2024
resin, silver, aluminium, spray, wood panel
180 cm diameter
Estimate: €60,000 – 85,000
Record: €202,000
Deeply engaged in social causes, Igor Dobrowolski’s artistic practice often merges pioneering techniques with activism.Fortune is one of his largest reliefs. The piece is part of the Crooked Mirrors series, which addresses themes such as social inequality, the refugee crisis, climate change, addiction, and systemic injustices. It references the wheel of fortune, evoking the notion that the place and time of one’s birth profoundly shape the course of a life.
Fortune was created on an aluminium panel, using a combination of resin, aluminium, and quartz crystals—materials that mimic the appearance of pyrite. The work was first coated in coloured lacquer and then, through a complex chemical process, layered with highest-grade silver before being lacquered again. Dobrowolski frequently adorns his works with precious metals, imparting a sense of opulence. Yet the surface of the object, reminiscent of plastic to the touch, forms a deliberate metaphor for contemporary social structures and Western culture.
As Dobrowolski himself remarks: In an era that celebrates individualism and the illusion of boundless personal agency, we often overlook the conditions from which the less privileged emerge. If everyone is said to have a choice and to be the master of their fate, then even a child born and raised in brutal circumstances is still supposedly responsible for their own destiny. If they do not escape poverty and hardship, it is deemed their fault – and we, as a society, absolve ourselves of responsibility for those pushed to the margins.
Igor Dobrowolski (b. 1987) works primarily in sculpture and painting and is also known for his performative works, which highlight pressing global issues. Deeply engaged in social causes, his artistic practice often merges pioneering techniques with activism. His works have been exhibited in Miami, Taiwan, London, Los Angeles, and Berlin, and he collaborates with Maddox Gallery and Gin Huang Gallery. Igor Dobrowolski’s work Untitled (from the Tyrannical Side series) was sold for a record-breaking €202,000 during TOP CHARITY Auction 2024.
