Ziemski started his artistic activity in the mid 1950s as a member and co-founder of the Lublin artist group Zamek. He is considered the first Polish artist to deploy Op-art and kinetic approaches in his works, as well as being a key representative of structural painting.  Ziemski’s artwork is an exemplar of the interdependence between science, technology, and art. The vision of artists like Ziemski changed the perspective of art in Poland and made direct reference to the achievements of the pre-war avantgarde. Jan Ziemski’s works can be found in museum collections in Warsaw, Krakow, Poznan, Wrocław, Łódź, Lublin, Chełm, Bydgoszcz, Białystok, Koszalin, Słupsk, Szczecin; the Guggenheim Museum, New York; and in many other public and private collections in Poland and abroad.

Ziemski’s artworks create a sense of illusion by using black and white or colour in three-dimensional overlays that are animated by stark contrasts. This dynamic allows Ziemski’s black and white series Permutations to be considered more of an object than a painting. One thought-provoking element in this work is the use of the shapes that comprise the eye itself, thus directly engaging with the sense of sight. Permutations gives the viewer the impression of movement, via the hidden images and patterns that arise in the processes of exchange between the viewer’s eye and the static object.