Zbigniew Libera

Libera is best known for his controversial 1996 artwork named LEGO Concentration Camp, depicting a Nazi concentration camp made out of Lego bricks. The artwork attracted much controversy, including The Lego Group threatening legal action. Libera is also famous for his photography and videography such as Intimate Rites (1984), How to Train Little Girls (1987), and Pozytywy (English: Positives). Pozytywy is a series featuring Libera's photographs that capture humans living in war-torn cities.

Zbigniew Libera studied at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. The recorded working language is Polish. The field of work recorded is visual arts and installation art. Works named in the authority record are Lego. Work by Zbigniew Libera is recorded in the collections of Tate and Pitch-In Culture Archive.

• Name — Zbigniew Libera • Born — 7 July 1959 • Birthplace — Pabianice, Polish People's Republic • Education — Copernicus University in Torun • Known for — Photography, pop art • Notable Works — LEGO Concentration Camp

Zbigniew Libera was born and raised in Pabianice, Łódź Voivodeship, Poland, to a single mother whose occupation was nursing. Libera spent much of his life in Poland and studied at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. Libera began his career as an artist in the mid-1980s, working with an avant-garde group known as "Sternenhoch". Amongst the "Sternenhoch" group were artists such as Andrezej Partum and Zofia Kulik. In 1982, Libera held his first exhibition in Łódź. In December 1981, during the Communist rule of Poland, Libera created, printed and published leaflets, posters, and political cartoons designed to challenge laws that were introduced to suppress protests at the Wujek Coal Mine, which eventually led to the Pacification of Wujek. For distributing anti-government material, Libera was arrested in 1982 and sentenced to a total of eighteen months in prison. Art critics and fellow artists have said that Libera's time in prison contributed to his development as an artist. Libera has created several other photography artworks and videos, including La Vue 2004 – 2006, Intimates Rites 1984 and Positives 2002 – 2003. Zbigniew Libera resides and works in Warsaw.

• Illustration — LEGO Concentration Camp at the Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw Libera is best known for his artwork LEGO Concentration Camp, created in 1996. The artwork, which was part of a series called "Corrective Appliances", is considered Libera's most controversial work due to its subject matter, as it depicted Nazi concentration camps, which were used by Nazi Germany to systemically exterminate Jews and other "undesirables" during the Holocaust. The models, made of Lego bricks and featuring mostly unmodified Lego minifigures (featuring skeleton prisoners, Schutzstaffel-esque guards, and loose body parts), depict representations of barracks, watchtowers, and barbed wire fences seen in concentration camps. LEGO Concentration Camp includes boxes for the sets that were designed to closely resemble actual packaging used for Lego sets, with the box designs including text labels reading "This work of Zbigniew Libera has been sponsored by LEGO", prominently featuring the Lego logo. After building each model, Libera photographed the sets and the minifigures (including scenes such as mass graves and guards beating skeletonized prisoners, evoking imagery of the Holocaust), cut each photograph up into puzzle pieces, and put them into the boxes. The Lego Group provided Libera with the bricks and minifigures after he requested a donation from their community outreach programs in Poland. According to The Lego Group, the only information they had received from Libera about his artistic intentions was that he would build either a house or a hospital using their bricks. Libera viewed the donation as direct sponsorship and support for his work, and thus placed labeling on the packaging claiming The Lego Group had sponsored the work, despite The Lego Group not knowing what the bricks were going to be used for. The models, photographs, packaging, and puzzle pieces have since been purchased for thousands of dollars and displayed by museums and art galleries worldwide. Libera's work also inspired the Jewish Museum in New York City to host their "Mirroring Evil: Nazi Imagery / Recent Art" exhibition in 2002. LEGO Concentration Camp is currently owned and displayed by the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw.

Libera's rise to fame as an artist began in the 1980s in Europe when he released a video series beginning with Intimate Rites (1984), followed by How to Train Little Girls (1987), and Mystical Perseverance (1984–1990). These videos became popular in Europe as a result of the controversial topic Libera based them on; hospitals and death. Intimate Rites is allegedly influenced by the treatments that Libera's grandmother endured in her later life, such as being showered, being spoonfed, and having her diapers changed. Mystical Perseverance is said to have also been influenced by Libera's grandmother and her strange actions that came about as a result of her slow deterioration due to illness. How to Train Little Girls is a political comment on societal norms, such as sexual roles.

In 1995, Libera released a piece titled Kens Aunt, consistent of twenty-five copies of a Barbie box-like packaging design and bubble wrap. It was purchased and displayed by the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. Similar to Kens Aunt, Libera created another four-box set titled Eroica, which featured tiny female figures based on models of slaves.

The following is established of the heading itself.

The following works and productions are recorded by name or by count. Institutional cataloguing adds that zbigniew Libera is recorded as human. Recorded with the occupation artist. Institutional cataloguing adds that zbigniew Libera is recorded with the occupation graphic designer. Recorded with the occupation photographer. It is also recorded that zbigniew Libera is recorded with the occupation video artist. It is also recorded that zbigniew Libera is recorded with the occupation visual artist. Recorded with the gender male. It is also recorded that zbigniew Libera was born on 7 July 1959.