GIRL ON CANVAS is an artbook project by Pola Dwurnik about painting and its reception. It explores an aspect of her paintings that is completely beyond the artist's control, the life of her works in the minds of viewers willing to actively engage with them. Over thirty different contributors have written about their intellectual and emotional responses to Pola Dwurnik's paintings. The result is a brave, intimate collection of stories, a personal, roguish, subversive yet subtle riot.
'I have been amazed and thrilled to find that many visitors to my studio discover aspects and narratives in my paintings that are very different from what I had intended. Motivated by a desire to preserve some of these unusual interpretations, I decided to collect stories inspired by a selection of my works. For GIRL ON CANVAS I asked for contributions from my friends and artistic collaborators, people who think about the world much as I do and with whom I share a passion and respect for the art of painting. GIRL ON CANVAS is a collection of musings by people from various walks of life who hold different values and subscribe to a variety of worldviews. I made a deliberate decision not to invite other painters: their professional and technical perspectives merit a publication in its own right.
GIRL ON CANVAS is also a review of the first dozen or so years of my painting practice. Through the words of others, I see my work from a distance, which enables me to continue developing as an artist in a conscious and responsible way.' P.D.
Editors: Pola Dwurnik, Izabela Kaszyńska
Concept and graphic design: Dagny & Daniel Szwed (moonmadness.eu)
Print run: 1000 (100 numbered and signed)
356 pages
Format: 170 x 240 mm
Paper: Panta Alto 130 G
Hardcover
Printed by Moś and Łuczak Polygraphy General Partnership, Poznań
Publisher: Apolonia Dwurnik, Warszawa 2013
ISBN 978-83-937872-0-3
Fundraising and promotion: Agnieszka Wąsowska and Katarzyna Homan
Distribution in Poland: Bęc Zmiana, Warsaw
Distribution in Europe: MOTTO Distribution, Berlin
AUTHORS:
Agata Araszkiewicz, art historian, art and feminine literature critic
Andreas Blättler, art historian, wroks at Schaulager in Basel
Emilie Buri, art historian and linguist, works and lives in Berlin
dr Andrzej Depko, neurologist, sexologist, therapist
Roman Dziadkiewicz, visual artist, performer
Joanna Erbel, urban sociologist, activist
Denise Grollmus, writer and essayist
Michał Jachuła, art historian, curator
Adam Jastrzębski (Ixi Color), visual artist and street-artist
Natalia Kaliś, art historian and art critic
Izabela Kaszyńska, co-editor of GIRL ON CANVAS
Artur Kinruwd, art historian and essayist
Michał Kozłowski, philosopher, academic lecturer
Wojciech Kozłowski, director of BWA Gallery in Zielona Góra
Piotr (Peter) Lachmann, poet, essayist and theater director
Ewa Łączyńska-Widz, art historian, director of BWA Gallery in Tarnów
Krzysztof Masiewicz, art collector, co-author of the blog ArtBazaar
Monika Micewicz, art historian
Ruth Mitchell, essayist, art lover
Daniela Pfeil, pastor, theologist and linguist
Prof. Maria Poprzęcka, art historian
Maria Anna Potocka, director of MOCAK Museum of Modern Art in Kraków
Konstanty F. Szydłowski, philosopher, Romanist, art historian
Jerzy Szygiel, independent journalist
Olga Tokarczuk, writer, essayist
Ewa Toniak, art historian, art critici, curator
Karolina Wiktor, visual artist
Krzysztof Visconti, journalist and filmmaker
Anna Zawadzka, sociologist, activist
Agata Świderska-Zięta, legal adviser, collector
Oskar Zięta, architect, lecturer, designer, creator of FiDU technology
I liked the piece, because it made me think of a hide-away. I have a balcony overgrown with creepers and fruit bushes and a few flowers. When I sit or crouch there I am cut off from the world, hidden, tightly surrounded by my green jungle and when I stand up I am bathed in light and visible, hearing the whole noise of the city. A plane roars past above my head. A shelter heralds a boundary going out to the world. The figure in the painting is about to stand up and enter the stage watching with anxiety, hurriedly painting her nails. The painter entitled this piece A Painter, which I suspect is self-parody, Pola Dwurnik’s work is often autobiographical.
From the text by Jerzy Szygiel The Painter’s Baggage
You have to inhale air and smoke deep into your lungs and then slowly change them into thoughts, conceptions, and theories. The more complicated, the better—the more impressive the names the theories get and the more effect they have on people. For instance, you have to come up with ways of imagining the unimaginable, you have to create the most entangled and inherently contradictory mental states, and you have to combine separate emotions into intricate complexes and syndromes—and then you can ponder and attempt to cure them, and explicate, express, and interpret them.
From the text by Olga Tokarczuk The Art of Consciousness
GIRL ON CANVAS. A BOOK ABOUT PAINTINGS
Talk during Berlin Art Week, Buchbund, Berlin, DE
Pola Dwurnik will talk about the relation between pictures
and words with Konstanty F. Szydłowski, one of the
contributors to the book. Please, join us.
Saturday, 19.09.2015 at 7:00 PM
Bookshop Buchbund, Sanderstr. 8, 12047 Berlin
OUR BOOK IN THE CATALOGUE OF LIA 2014
Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
GIRL ON CANVAS is one of the artbooks featured
in the hand-made catalogue of the 2nd International
Artist's Book Competition LIA LIBRO DE ARTISTA - pages 70-71.
pub. by Lia, Libro de Artista, 2014, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
GIRL ON CANVAS book presentation
Galerie Idea-Fixa, Basel, CH
You are welcome to attend GIRL ON CANVAS
presentation with the presence of Pola Dwurnik and three
authors: Andreas Blättler, Emilie Buri and Daniela Pfeil
on Thursday, 19.03.2015 at 7:30 PM
Galerie Idea-Fixa, Feldbergstrasse 38
4057 Basel, Switzerland
GIRL ON CANVAS at #TABS
LAGE EGAL Raum für aktuelle Kunst, Berlin, DE
We are pleased that GIRL ON CANVAS is part
of the exhibition #TABS at LAGE EGAL Raum
für aktuelle Kunst in Berlin
Exhibition on view: 9.01 – 27.02.2015
Curator: Pierre Granoux
Danzigerstrasse 145 D-10407 Berlin
Opening Hours: WED – FRI, 3 – 7 PM
GIRL ON CANVAS in the cultural magazine LAMPA
Interview by Paweł Dunin-Wąsowicz
To everyone speaking Polish we warmly recommend
the newest issue of the legendary cultural magazine
LAMPA where you can find a long interview
with Pola Dwurnik about GIRL ON CANVAS.
We thank Paweł Dunin-Wąsowicz for the interview
and Agata Endo Nowicka for the beautiful cover.
Cultural magazine LAMPA, No. 9-10/2014, pp. 1-11
GIRL ON CANVAS at ARTIST’S BOOKS II
Galerie STAMPA, Basel, CH
We are pleased to announce you that our book will be part
of artist's books exhibition in the legendary gallery STAMPA
Opening: 28.11.2014
Exhibition on view: 28.11.2014 – 10.01.2015
STAMPA Spalenberg 2 CH–4051 Basel
Opening Hours: Tue-Fri 12.00-18.30, Sat 11.00-17.00
http://www.stampa-galerie.ch
GIRL ON CANVAS at FAVOR DE TOCAR
Exposición y venta de Libros de Artista, 3a edición
LARVA, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
We are pleased to inform you that GIRL ON CANVAS will be part
of the art books exhibition at LARVA Forum in Jalisco, Mexico.
Opening: 27.11.2014
Exhibition on view: 27.11.2104 - 3.12.2014
LARVA Ocampo 120 Centro Historico, 44000 Guadalajara, Jalisco
http://www.liabooks.com
GIRL ON CANVAS at BERGEN ART BOOK FAIR 2014
Bergen KJØTT, Norway
We are pleased to announce that GIRL ON CANVAS
will have its own stand at BERGEN ART BOOK FAIR
21 - 23.11.2014 at Bergen KJØTT, Norway.
GIRLS ARE LIKE CAMELEONS
Brussels Club of Polish Women
Talk with Pola Dwurnik and Agata Araszkiewicz
Moderated by Anna Kiejna, Brussels Club of Polish Women
Friday, 3.10.2014 at 7:30 pm
164, avenue Brugmann, Brussels
GIRL ON CANVAS SELECTED FOR LIA LIBRO DE ARTISTA
Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
We are pleased to announce that GIRL ON CANVAS
is selected for the 2nd International Artist's Book
Competition LIA LIBRO DE ARTISTA in Mexico.
The award ceremony and exhibition of the selected books
will be held on 27.11.2014 in Larva Forum in Guedalajara.
ENTHUSIASTIC REVIEW BY KRZYSZTOF JURECKI
"Exit" No. 2 (98)/2014, pp. 6778-6779
Another very positive review of GIRL ON CANVAS
has just been published in the newest "Exit" - a magazine
on contemporary art in Poland. Krzysztof Jurecki finds our
publication "unique and extraordinary" and appreciates
our attempt at finding new ways of interpreting paintings.
REVIEW BY PAWEŁ DUNIN-WĄSOWICZ
"Lampa" No. 3-4/2014, p. 126
In the 3-4/2014 issue of the independent magazine
on Polish contemporary literature and books Paweł
Dunin-Wąsowicz writes on GIRL ON CANVAS and the newest
comics by Wilhelm Sasnal LAWA
VISUAL ESSAY ON GIRL ON CANVAS BY MICHAŁ RUSINEK
TV program on contemporary literature "Xięgarnia.pl"
A literary scholar, author and interpreter Michał Rusinek
wrote and acted an essay about GIRL ON CANVAS
broadcasted by TVN in "Xiegarnia.pl" program on 7.06.2014
AWARD AT THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BOOKS 2013
Warsaw Book Fair, Warsaw, PL
We are pleased to announce
that GIRL ON CANVAS was awarded DISTINCTION
at THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BOOKS 2013 competition
by POLISH BOOK PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION.
The ceremony took place
on 23.05.2014 at Warsaw Book Fair.
LECTURE BY PROF. MARIA POPRZĘCKA, Tarnów, PL
6.03.2014 at 1 pm
Lecture by Profesor Maria Poprzęcka
"The Goddess' Feast. Women, Art and Life"
plus GIRL ON CANVAS and ROSE IS A ROSE promotion event
Galeria BWA w Tarnowie, ul. Słowackiego 1, Tarnów
AWP HEAT 2014: Denise Grollmus reads
her essay published in GIRL ON CANVAS, Seattle, USA
AWP HEAT 2014: Burning Down the House
Denise Grollmus reads her essay 'I Am Married to Painting'
published for the first time in GIRL ON CANVAS book.
Friday, 28.02.2014 at 12:30 pm
Daily Grill at Sheraton Hotel in Downtown Seattle
629 Pike Street, Seattle, WA 98101, USA
BERLIN PREMIERE, Berlin, DE
Thursday 30.01.2014 at 7 pm
Girl on Canvas Berlin premiere and Pola Dwurnik's painting show
ARCHIVE/IT talk at berlinerpool
Guests: Pola Dwurnik, Emilie Buri, Konstanty F. Szydłowski
Moderation: Andrzej Raszyk, berlinerpool
Maybachufer 16
12047 Berlin-Kreuzberg
Click here to see pictures by Agnieszka Rembacz
ROOKIE BOOK IDEAS, Poznań, PL
16.01.2014 at 7 pm
Jakub Bąk in conversation with Pola Dwurnik and Radek Szlaga
ROOKIE BOOK IDEAS
Galeria Miejska Arsenał
Stary Rynek 6, Poznań
http://r-o-o-k-i-e.com
SALON ZIMOWY art fair, Warsaw, PL
On the 14.12.2013 Pola Dwurnik will be waiting
for you from 4pm to 6pm
at the cafe of the Branicki Palace
(Podwale 3, Warsaw) at SALON ZIMOWY art fair.
ROOKIE BOOK FAIR, Poznań, PL
7-8.12.2013, Super Salon stand
Stary Browar, Słodownia +1, Poznań, PL
PREMIERE, Warsaw, PL
Wednesday, 6.11.2013 at 7 pm
BarStudio at Teatr Studio in Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw, PL
The official part moderated by Agnieszka Szydłowska
Music: DJ collective Bad Bitches
Click here to see pictures by Agnieszka Rembacz
OUR CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGNS WERE HELD ON THE SITES INDIEGOGO (INTERNATIONAL) AND WSPIERAMKULTURE.PL (IN POLAND) IN THE SUMMER 2013.
Osman Djajadisastra
Jakub Pijewski
Zbyszek Gozdecki
Ewelina Guzik
Elizabeth Mosielski
Jerzy Szygiel
Dorota Wnuk
Beata Wąsowska
Stephan Mueller
Małgorzata Czyszczoń
Michał Markiewicz
Marta Anna Koller
Roland Koller
Patryk Koca
Wanda Gierzyńska
Joanna Stankiewicz
Marcin Mierzejewski
Agnieszka Sułowska
Iryna Harasym
Marika Kuźmicz
Katarzyna Nalezińska
Hanna Gierzyńska
Magdalena Muszyńska
Konrad Szukalski
Renata Strycharska
Marta Miszczuk
Paweł Chudziński
Joanna Maćkowiak-Pandera
Bartosz Przydatek
Anna Jach
Ruth Mitchell
Andreas Rostek-Buetti
Izabela Kaszyńska
Adam Panuciak
Joanna Erbel
Paweł Zamojski
Agnieszka Wąsowska
Antoni Babicz
Maciej Juda
Kasia
Anna Luboń
Edward Dwurnik
Michał Kozłowski
Sebastian Meitz
Marta Lang
Marta Skowrońska
Piotr Gierowski
Krzysztof A. Siemiński
Halina Szadkowska
Teresa Gierzyńska
Franziska Trefzer
Ewa Koźniewska
and anonymous donators
The first time I met Pola Dwurnik was the worst day of my life. I had been in Warsaw only three days. The night before, my husband had called me from the United States and asked for a divorce. I hadn’t slept or eaten, my eyes were swollen shut from all the crying, and I was nearly homicidal. But I had a date with Pola Dwurnik and I couldn’t miss it. Missing our appointment meant that I would not only be divorced, but possibly homeless, too. In fact, I was meeting with Ms. Dwurnik to see about renting her apartment.
From the text by Denise Grolmuss I Am Married to Painting
You can order the book online at our distributor
MOTTO DISTRIBUTION
MOTTO BERLIN
Skalitzerstrasse 68, 10997 Berlin
DITTO PRESS
26 Southgate Road, London
TI PI TIN
47 Stoke Newington High St., London N16 8EL
GOOD PRESS
Based at Mono
12 Kings Court, Glasgow, G1 5RB
WIELS Contemporary Art Center bookshop
Av. Van Volxemlaan 354, 1190 Brussels
ART METROPOLE
1490 Dundas Street West, Toronto
BOOKOFF
Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, ul. Pańska 3, Warsaw
SUPER SALON
ul. Chmielna 10, Warsaw
SERENISSIMA
Center for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, ul. Jazdów 2, Warsaw
SERENISSIMA NATIONAL MUSEUM IN WARSAW, Al. Jerozolimskie 3, Warsaw
ZACHĘTA NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, Pl. Małachowskiego 3, Warsaw
Główna Księgarnia Naukowa im. Bolesława Prusa, Krakowskie Przedmieście 7, Warsaw
LIBER
Krakowskie Przedmieście 24, Warsaw
WRZENIE ŚWIATA
ul. Gałczyńskiego 7, Warsaw
BĘC ZMIANA
ul. Mokotowska 65, Warsaw
Galeria MITO
ul. L. Waryńskiego 28, Warsaw
MOCAK BOOKSTORE
Musuem of Contemporary Art in Krakow, ul. Lipowa 4, Cracow
TRISTERO
ul. Święty Marcin 30, Poznań
BOOKOWSKI
ul. Kościuszki 60, Poznań
Galeria Miejska Arsenał
Stary Rynek 3, Poznań
BOOKAREST
ul. Półwiejska 42, Poznań
LITERA, ul. Nawrot 7, Łódź
KRYTYKA POLITYCZNA
ul. Zamkowa 1, Cieszyn
Książka Dla Ciebie
ul. Haffnera 6, Sopot
Kawiarnio-Księgarnia Spółdzielnia
ul. Peowiaków 11, Lublin
CSW ZNAKI CZASU
Wały gen. W. Sikorskiego 13, Toruń
Of course, there is no mercy, or at least no indications it could be given. Thirty Polas are shouting at us, squinting, redding with the effort, in the face or in the cheeks only. We look at them from above, self-confident that we may have mercy, but probably not for free, we would probably expect an explanation, a plea, a moment of attention from the other side. A word of thanks, really, that we’re going to listen at all. And now, the one in the centre, leaning on her elbow – is she the real one? She’s the only one not grimacing, shouting, pleading, staring, baring her teeth – she is simply looking at us attentively. Asking for nothing.
From the text by Wojciech Kozłowski Mercy!
