The present experimental work is motivated by the need for additional insight into the vortex-induced vibrations (VIV) of airfoils at high angle of attack from an aerodynamic perspective. The main goal is to investigate the vortex structures from formation and evolution to shedding and their role in the aerodynamic forces. This experimental dataset contains particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements of the flow field velocity around a NACA0021 airfoil undergoing surging motion at two different frequencies (reduced frequency k = 0.19 and k = 0.38). The dataset includes dynamic (surging) cases and a static case for comparison.