In her work, artist Dorota Mytych challenges accepted grand narratives, probing the political, social, and personal structures underpinning them. Growing up in Poland during communism has contributed to her interest in how these systems evolve and can be interrupted, transformed, or dissolved, revealing their underlying frailty and ephemerality. Mytych’s work employs mediums such as painting, video, sculpture, installation, and performance to offer diverse perspectives to the viewer.
Dorota Mytych was born in Elblag, Poland, and lives and works between Australia and Poland. In 1996 she received her Diploma of Fine Arts from the Art Institute Lorenzo di Medici in Florence, Italy as well as an Honours Degree of Fine Arts Painting from the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence, Italy. Before this, she studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti Sassari in Sardinia, Italy. She has studied for almost 30 years with the artists and mentors Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky attending numerous workshops and residencies with them in Italy, South Africa and United States.
Mytych has exhibited widely internationally. Her work is represented in many notable museum collections and institutions, including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia; Conrad Jupiter Art Prize, Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Australia; Artbank Collection, Australia; the Victoria Legal Aid Collection, Melbourne, Australia. Mytych's work also resides in many private collections in The Netherlands, Poland, the United Kingdom, Germany, USA, Australia, and Italy.
Mytych has received many prestigious honors, grants, and residencies including the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant; The Camargo Foundation Artists in Residency; The Boglisco Foundation Fellowship; and The MacDowell Colony Artists in Residency.
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 Looted - in painting collaboration with Jessica Houston, Marcia Teusink, Tracy Grubbs, The Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco, USA
2023 Utracone - in painting collaboration with Jessica Houston, Marcia Teusink, Tracy Grubbs, Galeria Podbrzezie, Kraków, Poland
2012 Makeshift Revolutions, Nellie Castan Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2010 Gift of Time, Roswell Museum and Arts Center, Roswell, NM, USA
2010 Displacing the Familiar, Nellie Castan Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2010 Reading 1, 24HR Art Monitor Program, NT Centre for Contemporary Art, Darwin, Australia
2009 Tea Leaf Reading, Stills Gallery, Sydney, Australia
2007 X Anniversary, Linden Center for Contemporary Arts, Melbourne, Australia
2007 PROJECTIONS, Video Installation by D. Mytych — The Thoughtfarmers, Omaha, NE, USA
2006 Mutatis Mutandis, Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne, Australia
2004 Stanczyk (Jester), Galeria El, Elblag, Poland
2004 Untitled, The Aikenhead Gallery St. Vincent Hospital, Melbourne, Australia
2003 Celebrating Life, J Space, Melbourne, Australia
2003 Celebrating Life, De Observant City Hall Gallery, Amersfoort, The Netherlands
2003 Celebrating Life, Stiftung Starke Lions Palace, Berlin, Germany
2001 Flying / Goya Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
1999 Antigony In New York, Victoria Trades Hall, Melbourne, Australia
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 2024 National Works on Paper, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Mornington, Australia
2024 Now I C by Yumi Umiumare & Dorota Mytych, Studio Train Station Zabłocie, Cracow, Poland
2021 The Tree is still standing, Kunsthal Brantebjerg, Denmark
2020 Bez Rutyny (Un-rehearsed), Ethnographical Museum of Cracow, Poland
2019 Playback: Dobell Drawing Biennale, Orange Regional Gallery, NSW Australia
2019 Unredacted, ReachArts, Swampscott MA USA
2019 Playback: Dobell Drawing Biennale, Blue Mountains Cultural Centre, Katoomba, NSW, Australia
2019 Playback: Dobell Drawing Biennale, Orange Regional Gallery, NSW Australia
2019 Unredacted, ReachArts, Swampscott MA USA
2019 Playback: Dobell Drawing Biennale, Blue Mountains Cultural Centre, Katoomba, NSW, Australia
2019 Un-Certain Tea by Yumi Umiumare & Dorota Mytych, Studio Luma, Cracow, Poland
2018 Playback: Dobell Australian Drawing Biennial 2018, Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney, Australia
2017 Macneil, McMonagle, Moffatt, Mytych, Ross, Smuts-Kennedy, Sofo, Wright, Video Easy, Sophie Gannon Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2015 Reading I - Sydney Festival, Seymour Centre York Foyer, Sydney, Australia
2014 McClelland Sculpture Survey & Award 2014, McClelland Gallery & Sculpture Park, Victoria, Australia
2014 Sealed Section: Sex, Politics and Religion, Artbank, Sydney, Australia
2014 2014 National Works on Paper Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Mornington, Australia
2011 New Acquisitions in Context, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia
2011 Remnants in Documentation, The General Store, Sydney, Australia
2010 EUN International Biennial of Media Art, Australian National tour CarriageWorks, Sydney, Australia
2010 Experimenta Utopia Now, International Biennial of Media Art, Australian National tour Redland Art Gallery, Queensland, Australia
2010 Illusions, McClelland Gallery & Sculpture Park, Victoria, Australia
2010 Constellations: A Large number of Small drawings, RMIT Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2010 Experimenta Utopia Now, International Biennial of Media Art, BlackBox, The Arts Centre, Melbourne, Australia
2010 SSFA2010, Sullivan+Strumpf Gallery, Sydney, Australia
2009 RBS Emerging Artists Award 2009, RBS Tower, Sydney, Australia
2009 I Walk the Line: new Australian drawing, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia
2009 The more you ignore me, the closer I get, University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane, Australia
2009 Scanned and Drawn, Gippsland Art Gallery, Sale, VIC Australia
2009 7:5 - 7 Films by 5 Artists, Two Rooms Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
2009 Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, Nellie Castan Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2009 XXV Salon Elblaski, Galeria EL, Elblag, Poland
2009 Im Zeichen der Aktualitaet, Stiftung Gerhart-Hauptmann-Haus Deutsch-osteuropäisches Forum, Düsseldorf, Germany
2009 Im Zeichen der Aktualitaet, Zollhausverein, Leer, Germany
2008 Scanned and Drawn, 2008 Melbourne Art Fair, Project Rooms, Represented by CCP, Melbourne, Australia
2007 Through the Eyes of Strangers: Artists Visit South Africa, A.N. Bush Gallery, OR USA
2007 Domestic Departures - Collaboration with Rosenclaire, The Grand Central Art Center, Santa Ana, CA, USA
2007 Hot Picks curated digital year-long exhibition, Smack Mellon, New York, NY, USA
2007 Building Legacy - Drawing, Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, Omaha, NE, USA
2007 The Hutchins Art Prize 2007, The Long Gallery, Hobart, Tasmania
2006 MULTIPLEX, A Multi-Artist Video Installation Encompassing One City Block, The Thoughtfarmers, Lincoln, NE USA
2006 'Tugboat Presents’: R. Jackson, D. Mytych, T. Welch, Darkroom Gallery, Omaha, NE USA
2006 Conrad Jupiters Art Prize, Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Australia
2006 Robert Jacks Drawing Prize 2006, Bendigo Art Gallery, Bendigo, Victoria, Australia
2005 Conrad Jupiters Art Prize, Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Australia
2005 The Hutchins Art Prize 2005, The Long Gallery, Hobart, Tasmania
2003 Salon Elblaski, Galeria El, Elblag, Poland
2003 STRADARTE, Street Art Festival, Abruzzo, Italy
2002 Rosso, Yering Station Gallery, Victoria, Australia
2002 Portia Geach Memorial Award, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, Australia
2002 The Doug Moran National Portrait Prize, State Library of NSW, Sydney, Australia
2002 Victorian Salon des Refuses, The Barn Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2002 The Most Collectable, Goya Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2001 Oxcart Salon, Preview Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2001 Castlemaine Festival Contemporary Art Prize, Castlemaine Gallery, NSW Australia
2000 Differences, Goya Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
GRANTS / AWARDS / RESIDENCIES/ WORKSHOPS
2024 Artist Residency, with Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky, Poppiano, Italy
2024 Finalist 2024 National Works on Paper, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Mornington, Australia
2023 Persian Miniature Painting, online workshop with Raza Bukhari
2023 Modern and Contemporary Art Survey Zoom Blast 2, online workshop with Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky
2023 CAZoom Residency, online workshop with Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky
2022 Modern and Contemporary Art Survey Zoom Blast 1, online workshop with Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky
2021 Human Dilemma, online workshop , with Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky
2021 Drawing Blast online workshop , with Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky
2020 3Rs Mixed Media online workshop , with Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky
2020 Painting Blast, online workshop with Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky, Italy
2019 Artist Residency, with Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky, Poppiano, Italy
2019 Spiritual in Art Practice 5, with Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky, Poppiano, Italy
2018 Artist in Residency, with Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky, Poppiano, Italy
2017 Spiritual in Art Practice 5, with Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky, Poppiano, Italy
2016 Artist Residency, with Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky, Poppiano, Italy
2015 Artist Residency, with Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky, Poppiano, Italy
2015 Spiritual in Art Practice 4, with Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky, Italy
2014 FAT Residency, with Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky, Poppiano, Italy
2014 Finalist 2014 National Works on Paper Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Mornington, Australia
2013 Artist Residency, with Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky, Poppiano Italy
2013 Spiritual in Art Practice 3, with Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky, Italy
2012 CentralTrack The University of Texas at Dallas Artists Residency, Dallas, USA
2012 Artist Residency, with Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky, Italy
2012 Just Forming Content Workshop, with Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky, Italy
2011 Artist Residency, with Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky, Italy
2010 Artist Residency, with Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky, Italy
2010 Spiritual in Art Practice 2, with Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky, Italy
2010 Just Painting, Workshop with Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky, Italy
2010 Roswell Artist-in-Residence Program, Roswell, NM USA
2009 Australia Council for the Arts–New Work Emerging Grant, Sydney, Australia
2009 The Boglisco Foundation Fellowship, Bogliasco, Italy
2009 Bush - Artist Cultural Exchange Workshop, with Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky, Johannesburg, Venda, South Africa
2009 The Trustees Artist’s Flat Chretzeturm Fellowship, Stein am Rhein, Switzerland
2008 Artist Residency, with Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky, Italy
2008 Drawing is everything and everything is drawing workshop, with Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky, Italy
2008 Spiritual in Art Practice 1, with Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky, Italy
2008 The Camargo Foundation Artists in Residency, Cassis, France
2008 Ernest and Red Heller Fellowship, New York, NY, USA
2007 The Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, New York, NY USA
2007 Australia Council for the Arts—New Work Emerging Grant, Sydney, Australia
2007 New American Paintings juried exhibition in print inductee, USA
2007 Djerassi Resident Artists Program, Woodside, CA USA
2007 The MacDowell Colony Artists in Residency, Peterborough, NH USA
2007 The Millay Colony for the Arts Residency, Austerlitz, NY, USA
2007 Smack Mellon Hot Picks Program, New York, NY USA
2007 Finalist The Hutchins Art Prize 2007, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
2007 Concept in Art Practice Workshop with Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky, Italy
2007 Teaching B Workshop with Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky, Italy
2007 Artist Residency with Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky, Italy
2006 The Bemis Contemporary Art Centre Artist Fellowship, Omaha, NE, USA
2006 St Vincent’s Hospital Artists in Residency, Melbourne, Australia
2006 Linden’s Innovators Program 2007, Melbourne, Australia
2006 Finalist 2006 Conrad Jupiters Art Prize, Gold Coast, Australia
2006 Finalist Robert Jacks Drawing Prize 2006, Bendigo, Australia
2005 The MacDowell Colony Artists in Residency, Peterborough, NH USA
2005 Finalist/ Selected for acquisition 2005 Conrad Jupiters Art Prize, Gold Coast, Australia
2005 The Cape Town Workshop, with Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky, Cape Town, South Africa
2005 Finalist The Hutchins Art Prize 2005, Hobart, Tasmania
2004 Teaching Workshop with Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky, Italy
2004 Artist Residency with Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky, Italy
2003 Stiftung Starke Artists in Residency, Berlin, Germany
2002 Finalist Portia Geach Memorial Award S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, Australia
2002 Finalist The Doug Moran National Portrait Prize State Library of NSW, Sydney, Australia
2001 Finalist Castlemaine Festival Contemporary Art Prize Castlemine, NSW Australia
1996 Painting Workshop, with Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky, Italy
EDUCATION
1995 - Present continues to study with Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky in Toscane, Italy
1996 Honours Degree of Fine Arts Painting, Accademia di Belle Arti, Florence, Italy
1996 Diploma of Fine Arts, Art Institute Lorenzo di Medici, Florence, Italy
1992 Accademia di Belle Arti Sassari, Sardinia, Italy
COLLECTIONS
Victoria Legal Aid Collection, Melbourne, Australia
Conrad Jupiter Art Prize, Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Australia
Artbank Collection, Australia
MCA - Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia
PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
The Netherlands / Poland / UK / Germany / USA / Australia / Italy
DOCUMENTARIES
2005 MacDowell Moments 1, The MacDowell Colony, Produced by Art 21, USA