Alicja Patanowska’s exhibition is her voice on the contemporary chaos of consumption. The title refers to John Steinbeck’s famous novel Of Mice And Men, which shows the sad truth about the world: only the strongest will survive. The inspiration for the exhibition was the Dutch painting tradition: paintings by Bosch, the motif of vanitas. In her work, Alicja Patanowska uses production waste resulting from human activity. We’ll also see arranged still natures, created with museum exhibits, food leftovers, fruit, skulls and other props rich in the vanitas symbolism. The resulting compositions are not unambiguous: on the one hand, they delight with their mastery and careful execution. On the other hand, they are a bitter and terrifying comment on the common anthropocentric attitude, which dictates the conditions of contemporary economy and creates narration based only on the human perspective.

Curator: Joanna Kobyłt



Title: Of mice and men
Year: 2016
Place: SiC! BWA Wrocław Gallery, individual exhibition
Material: 3 ttones of porcelain scrap, oil, soap, flowers, everyday objects
Technique: taxidermy, video, exhibits borrowed from the Museum of Natural History in Wroclaw
Photo and Video: Alicja Kielan