented in the documentary "Child from the Catalog" directed by Alicja Albrecht.

One étude "Ja Machciński" (dir. EK Government) was also produced. Director Henryk Dederko received a distinction for the film "Incognito" at the festival in Nuremberg and the Grand Prix at the Film Festival about Art in Zakopane in 1992.

In 1966, he took up photography. He created thousands of photographic self-portraits. He plays well-known characters from history, literature, politics, culture, as well as characters invented by himself. He treats his body as a medium of a half-century consistently implemented artistic project, which is a total open work. He is both a director and actor, make-up artist and costume designer, and finally an artist - photographer and archivist of his own achievements. For a decade, using the capabilities of a digital camera, he has also recorded on-camera performances, which are recordings of improvised vocal pieces. He says about himself: "I don't use wigs, tricks, but I use everything that happens to my body, such as: hair regrowth, tooth loss, diseases, aging, etc."

He graduated from school as a precision mechanic in 1963. He started working as an apprentice in office machines at CMB.

Tomasz Machciński (born March 2, 1942 in Górki and died January 3, 2022) was a Polish photographer, performer, and actor. He is known as the "man of a thousand faces". He lived and worked in Kalisz.