In 1962, Picelj initiated a series of his self-published “Edition a” art booklets, having released a total of seven publications up until 1964. Each issue of “Edition a” featured the work of one artist —mostly of a colleague whose work he admired.
In 1962, Picelj initiated a series of his self-published “Edition a” art booklets, having released a total of seven publications up until 1964. Each issue of “Edition a” featured the work of one artist —mostly of a colleague whose work he admired.
2024
oil on linen canvas
228 x 292 cm
Estimate: €40,000–50,000
Pola Dwurnik’s painting belongs to the series Alcina’s Island, in which the artist reinterprets the figure of the sorceress Alcina from Ludovico Ariosto’s 16th-century chivalric poem Orlando Furioso. In this, one of the longest works of European literature, the shape-shifting heroine transforms her lovers into animals. In the end, the enchantress is defeated, her kingdom disappears, and the bewitched men return to human form.
The figure of Alcina has fascinated and inspired Dwurnik for years. In New Choreography…, the artist presents the heroine not as defeated, but as the triumphant ruler of the island, an integral part of the animal world. Known for her numerous references to art and culture, in this painting, the artist alludes to Richard Avedon’s famous photograph Dovima with Elephants (Evening Dress by Dior, Cirque d’Hiver, Paris, August 1955).
Pola Dwurnik (b. 1979) is a visual artist, painter, draughtswoman, author, publisher, and editor of artists’ books. The main areas of her practice are oil painting, drawing, collage, and comics. Pola Dwurnik lives and works in Warsaw.
The artist explores identity entangled in the conflict between inner emotions and the external image and functioning of the human being, finding her own distinctive mode of expression in figurative painting. One of her principal interests is the relationship between humans and animals. Her paintings are filled with a mixture of fear, fascination, and obsession. Dwurnik refers to various cultural contexts, literature, and art history, while at the same time creating a new and characteristic visual language, at times recalling the decorative quality of tapestries.
Pola Dwurnik’s paintings and drawings have been shown, among others, at Harkawik Gallery (New York), The Bunker Artspace (West Palm Beach), Daniel Benjamin Gallery (London), Krupa Gallery (London), The Space Station Gallery (London), Kunsthaus Baselland (Basel), HAU Hebbel am Ufer (HAU2) (Berlin), MAXXI, National Museum of 21st Century Arts (Rome), Zachęta – National Gallery of Art (Warsaw), Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art (Warsaw), the Polish Sculpture Center in Orońsko, MOCAK Museum of Contemporary Art (Kraków), Trafostacja Sztuki (Szczecin), and BWA galleries in Tarnów, Kalisz, Jelenia Góra, Zielona Góra, and Nowy Sącz, among many others.
Her works are held in public collections including The Bunker Artspace (West Palm Beach), the National Museum in Gdańsk, MOCAK Museum of Contemporary Art (Kraków), Wrocław Contemporary Museum, the Museum of Warsaw, Bielska BWA Gallery (Bielsko-Biała), MCSW Elektrownia (Radom), and Krupa Art Foundation (Wrocław), as well as in private collections around the world. Dwurnik comes from an artistic family – her father was the painter Edward Dwurnik.
Work donated by Krupa Collection.
