Exhibitions

Nicolas Grospierre. Permacrisis: Architecture as a Record of Social Ideas

Dates: 14 May–6 September 2026
Opening: 14 May, 6 pm
Venue: Gdańsk Gallery of Photography and NOMUS – New Museum of Art, 14 Jaracza Street, Gdańsk

What is the political, sociological, and economic significance of architecture? What history do we record in it, and what vision of the future? On 14 May at 6 pm, the Gdańsk Gallery of Photography will open an exhibition by Nicolas Grospierre, one of Poland's most important photographers and the winner of the Paszport ‘Polityki’ Award. This is the first comprehensive presentation of his work in the Tri-City area.

Nicolas Grospierre is a visual artist and photographer who was born in Switzerland but has lived and worked in Poland since 1999. Having studied political science in Paris and sociology and economics in London, he developed an interest in architecture as a record of social ideas. His work analyses primarily the legacy of modernism, urban planning, and the relationship between space, history, and visions of the future.

The exhibition at NOMUS–New Art Museum, which houses the Gdańsk Gallery of Photography, showcases a selection of key series from 2000 to 2025, allowing visitors to trace the evolution of his photographic approach—from precise architectural documentation and experiments with photomontage and typological arrangements, to works utilising digital tools, artificial intelligence, and analogue techniques.

The artist uses architecture as a starting point, viewing it not merely as a spatial form but also as a record of history and ideas. The buildings that Grospierre photographs were often conceived as visions of a better future—one that was more rational, orderly, and socially just. He is particularly interested in projects inspired by the ideas of Le Corbusier and modernist architecture in the broadest sense. The geometric logic and the simplicity of their form were intended to meet the needs of modern society, but also served as an expression of Communism.

The artist photographs architectural objects and arrangements in many countries, including Poland, France, Georgia, Brazil, Ukraine, and the United States, thereby demonstrating how similar architectural ideas have been realised in different political and cultural contexts. His works feature monumental forms, stark concrete structures, and repetitive arrangements of shapes. Some of the buildings are still in use; others have been repurposed or remain unfinished, serving as reminders of unfulfilled visions of the future.

‘The “permacrisis” referred to in the title is the feeling of living in a state of constant uncertainty, in a world where social, economic, and climate crises overlap and make it difficult to identify a stable point of reference,’ explains the exhibition’s curator, Małgorzata Taraszkiewicz-Zwolicka.

The buildings documented by Grospierre serve as material testament to past visions of the future—visions that today invite re-evaluation. However, they are not merely symbols of decline; rather, they demonstrate how spaces and ideas evolve in significance over time.

In his latest works, the artist broadens his focus to include the very process of image creation. He combines analogue and digital techniques, utilises algorithms and artificial intelligence, and experiments with the role of sunlight as a co-creator of the photograph. In this way, he emphasises that photography is not a static record of reality, but a dynamic process — open to change and new possibilities.

The exhibition invites visitors to regard architecture not merely as an element of the landscape, but as a vehicle for ideas concerning how our collective life might be structured. In a world experiencing constant flux, Grospierre’s works serve as a reminder that the future — though uncertain — remains a space to be imagined.

Admission to the opening is free. Tickets, priced at PLN 25 (full price) and PLN 20 (concessions), can be purchased at the NOMUS ticket office at 14 Jaracza Street in Gdańsk. Admission is free on Tuesdays. NOMUS is open from Tuesday to Sunday, 11am–6pm.

Nicolas Grospierre. Permacrisis

Curator: Małgorzata Taraszkiewicz-Zwolicka
Collaboration: Maja Bieńkowska
Graphic Design: Anna Witkowska
Conservation: Cátia Viegas-Wesołowska, Kamila Ślefarska
Installation: Piotr Pietraszek, Krzysztof Ruciński, Sławomir Wojtkowski
Editing and Proofreading: Agnieszka Kochanowska
Translation: Anna Zbróg
Promotion: Agnieszka Kochanowska, Justyna Sobotka, Paulina Szwaj
Inventory Department: Kalina Krasowska, Małgorzata Pajkert, Mirosław Szwabowicz
Education: Noemi Etush, Nadzieja Grabińska, Emilia Kalinowska
Organizational support: Gabriela Brdej, Marta Burczyk, Waldemar Elwart, Małgorzata Falkowska, Lidia Gringmann, Mariusz Grym, Aleksandra Grzonkowska, Joanna Librowska, Dorota Liniewska-Chylińska, Małgorzata Maciakowska, Maja Murawska, Małgorzata Paszylka-Glaza, Paweł Powirski, Monika Raszewska, Daniel Starzyński, Nadia Szulc, Anna Wojdat-Zielińska
Exhibition Attendants: Magdalena Obrębska, Elżbieta Pobłocka, Barbara Rezmer, Hanna Rokita, Anna Schick
Director of the National Museum in Gdańsk: Piotr Stasiowski

Nicolas Grospierre (born 1975 in Geneva) is a photographer and visual artist who has lived in Warsaw since 1999. Having studied political science at the Institut d’Études politiques in Paris and sociology and economics at the London School of Economics, he developed an interest in architecture as a record of social ideas. His work primarily analyses the legacy of modernism, urban planning, and the relationship between space, history, and visions of the future.

Author of numerous photographic series and conceptual projects, including ‘Lithuanian Bus Stops’ (2003–2004), ‘Hydroklinika’ (2004), ‘Kolorobloki’ (2006), ‘Biblioteka’ (2006), ‘Mauzoleum’ (2007), ‘The Bank’ (2009), ‘Kunstkamera’ (2009), ‘The Glass Trap’ (2009), ‘The Oval Offices’ (2013), ‘Modern Forms: A Subjective Atlas of 20th-Century Architecture’ (2016), ‘Modern Spaces: A Subjective Atlas of 20th-Century Interiors’ (2018), as well as the latest experimental series, ‘Heliograms’ and ‘The Self-Fulfilling Image’.

In 2008, together with Kobas Laksa, he received the Golden Lion at the 11th Venice Architecture Biennale for the project ‘Hotel Polonia: The Afterlife of Buildings’, and in 2011 he was awarded the Paszport Polityki award in the field of visual arts. In 2013, the artist, together with Olga Mokrzycka-Grospierre, took part in the Artloop Festival and created a site-specific work inside the 19th-century abandoned Berger Villa in Sopot. The work, entitled ‘Through the Looking Glass’, was an intervention in the existing space of the orangery, which was rendered surreal through the installation of mirrors.  

The extensive photographic series ‘Modern Forms’ (2016) formed the basis of a digital archive documenting the legacy of modernist architecture around the world. It was also published in book form and was followed by the ‘Modern Spaces’ project (2018), which focused on modernist interiors.

The artist’s works have been exhibited in museums and galleries across Europe, the United States, and Asia, and many of them are held in international public and private collections. Grospierre is the creator of monumental heliograms and site-specific works in the Solomon Room at the Palace on the Isle in Łazienki Park in Warsaw.