REGENSBURG.- Marcin Maciejowski (*1974 in Poland) is the first Polish artist to win the Lovis Corinth Prize. To mark the occasion, the Kunstforum Ostdeutsche Galerie Regensburg presents, for the first time in a German museum, a major exhibition of works by the internationally acclaimed artist.

As for more than 30 years, the prize is awarded by the Kunstforum Ostdeutsche Galerie Regensburg and the Esslingen Artists' Guild. Thanks to the Foundation of the Society of Friends and Patrons of the Kunstforum, this year's prize is, for the first time in ten years, once again valued at € 10.000.

With over 60 selected works, some of which were painted specially, the exhibition offers a representative insight into the creative work of Marcin Maciejowski. Like a "chronicler of the present day", the artist collects impressions from his private and artistic surroundings and the global world of the media. Faceless Hollywood stars, character portraits of historical and political personalities, or the girl next door – his inspiration comes from current events and controversial socio-political topics, from international history and traditional art history. Unconventionally and impartially, he gleans the most diverse topics from collective memory.

His models are illustrations in books and magazines, film extracts or scenes from everyday life. Maciejowski captures this broad spectrum in an ironic style of painting which often calls in question the boundary with the medium of photography. His pictures, reduced to comic-strip style, have captions and speech bubbles added to open up various layers of meaning. Unpretentious as the pictures may look at first glance, on closer inspection they appear multi-faceted. The fine colouration is impressive – his canvases are radiant with colour, or fascinating in elegant black-and-white.

The 36-year-old Marcin Maciejowski lives and works in Cracow. While he was studying Graphic Arts (1996-2001 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow), together with his colleagues Rafał Bujnowski, Marek Firek, Wilhelm Sasnal and Józef Tomczyk, he founded the legendary Grupa Ładnie [Pretty Group], which by the end of the 1990s had achieved international popularity, in particular with its art project Pismo we Wtorek [The Tuesday Newspaper] and its regional events. Today, Maciejowski's pictures have cult status in Poland.

"Marcin Maciejowski is one of the young Polish artists who – open-minded and unpretentious – are involved with both the western and eastern European art scene", says Dr. Andrea Madesta, Director of the Kunstforum. "I am delighted that this year we are able to award this young artist a prize for his work."

Thanks to the Foundation of the Society of Friends and Patrons of the Kunstforum, this year's prize is, for the first time in ten years, once again valued at € 10.000. Prominent prize-winners in past years have included Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Oskar Kokoschka, Markus Lüpertz and Sigmar Polke.