For any painting lovers traveling around the Mediterranean and perhaps visiting the birthplace of Western civilization, I wanted to mention that the Benaki Museum in Athens is currently showcasing Irruption of Antiquity: Aleksandra Waliszewska at the Benaki Museum, curated by Alison Gingeras. Coincidentally, I recently spoke w the Polish artist as we worked on an essay about her practice for the upcoming, Issue 03 The Unibrow. Here is a little teaser…
“I first came across Aleksandra Waliszewska’s paintings at art fairs where her gouaches on paper or oils on canvas were regularly presented by Consonni Radziszewski. What attracted me about these was the eerie, somewhat disturbing atmosphere, the often brutal visuals filled with violence, sex, decay, gloom, terror, or their implications. Alongside this dominating quality, they felt sincere, perhaps ironic, even silly or unserious at moments, but with all that still undeniably authentic and weighty. As such, the works stood out among the rest, both appearing as outsiders with their low-brow, pop-surrealist appeal, and fully earning and defending their spot with their pronounced quality and attitude. And as I learned through a brief back-and-forth with their maker, this isn’t by chance. With such a firm, uncompromising appearance, they perfectly reflect the character of a person who’s not afraid to take a stand, comment or remark, but has no interest in convincing anyone or making sure her messages have been passed along and received well.
“The works must defend themselves on their own; I’m not going to defend them,” Waliszewska mentioned at one point during our interaction, sounding like a proud, trusting parent wanting their children to be strong and independent individuals.” —Saša Bogojev
Stay tuned for The Unibrow Issue 03, out this fall.
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