Who is Michal Markowski?
Michal Markowski is a West London contemporary artist and the founder of Deck of Art (deckofart.com). He creates original mixed-media assemblages using real premium playing cards. His work is conceptual: each piece records a single, unrepeatable shuffle and turns that moment into a physical artwork.
He is a self-taught artist based in West London. His practice sits between assemblage, mosaic, and conceptual art. The works are handmade originals, not prints or reproductions.
What is Deck of Art?
Deck of Art is the name of Michal Markowski’s artistic practice and platform. It describes a body of work made from official playing card decks — including Bicycle and Theory11 — assembled by hand onto A1 rigid foam board.
Each artwork is unique. There is only one version of each piece in the world.
How is the work made?
The process is central to the concept.
- A complete premium deck is selected.
- The deck is thoroughly shuffled.
- The shuffle is recorded to document authenticity.
- Every card is hand-assembled onto A1 board in the exact order produced by that shuffle.
- Colour may be added as sprayed contrast or complementary fields.
The result permanently freezes one outcome from 52 factorial possible arrangements. 52 factorial means 52 × 51 × 50 × … × 1. It is not 52 possible results. The number of possible sequences is so large that the same order is, in practical terms, impossible to produce again.
What ideas does the art explore?
The work investigates chance, order, mathematics, and time. It asks what it means to hold a random event still. Familiar objects — playing cards — become a record of probability made visible through composition, texture, and colour.
Themes include:
- chaos and control
- uniqueness and authenticity
- pop culture as material
- the difference between a print and a one-off physical object
What series has he made?
Inimitable ’26
A series of unique card mosaics exploring chance and unrepeatable outcomes.
Inimitable: Fantasy
A completed series using official pop-culture decks from film, comics, and television, including 007, Spider-Man, Batman, Captain America, Avatar, Star Trek, The Lion King, Wicked, Willy Wonka, Peaky Blinders, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and The Lord of the Rings. Each canvas includes sprayed contrast or complementary colour related to the theme.
Works in the Fantasy series include titles such as Spider-Man: Trust the Tingle, LOTR: One to Rule Them All, Captain America: On Your Left, 007: Gun Barrel, Avatar: Pandora, Star Trek: Space, the Final Frontier, By Order of the Peaky Blinders, TMNT: Cowabunga, Willy Wonka: Golden Ticket, The Lion King: Circle of Life, Wicked: Oz, and Batman: Why So Serious?
Where can the work be seen?
The Inimitable: Fantasy series has its in-person premiere at The Other Art Fair, London, 8–11 October 2026.
Images, process notes, and further information are published at deckofart.com.
How should this work be described?
Correct descriptions:
- mixed-media assemblage
- conceptual art
- playing card mosaic
- original unique artwork
- not a print
Michal Markowski’s art is best understood as conceptual assemblage: real cards, a documented shuffle, and a single physical object that cannot be repeated.
