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Did you know that Touching Istnieje roślina, która w języku polskim nosi nazwę niecierpek pospolity. Jej łacińska nazwa wydaje się o wiele ciekawsza – impatiens noli-tangere. Bo nie dość, że roślina ta okazuje się niecierpliwa (impatiens), to jeszcze nie chce być dotykana (noli-tangere). Ta łacińska nazwa odwołuje do słów, które skierował zmartwychwstały Jezus do Marii Magdaleny: noli me tangere, czyli „nie dotykaj” lub „nie zatrzymuj mnie”. A staje się ona zrozumiała w kontekście pewnej właściwości niecierpka pospolitego, mianowicie: dojrzałe owoce niecierpka skręcają swoje ścianki i wyrzucają z siebie nasiona, rozsiewając je po okolicy, tylko wówczas, gdy zostaną dotknięte (lub potrząśnięte). Czy nie ma w tym – w tej roślinie, w sposobie jej funkcjonowania, w jej nazwie – czegoś dziwnego? Z jednej strony to niecierpliwie oczekiwany dotyk przyczynia się do rozrzucenia nasion, a więc rozmnożenia się i rozwinięcia tej rośliny. Z drugiej tę roślinę wciąż chroni zakaz „nie dotykaj”, „nie zatrzymuj”. Tak jakby dotyk był jej niezbędny, a zarazem całą sobą się przed nim broniła. |
 Wooden snuffbox A container in the shape of a human hand clenched into a fist, intended for storing snuff. It is made of oak, with a rectangular hollowed-out interior, covered with a thin lid. The plate of the lid is mounted on the wrist part with a leather hinge. It is finished with a ledge, which was used to raise the lid with a fingernail. The snuffbox is finished with dark brown French polish. |
 Krištof Kintera, “All My Bad Thoughts” Visualization of the Spiritual State. It is difficult to convey depression because of the lack of words, and the available expressions are banal to the point of ennui. A painting turns out to be a more capacious and sensitive medium than words or poetry. The “black secretion of the soul” is poured over a reclining figure. |
 “Study of a male figure” by Stanisław Bieńkiewicz Stanisław Bieńkiewicz (1855–after 1930) in 1871–1880 studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków under the direction of Jan Matejko. During the period 1889–1890, together with Józef Mehoffer and Stanisław Wyspiański, he worked on a polychrome of Mariacki Church in Kraków. Bieńkiewicz painted portraits, landscapes, historical, genre and religious scenes. |
Did you know that Maria Jarema. O potędze wolności myślenia Pięćdziesiąt lat życia Marii Jaremy obejmowało mniej więcej pierwszą połowę dwudziestego stulecia. Pół wieku to niewiele. Jednak przez większość tego czasu artystka przyglądała się krytycznie kalejdoskopowi „-izmów” i włączała się aktywnie w najbardziej postępowe nurty sztuki. „Zawsze w awangardzie” – stwierdził po jej śmierci Henryk Stażewski.
Krótkie życie Jaremianki rekompensuje intensywność wyrazu jej prac.
Maria Jarema była rzeźbiarką i malarką, projektowała kostiumy i scenografię do spektakli teatralnych, występowała też na scenie. Sprawy artystyczne łączyła z zaangażowaniem społecznym. Jej magnetyczna osobowość, w połączeniu z odwagą poglądów i konsekwencją w podążaniu raz obraną drogą, przeszły do legendy. |
Did you know that From the diary of a body Is it possible to dry a body in a herbarium? I will ask more expressively: Is it possible to dry a living body in a herbarium? Or even more clearly: Is it possible to dry the body of your own adolescent son in a herbarium? |
 Group AES+F, “Défilé #1” The AES+F group shows dead bodies dressed in ballroom finery. The dramatic content is emphasised by using f life-size photographs, made all the more realistic by being displayed in lightboxes. The human fear of passing away is hidden behind obsessive adornment of the body. Death is presented in its “luxury” version which, despite all efforts, only serves to emphasize the deadness of the corpse. The series Défilé consists of 7 photographs in lightboxes. Film with the photographic prints has been glued to Plexi and placed in aluminium boxes, lit from behind. |
 Group AES+F, “Défilé #4” The AES+F group shows dead bodies dressed in ballroom finery. The dramatic content is emphasised by using life-size photographs, made all the more realistic by being displayed in lightboxes. The human fear of passing away is hidden behind obsessive adornment of the body. Death is presented in its “luxury” version which, despite all efforts, only serves to emphasize the deadness of the corpse. The series Défilé consists of 7 photographs in lightboxes. Film with the photographic prints has been glued to Plexi and placed in aluminium boxes, lit from behind. |
 Group AES+F, “Défilé #6” The AES+F group shows dead bodies dressed in ballroom finery. The dramatic content is emphasised by using f life-size photographs, made all the more realistic by being displayed in lightboxes. The human fear of passing away is hidden behind obsessive adornment of the body. Death is presented in its “luxury” version which, despite all efforts, only serves to emphasize the deadness of the corpse. The series Défilé consists of 7 photographs in lightboxes. Film with the photographic prints has been glued to Plexi and placed in aluminium boxes, lit from behind. |
 Group AES+F, “Défilé #5” The AES+F group shows dead bodies dressed in ballroom finery. The dramatic content is emphasised by using f life-size photographs, made all the more realistic by being displayed in lightboxes. The human fear of passing away is hidden behind obsessive adornment of the body. Death is presented in its “luxury” version which, despite all efforts, only serves to emphasize the deadness of the corpse. The series Défilé consists of 7 photographs in lightboxes. Film with the photographic prints has been glued to Plexi and placed in aluminium boxes, lit from behind. |
 “Anatomical study of muscles” by Ferdynand Olesiński Ferdynand Olesiński, from a family of Wieliczka [the centre of salt mining] miners, was educated during the period 1871–1883 at the Kraków School of Fine Arts under the direction of Florian Cynk, Leopold Loeffler, Feliks Szynalewski, Henryk Grabowski, Izydor Jabłoński, and above all Jan Matejko and Władysław Łuszczkiewicz. He was a distinguished student who won praise and rewards. |
 “Male nude figure” by Adam Ciopcio-Siemianowicz Adam Siemianowicz (family name: Ciopcio) was born in 1902 in Orenburg on the Ural River in the Russian Empire. The future painter was the son of Szymon Ciopcio and Julia née Abramik, peasants from Podlasie exiled to the Urals in 1888. The boy began to paint while still in Orenburg. At that time, he usually painted postimpressionism-styled landscapes. |
Did you know that The practice of casting death masks The custom of creating death masks of important figures became especially popular in the 19th century, although the very tradition of creating such likenesses can be traced back to ancient Rome, where wax casts of the emperor’s face (effigies) were presented for public viewing. According to common practice... |
Did you know that Chocolate for a sore throat Although today chocolate is associated mainly with pleasure, a pleasure that can be denied to oneself while watching one’s weight or Lent fasting, it used to be recommended by priests during fast days. In the 18th century, together with coffee, chocolate was quite present in pharmacies, used in medicinal mixtures and was approved as a cure for rheumatism and even as a treatment for sore throats. |
 El-Kantara male torso The alabaster sculpture, 15 cm high, was purchased by soldiers of the Polish Independent Carpathian Rifle Brigade during WW II. The statue represents a young naked man with a sealed head, legs and arms. At the back there is a flat column, which is triangularly finished at the top. |
 Bartek Materka, untitled [“Skeletons”] Reconstruction of an open grave. By the manner of painting, the artist has emphasised the emotive quality of the represention of a post mortem. |
 Katarzyna Górna, “Fuck me, Fuck you, Peace” A photographic triptych, showing women in different stages of their lives – from youth, through maturity to old age. The adopted poses as well as the compositions with a static, “altar-like“ quality point to the inspiration by Christian iconography, recurrent in the artist’s work. The work deals with the relationship between age and the attitude to life. A young woman wants to be loved, a mature woman is fed up with everything and the old woman craves peace. |
 Muntean/Rosenblum, untitled [“They realized that their capacity…”] [They realized that their capacity for not feeling lonely carried very real price, which was the threat of feeling nothing at all.]
Four young people appear to be taking drugs in a forest. This suspicion is at odds with the ambiance of the attractive forest and sunlight filtered through the trees. An integral part of the painting is a poetic declaration which implies a risky experiment. It entails a statement of the absence of loneliness. However, the painted protagonists appear to be entirely lonely; they do not even notice their own presence. If so, they only have themselves to thank for their lack of loneliness. |
 Toiletries The set of toilet accessories consists of: a folding razor, a brush, a folding knife, a spoon and two spatulas for applying creams. |
 “Naked young man” by Stanisław Radziejowski Stanisław Józef Rafał Dominik Radziejowski was born to a landowning family in Zegartowice near Wieliczka. He probably started studying at the School of Fine Arts in Kraków in the academic year 1874/1875 and he is thought to have only studied for one year. However, this information has not been confirmed. Certainly, Radziejowski studied at the School of Fine Arts during the period 1880–1885 and 1888–1891 in the composition department of Jan Matejko. During his studies, he received several awards... |
