Maciej Urbanek was born in 1979 in Kielce, Holy Cross Mountains in Poland. He currently lives and works between the UK and the USA. Prior to completing his postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy Schools, he studied Fine Art and History of Art at Goldsmiths College in London and Theory and Philosophy of Law at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland. Maciej was awarded the Royal Academy Gold Medal in 2010. Since graduating from the Royal Academy Schools Urbanek has been exhibiting internationally and working independently as an artist and curator. In 2015 he organized critically acclaimed series of exhibitions entitled 10 One-Night Stands. The same year he received a prestigious ACE Award for Work of Art in Religious Context for his installation HS at St Michael’s Church in Camden, London. In December 2016 Maciej opened gallery URBANEK in South Dulwich.

"In my art practice, I have been using a variety of media to speculate on the subjects of existence, beauty, production of meaning and the nature of representation. I create commanding visual spectacles that question the common ways of seeing and comment on issues of energy, God, complexity, unity and separation. I am interested in elevating the banal and prosaic elements of life and turning them into powerful and rich visual statements."