Iwona Siwek‑Front (born 1967 in Kraków, Poland) graduated from the Faculty of Graphic Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków in 1994. She studied animation and video at Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver on a scholarship. In 2009 she completed her PhD at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, focusing on the semiosphere and the circulation of signs in urban space.
Iwona Siwek-Front
Independent Artist from Kraków
Painting, drawing and narrative art exploring urban memory, femininity and the mythology of everyday life.
Artist Statement
Iwona Siwek-Front is a contemporary Polish artist whose work emerges from long-term observation of urban life, social microcultures and the emotional landscape of Kraków. For over two decades, she has developed a unique visual language combining painting, drawing, comic narrative and research-based artistic practice.
Her works function as visual diaries of the city — capturing overheard conversations, fleeting gestures, independent women, and the symbolic tension between tradition and contemporary identity.
At the centre of her artistic universe appears the figure of Baba Lukrowana — an alter ego and cultural archetype representing freedom, irony and resistance to social conventions.
Baba Lukrowana – A Cultural Alter Ego
The character of Baba Lukrowana was born in 2013 in the legendary café Vis-à-Vis at Rynek Główny in Kraków, where the first drawings were created spontaneously on small notes at the bar. Since then, the figure has evolved into a symbolic synthesis of independent women observed and documented by the artist for nearly twenty years across cycles such as Liberated Women, Night Women, and Through Botox You Won't Reach Heaven. Baba Lukrowana functions as a free spirit of urban space — a mirror of local moods, conversations and social rituals. She appears in drawings, large-format comics, exhibitions and audiovisual projects, forming a living archive of Kraków's cultural atmosphere.
Discover Works Featuring Baba Lukrowana →
International & Institutional Presence
- Pałac Sztuki Polish-Mexican exhibition La vida es sueño
- Instituto Sinaloense de Cultura, Culiacán (Mexico) Solo exhibition and mural project
- Muzeum Krakowa Works in the museum collection
- Kamienica Hipolitów Exhibitions Siłaczki and Mieszczanin
- Biblioteka Jagiellońska Visual literature exhibitions
- Galeria ZPAP Pryzmat KRAKERS Festival
- Piwnica Pod Baranami Exhibitions and artistic collaborations
Urban Research & Doctoral Foundation
Siwek-Front's artistic practice is deeply rooted in research. Her doctoral project, "Semiosfera mojego Miasta. Notatki" (2009), was based on empirical documentation of Kraków's urban tissue through photographs, recorded conversations and field notes collected in trams, taxis, cafés and public spaces. These materials became the foundation for paintings, drawings and animated films interpreting the city with humour, sensitivity and anthropological insight. Her animated works feature the voices of Kraków actors and form an interdisciplinary dialogue between visual art, sound and urban storytelling.
Press & Media Appearances
Radio Kraków · TV Kraków · Onet · Gazeta Krakowska · Mexican Press · Noroeste · Heraldo de México
Collect the Work
Original paintings, drawings and selected works are available for collectors and institutions. Each piece is a fragment of an ongoing visual chronicle of Kraków — blending personal observation, cultural memory and symbolic narrative.
About Iwona
Hedonism, chaos, and a hint of rebellion flow through the art of Iwona Siwek-Front. She creates vibrant drawings capturing urban life and its energy, alongside bold paintings exploring social change, and the human condition. Each piece is unique, marked with the exact date, time, and air temperature. Scroll down to explore her work, inspirations, and projects.
Who is Iwona Siwek-Front?
What defines her artistic practice?
She describes her practice as visual journalism—a commentary on social reality that uses short texts as ready‑made fragments. Her work draws on expressionism, dadaism, and street art. She creates vibrant drawings of urban life and its hedonistic energy, alongside bold paintings addressing social changes, women's rights, and the human condition.
What makes her works unique?
Each piece is signed with the exact date, time, and air temperature at the moment of creation, capturing a precise snapshot of that instant.
Film, animation & media work
Her practice includes animated productions for Polish Television, music videos, and educational films for nonprofit organizations. Her projects have appeared in cultural magazines and independent media.
Collections, institutions & recognition
Her works are held in major private collections as well as in museums and public institutions. In 2020 she received a scholarship from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. She collaborates closely with the Museum of Kraków and serves on the board of the Palace of Fine Arts.
Exhibitions and international Projects
2025
Culiacán, Mexico – Instituto Sinaloense de Cultura
Solo exhibition Animal Traces. Monsters (FECUSIN); creation of the mural The Lajkonik and the Dragon.
Kraków – Jagiellonian Library
Presentation of the 8-meter-long comic Amores perros at the ZPAP Art Biennale Correspondence des arts.
Kraków – Museum of Kraków, Krzysztofory Palace
Group exhibition City of Animals.
Kraków – Palace of Art / Society of Friends of Fine Arts
Curator and participant of the Polish–Mexican exhibition La vida es sueño.
2024
Culiacán, Mexico – Instituto Sinaloense, Galería López Sáenz
Curator and participant of the Polish–Mexican exhibition La vida es sueño.
Kraków – Museum of Kraków, Hipolit House
Group exhibition Siłaczki.
2023
Leipzig, Germany
Participation in the Tapetenwerk project.
2017
Kraków – Museum of the Home Army
Joint exhibition Siwek Front Siwek. Society. The Border of Time (intergenerational project with Marian Siwek).
Kraków – Małopolska Garden of Art
Exhibition Iced Baba – Freedom, dedicated to Jerzy Vetulani.
2016
Kraków – Atelier Iwona Siwek-Front
Exhibition of paintings Another Love (Brain series).
Madagascar
Participation in a scientific expedition as illustrator for scientific studies and publications.
2015
Kraków – Palace of Art
Curator of the exhibition This Is the Man featuring works by Marian Siwek.
Kraków – Piwnica pod Baranami
Exhibition Brain in the Cellar accompanying Brain Week, opened by Jerzy Vetulani.
2014
Kraków – Jewish Culture Center
Group exhibition Portrait of the Artist in an Interior.
Nairobi, Kenya
Art workshops The Wall with children from the Mathare slums.