Aleksandra Waliszewska
jungle skin / white animal in the grass / milk more / embittered cat / feather idol / in the forest out of bears / going up the stairs
large-scale projections on buildings, 2013-2014
In her paintings Aleksandra Waliszewska refers both to real traumas and to stories originating from gloomy fairy tales or horrors. Her unrestrained fantasy pushes the viewer towards deformed characters, bleeding bodies, mythical creatures, with heavily emphasised eroticism – and all this on A4 paper sheets, which we are transferring, as a matter of exception, onto the walls of burgher houses in Wrzeszcz, a district which once boasted rich manor houses, beautiful and sacred places, a health resort, and a seat of masonic lodges.
In the concept of the sage and the ghost we imagined the early days of Wrzeszcz just like in Waliszewska’s paintings – as a dark and mythical forest that hid disturbing stories. Her painting works are an extension of these imagined visions – dense, packed with gruesome visions, often hermetic. Like a bad dream of a little girl. The sophisticated gouaches are at once perverse and akin to fairy tales. In their naivety, they sometimes appear funny. They are characterised by heavily archetypal representations or imagery originating from Medieval bestiaries.
The walk through NARRACJE is no longer a light-hearted stroll, inspirations permeate each other, and the entire thing is saturated with the artist’s expressive individuality.
Aleksandra Waliszewska (b. 1976), lives and works in Warsaw.
One of the most famous Polish painters, drawers and illustrators. In 2010, she abandoned easel painting in favour of gouaches on A4 paper sheets, whose collection already includes several thousand works.
Graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw (diploma with distinction from the studio of Prof. Wiesław Szambrowski). Her works have been published by, among others, Timeless Editions, Мy Dance the Skull, CUKT, United Dead Artists, Les Editions Du 57, Drippy Bone Books, Еditions augummi, and her paintings appeared on the covers of music albums by, among others, Chicaloyoh, Scarcity of Tanks, Mike Doherty and the cycle Populist released by Bolt Records. Her work served as an inspiration for the film The Capsule, made in 2012 by the Greek director Athina Rachel Tsangari (www.thecapsule.info). Waliszewska was the co-screenwriter and played a supporting role. The film premiered at DOCUMENTA 13 in Kassel. In 2013, she received the AECA award for the best foreign artist at ARCO Art Fair in Madrid.
Aleksandra Waliszewska was repeatedly awarded the scholarships of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.
