Malgorzata Drohomirecka

WORKS
  • Malgorzata Drohomirecka, Dirce, 2021
    Malgorzata Drohomirecka
    Dirce, 2021
    Acrylic and oil on canvas
    152 x 120 x 3 cm
  • Malgorzata Drohomirecka, Polonia at the Altar, 2020
    Malgorzata Drohomirecka
    Polonia at the Altar, 2020
    Acrylic and oil on canvas
    90 x 120 x 3 cm
  • Malgorzata Drohomirecka, Polonia in the Hospital, 2020
    Malgorzata Drohomirecka
    Polonia in the Hospital, 2020
    Acrylic and oil on canvas
    75 x 115 x 3 cm
  • Malgorzata Drohomirecka, Self-Harm, 2020
    Malgorzata Drohomirecka
    Self-Harm, 2020
    Acrylic and oil on canvas
    100 x 100 x 3 cm
    Malgorzata Drohomirecka, Self-Harm, 2020
    £ 3,500.00
  • Malgorzata Drohomirecka, Broken Flowers, 2018
    Malgorzata Drohomirecka
    Broken Flowers, 2018
    Oil on canvas
    42.5 x 27.5 x 3 cm
    Malgorzata Drohomirecka, Broken Flowers, 2018
    £ 550.00
  • Malgorzata Drohomirecka, Feast, 2018
    Malgorzata Drohomirecka
    Feast, 2018
    Oil on canvas
    42.5 x 27.5 x 3 cm
    Malgorzata Drohomirecka, Feast, 2018
    £ 550.00
  • Malgorzata Drohomirecka, Vampire, 2018
    Malgorzata Drohomirecka
    Vampire, 2018
    Oil on canvas
    120 x 83 x 3 cm
    Malgorzata Drohomirecka, Vampire, 2018
    £ 1,100.00
  • Malgorzata Drohomirecka, "Flowers of the Soul are burning under the shell of the ass", 2017
    Malgorzata Drohomirecka
    "Flowers of the Soul are burning under the shell of the ass", 2017
    Oil on canvas
    70 x 50 x 3 cm
    Malgorzata Drohomirecka, "Flowers of the Soul are burning under the shell of the ass", 2017
    £ 600.00
  • Malgorzata Drohomirecka, "Welworfes become vampires when they die”, 2017
    Malgorzata Drohomirecka
    "Welworfes become vampires when they die”, 2017
    Oil on canvas
    182 x 122 x 3 cm
    Malgorzata Drohomirecka, "Welworfes become vampires when they die”, 2017
    £ 1,300.00
  • Malgorzata Drohomirecka, Marianne, 2017
    Malgorzata Drohomirecka
    Marianne, 2017
    Oil on canvas
    115 x 115 x 3 cm
    Malgorzata Drohomirecka, Marianne, 2017
    £ 1,100.00
OVERVIEW
Malgorzata Drohomirecka is a visual artist. She studied Painting at Academy of Fine Arts, Gdansk (Poland). After completing her master’s degree in 2006 she moved to  London, where she lives and works since. Her practice intertwines painting, printmaking and film. 
Malgorzata’s works range from abstract to representational. However, an interest in collective psyche has always been present in her art and continues to be so. 
In her recent works, she analyses visual representations of femininity in the paintings of the greatest masters of 19th-century Polish painting. By engaging with motives from popular films, music videos and stock images, Malgorzata challenges those traditional depictions from a 21st century point of view.
BIO

Born in Gdańsk, Poland

Lives and works in London, UK

 

EDUCATION

2001-2006   MA Painting, Academy of Fine Art, Gdansk, Poland

 

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2021    Wa(y)st(o)ed Freedom, Centrala-Space, Birmingham, UK 

            Book launch of the “Secret of the Catkin Family”, Sopoteka, Sopot, PL 2020 Polonia_2020, Online 

2019    Spider-Phoenix, Żak Gallery, Gdansk, Poland 

2014    Stop-Frame, Dom Doktora Gallery, Zakopane, Poland

2013    Between Analogue and Digital, The Albert, London, UK 

2005    Reflections on the shop window, PGRart, Gdansk, Poland

 

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2016    Festival of New Experimental Film and Video, Apiary Studios, London,UK

2015    The Love for Chemistry, Espacio Gallery, London, UK 

            Traces, The Montage Gallery, London, UK 

            Point of Meeting: East, Polish Institute, Latarka Gallery, Budapest, Hungary

2013    Tasty Modern, Schwartz Gallery, London, UK 

2012    Showcase Cities, Richmix, London, UK 

            The Fountain, Frameless Gallery, London, UK 

2007    9th Biennale of Drawings and Graphics, Gyor, Hungary 

            Spring of Youth, Refektarz Gallery Kartuzy, Poland 

            Obserwatorium rzeczywistosci, National Gallery, Sopot, Poland

 

AWARDS AND RESIDENCIES

2020     Culture Online, Art Scholarship, Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, PL 2020 Arts

2005     Council England, Covid19 Emergency Response Funds, UK

             Diploma of Polish Minister of Culture for the realization of the project in Children’s Clinic Oncology and Hematology,                     Gdańsk, Poland

             The Mayor of Sopot Town Artistic Scholarship, Poland

             The Gdansk Graphic of the Year Award, Poland

 

PUBLICATIONS

2021     Izabela Morska, Polonia, Insurgent Tradition and Hip-hop, (Poland: Czas Kultury)

             Equality, Zine (The Red Zenith Collective, online, 2021) 

2016     Contact: A festival of new experimental film and video, (London: Push, 2016)

2007     9th Biennale of Drawings and Graphics, (Gyor, 2007)

             Obserwatorium rzeczywistosci, (Sopot: National Gallery, 2007)

 

INTERVIEW
Tell us about yourself. What is your background and where did you grow up?  How have your life experiences shaped your work? 
I was born in Gdańsk, northern Poland and grew up in a seaside resort town - Sopot at  the turn of the 1980s and 1990s. It was right at the meeting point of different worlds. As  it was then that the political and social transformation in Eastern and Central European  region began. 
Independent Self-Governing Trade Union "Solidarity" ["Solidarność"] was founded in  August 1980 at the Shipyard in Gdańsk. Subsequently, it was the first independent  trade union in a Warsaw Pact country to be recognised by the state. "Solidarity"  movement played a central role in the end of Communism in Poland and the rest of the  Soviet Union block. 
I think that what has shaped me was a mixture of declining Communism, fantasies of a modern "Western lifestyle" and …Catholicism.  
Catholic church played an important role in resisting Communist rule in Poland. That is why parents, who were not even religious themselves, but were against the government, sent their children to religion classes.  
Nevertheless, for me such lessons consisted of the guilt-inducing teaching about  original sin, creating the fear of going to hell. While the omnipresence of the crucified,  pain-stricken body of Christ induced anxiety about my own physicality. 

 

Why did you become an artist and what has been your journey up to this point? 
In the 90s' Poland was in transition from communism to a free market economy. Everyone  was excited about the transformation. 
Unfortunately, the society, apart from becoming capitalist, didn't go through much  profound socio-cultural changes. Our mentality was shaped by history of oppression  and self-victimisation. 
Catholic church became even more powerful. Under its influence, the new, democratic government became more and more conservative. Compulsory religious classes were  introduced in schools. 
As most teenagers I was quite revolted against the norms that society imposed on us.  
Luckily, Sopot was a vibrant arts hub. It was famous for music festivals. Its bars and  cafes served as meeting places for many artists. Some of my friends' parents were  artists too. I found their alternative way of life very appealing. 
Once I decided to give it a try and I went to the local art house for drawing lessons. 
Soon after I decided to study painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk. 
However, the exams were very difficult. It was a four-day marathon where you had to  draw and paint for 8 hours every day. Only 14 people were accepted for each academic  year. As I am not a competitive person I couldn't deal with the stress. I failed the exams  three times. Finally, I was accepted, but then I had an aversion to institutions of all kinds for quite a long time. 
During my studies I went to New York. As a result of various circumstances, I became a  painting assistant of an artist - Kehinde Wiley. Together with other painters I was  working in his large studio in Williamsburg for almost a year.  
Being in New York was a turning point in my life. The experience was so stimulating that after I came back to Poland to complete my master's degree, I couldn't really find myself  in Gdańsk anymore. I missed the energy of the large, cosmopolitan city. 
That is why in 2008 I decided to move to London. I have lived and worked here since. 

 

What is an average day in your studio like and what is your routine? 
I have a studio in East London, in the borough of Tower Hamlets. The area is called  Bromley-by-Bow. The building is part of ACAVA (Association for Cultural Advancement  through Visual Art) and accommodates more than 50 artists. 
It takes me 45 minutes to cycle there from home. When I arrive at the studio I get changed, have some tea, and start making notes. Because first I want to decide what I want to do on that day, which part of the paintings I am going to work on. I paint for around 3 hours.  Then I take a break for lunch and go back to work for another 3 hours.  
Certainly, when I paint it is important to me what kind of music I listen to. I have a small  collection of records from a friend with whom I shared a studio. I also like to listen to podcasts and radio programmes. 

 

What is your creative process? 
My creative process starts with the research. While reading books and articles, visual  ideas start to appear in my mind. Then I make sketches in my notebook or collages in  photoshop. 
I engage with motives from popular culture such as films, music videos and stock  images.In my latest cycle Polonia_2020 I borrowed the motifs from iconic Polish 19th- century paintings and inserted them into various contemporary environments. 
The new series of paintings I am working on is based on the photoshoot. I would like to work with models, costumes, and props more in the future. 

 

How do you choose a medium for your work? Do you prepare and plan or do you improvise and experiment? 
It was a long process before I came back to figurative oil painting and decided to  use narrative in my work. 
At the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk, we had to learn to observe nature: study  models and still lives. It was taken to such an extent that, when I tried to experiment  with other ideas, I felt completely blocked. 
When I came to London, first I wanted to get rid of the baggage of experiences that I  had brought with me. I started to make playful abstract compositions using strong, bold  colours. At that time, I was mainly focused on screen printing. I also experimented with  camera-less 16 mm film.  

 

Are your works conveying a message? Is there a narrative or a story to your work? 
I wanted to forget and detached myself from the past. 
However, it turned out that the label of an immigrant from Eastern Europe sticks more  strongly than I thought- especially in the atmosphere of Brexit. 
Meanwhile in 2015 in Poland, the right wing populist party - "Law and Justice" won the parliamentary elections.  
I have realised that I cannot but refer to what has shaped me. The question of identity  became unavoidable. Therefore, I started to use the potential of figurative painting to analyse the symbols  and allegories that have played a significant role in shaping our collective imagination. For me, it is a way of  working through the negative stereotypes that have become  entrenched in the patriarchal system, and  revealing how this system imposes structures of dominance and submission.  
However, I treat the dismantling of national-religious themes as a starting point for  building an alternative vision that responds to the aspirations of those who are  marginalised in our society. 

 

Who and what are some of your greatest influences in both your life and as an artist? 
It is a difficult question, not only because the list is very long, but also it  changes and fluctuates during the years. 
I find women from previous generations, who managed to find their voice in the male  dominated world (such as: Leonora Carrington, Georgia O'Keefe, Agnes Martin) very  empowering. The actions of the Guerrilla Girls are the call to arms.  
Virginia Woolf played an important role in shaping my imagination.  I have always admired Käthe Kollwitz for her powerful expressionistic drawings.  
On the other hand, I was very impressed by Goya. Especially the series of Black  Paintings. He criticised the Spanish authoritarian government and the Catholic Church. In his  latest works he showed how those institutions exploit people's ignorance for political gain and  replace reason with superstition. Alas it is relevant these days. 
Significant impact on my work was a Polish writer- Izabela Morska. One of the  paintings presented at the "Improbable Encounters" exhibition - "The Flowers of the  Soul Are Burning Under the Shell of an Ass" is inspired by her book. That title is a quote from her novel "Absolutna amnezja" [Absolute Amnesia]. 
Recently I am affected by Rosi Braidotti's "Posthuman Feminism". I have got the feeling  that she and her posthuman theory will have an impact on my future paintings. 

 

Do you consider your work of art a creation or a discovery? 
What motivates me to paint is the unknown of what will come next. I always wonder where the painting I am working on will take me. 
It's like peeling back the layers to see what's behind the next picture.
 
EXHIBITIONS