Portraits of banknotes | Pola Dwurnik

Artist

Pola Dwurnik

ABOUT EXHIBITION

Pola Dwurnik enlarges banknotes and turns into paintings. She is interested in various aspects of the existence of paper money: sociological, historical, symbolic and, above all, aesthetic. The artist considers the banknotes to be extremely beautiful and full of secrets hidden in a small size that she likes to discover. At the same time, he approaches the banknotes critically and with irony, stressing that he paints money, converted by modern civilization into a cult object. He calls himself a portraitist of banknotes, he does not play them but interprets them. The exhibition will show portraits of Polish post-war banknotes – from the late 40s and from the 1970s and 1980s.

Pola Dwurnik (born 1979) – graduated in art history at the University of Warsaw, in 2001 founded the artistic magazine „Section”, in 2002 she was the initiator of the creation of the Zakręt Gallery in Warsaw. He deals with oil painting and writes about art.

Pola Poly Dwnik’s exhibitions „Portraits of banknotes, can be viewed in the nova gallery until January 31, 2004

Jolanta Gumula
www.artinfo.pl

Krakow’s NOVA gallery celebrates its first birthday. Almost a year ago, its opening was reported. Accompanied by assurances about the profile of activity, holding strictly contemporary art, especially young painting. Assurances did not prove to be false; during the year there were about ten vernissages promoting the art of the young generation, and – as the owners themselves admit – although setting such a track was quite risky, they are consistently sticking to it.
NOVA currently presents the work of Pola Dwurnik, or more accurately – her portraits of banknotes.

There is rarely anyone wondering about the appearance of paper money. They serve as something else, aesthetic side, leaving no space. Every day we turn them around, touch them, carry them with us, but actually it would be difficult to describe them in detail. It wants to change Pola Dwurnik and – as he claims – for three years he has extracted hidden beauty from them.
„(…) Each banknote is a complex and at the same time very harmonious picture, precisely designed by the artist graphics. Each banknote is one of a kind. The extraordinary aesthetics of paper money fascinates me, which is why I enlarge them many times. I discover their secrets and hidden details. I think of myself as a portraitist of paper money. I do not play them, but interpret them. Through my gesture, I want to raise the banknote to the status of a work of art. (…) banknotes fascinate me for several reasons. I follow the history retained in them; images of political leaders and eminent people, names of states and national symbols, signatures of treasurers and dates. I wonder about their meaning, juxtaposing timeless imaginations with those that have expired. I find fallen political systems and names of non-existent currencies, portraits of legendary monarchs and people known only in their homeland. I am thinking of people who used these banknotes and the world around them. ”

Poli banknote portraits are their enlargements, carried with brush and oil paint on canvas. Their sizes sometimes reach two meters, sometimes they are smaller. We will not find images of contemporary money among them. There are those that came out of use: from the 40s, 70s and 80s of the last century. For the artist it is also a game with a history of painting. He claims that he is engaged in a dialogue with portrait, landscape, vedute art, ornamental art, abstract art and even artistic lettering. Landscapes used by graphic designers designing banknotes brings back to canvas again, reminding about their original destiny.

Pola’s own paintings – portraits of banknotes – may or may not be liked; matter of taste. Interesting are, however, the very observations and reasons why she addressed such a theme: „(…) banknotes are primarily money, and the world revolves around money (…) They are a symbol of our times, a religion of our civilization, so I paint them and hang on the wall. These are objects of worship. ” Following her trail of thoughts, you can actually come to the conclusion that soon on the walls instead of icons and images of saints, images of banknotes – the new God of modern times – will hang.
You could find out about all this by talking to Pola Dwurnik. The so-called welcome and introductory speech in the subject of painting itself was not there. NOVA moves away from existing patterns in other galleries, focusing on independent reception and direct contact with the artist. Thanks to this, it was possible to learn, for example, that before Pola started working on banknotes, she painted x-rays of her own body. She transferred their pictures to the canvas, giving others a way to look „in myself”. The subject seems quite intriguing. Many said that they would be happy to see the work. However, this is an idea for the next exhibition.